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Nader Joins 2008 Presidential Race
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Ralph Nader announced that he is running for president in 2008. The question is whether he has the following to play “spoiler” once again.
30-Second Summary
Ralph Nader announced his candidacy during the Feb. 24 airing of the NBC news program “Meet the Press.”
Nader later told reporters, “In the last few years, big money and the closing down of Washington against citizen groups prevent us from trying to improve our country.”
During his career as a consumer advocate, Ralph Nader helped pass several key pieces of legislation. His work also contributed to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Although a large number of left-leaning voters respect his past work, many continue to hold a grudge against Nader for his “spoiler” role in the 2000 presidential election. This voter resentment came to bear on his lackluster 2004 presidential campaign.
Most reactions to Nader’s announcement range from derision to indifference. Reason magazine argues that Nader’s latest bid is inconsequential, as Barack Obama shares Nader’s progressive views and is a viable candidate.
“Nader's current run is predicated on umpteen false assumptions, the biggest ones being that Americans are angry at the party system and that the angriest ones are crying out for liberal leadership,” Reason writes.
The blog Wonkette is more tongue in cheek. Satirizing Nader’s insinuations that this year’s Democratic candidates are too closely aligned with right-wing interests, the blog writes that Obama’s proposals include “the elimination of all taxes on the upper class, weekend indentured servitude duties for lower and middle classes, several new Wars in Iraq, and the overt transfer of legislative and judicial power to Jack Abramoff.”
A column in the Detroit Free Press says that Nader will have little resonance with voters this election cycle: “Nader still has credibility as a critic of big business and big government—especially the big things they do together—but come on, he's not a viable candidate for president.”
Nader later told reporters, “In the last few years, big money and the closing down of Washington against citizen groups prevent us from trying to improve our country.”
During his career as a consumer advocate, Ralph Nader helped pass several key pieces of legislation. His work also contributed to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Although a large number of left-leaning voters respect his past work, many continue to hold a grudge against Nader for his “spoiler” role in the 2000 presidential election. This voter resentment came to bear on his lackluster 2004 presidential campaign.
Most reactions to Nader’s announcement range from derision to indifference. Reason magazine argues that Nader’s latest bid is inconsequential, as Barack Obama shares Nader’s progressive views and is a viable candidate.
“Nader's current run is predicated on umpteen false assumptions, the biggest ones being that Americans are angry at the party system and that the angriest ones are crying out for liberal leadership,” Reason writes.
The blog Wonkette is more tongue in cheek. Satirizing Nader’s insinuations that this year’s Democratic candidates are too closely aligned with right-wing interests, the blog writes that Obama’s proposals include “the elimination of all taxes on the upper class, weekend indentured servitude duties for lower and middle classes, several new Wars in Iraq, and the overt transfer of legislative and judicial power to Jack Abramoff.”
A column in the Detroit Free Press says that Nader will have little resonance with voters this election cycle: “Nader still has credibility as a critic of big business and big government—especially the big things they do together—but come on, he's not a viable candidate for president.”
Headline Link: ‘Ralph Nader Enters Presidential Race’
On Feb. 24, consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader announced his candidacy for president. This is his fourth consecutive bid (not including his write-in campaign in 1992) for the country’s highest office. “In the last few years, big money and the closing down of Washington against citizen groups prevent us from trying to improve our country,” he told reporters. Republican candidate Mike Huckabee said Nader’s run would improve the GOP’s election chances. Hillary Clinton concurred: “I can’t think of anybody that would vote for Sen. McCain who would vote for Ralph Nader.”
Source: CNN
Key Player: Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader was born in Connecticut to Lebanese immigrants Nathra and Rose Nader. He graduated from Princeton in 1955 and went on to finish Harvard Law School in 1958. He worked for Assistant Secretary of Labor Patrick Moynihan and did freelance journalism for The Nation and the Christian Science Monitor. In 1965, he published his book “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a critique of the safety of many U.S. cars. He successfully fought off scrutiny from General Motors, suing the carmaker for invasion of privacy. He used his legal winnings to further his consumer advocacy efforts, spawning numerous activist groups.
Source: Biography Base
The 2005 documentary “An Unreasonable Man” follows Nader’s life from growing up in 1950s Connecticut to the 2000 presidential elections. Commentary from writers Phil Donahue and Howard Zinn, politician Pat Buchanan and actor Bill Murray as well as an interview with Nader himself shed perspective into the life and times of the consumer advocate.
Source: findingDulcinea's Bookstore
Background: Nader’s past presidential bids
1992
With a budget of less than $75,000, Ralph Nader staged a write-in campaign in 1992. A two-paged manifesto written by the candidate reads, “Presidential campaigns have become narrow, shallow, redundant and frantic parades."
Source: The New York Times
1996
In 1996 Ralph Nader was the Green Party’s official candidate. He received 685,297 votes nationwide—0.71 percent of total votes.
Source: U.S. Election Atlas
2000
Some voters were disaffected by their presidential choices in 2000. After attending a Nader rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Jennifer Maslowski said, “My life is not going to change very much if either Bush or Gore are elected.” Nader supporters hoped to amass 5 percent of the popular vote in 2000 so that the Green Party would get federal funding in the 2004 election.
Source: The New York Times
The Web site www.voteswap2000.com was created after political commentators suggested that Nader supporters in swing states “swap” their votes with Gore backers in solidly Republican states. Would-be “Nader traders” were stopped in their tracks in California, however, where election officials deemed the site illegal and had it shut down.
Source: CNN
The results of the 2000 presidential election are available from the Federal Election Commission. The number of votes cast for Nader in Florida and New Hampshire exceeded the difference between votes for Gore and Bush.
Source: Federal Election Commission
2004
In 2004, Nader ran as an independent after rejecting the candidacy from the Green Party. Many of his supporters in 2000 refused to back his 2004 bid. His political affiliation varied from state to state. For example, in Alaska and Maryland he ran on the “Populist Party” ticket, an affiliation created solely so he could appear on voting lists.
Source: CNN
According to results from CNN, Nader received 411,304 votes across the country, equaling 1 percent of the popular vote.
Source: CNN
Historical Context: Past presidential ‘spoilers’
Ross Perot
Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential bid eroded President George H. W. Bush’s support base. And although he also prevented the Democratic ticket from winning a popular vote majority, Perot ended up helping Bill Clinton and Al Gore reclaim some of the typically red states in the South and Southwest.
Source: Time
George Wallace
Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign proved attractive to pro-segregationists who appreciated his “blunt outspokenness” compared to Richard Nixon’s “carefully orchestrated” bid. However, Wallace’s main goal was to siphon enough votes from Nixon and Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey to force the election to be decided in the House of Representatives. There, he would pressure the two major party candidates to adopt segregationist policies before conceding. He ended up carrying five Southern states during the election.
Source: PBS
Opinion & Analysis: Spoiler versus viable candidate
Reason magazine writes that “as a national political force, Nader’s time has passed.” He managed to garner some 3 million votes from liberals who were disgruntled with the Clinton administration in 2000. But Obama is pulling that electorate this year: “Nader's current run is predicated on umpteen false assumptions, the biggest ones being that Americans are angry at the party system and that the angriest ones are crying out for liberal leadership. He'll end up getting most of his financing from Republicans trying to splinter the liberal vote.”
Source: Reason Magazine
Blog Wonkette points out that there are few differences between Nader’s and Obama’s platforms. Offering a satirical take on the candidates’ positions, the blog writes that while Nader points the finger at “tax and other corporate-friendly policies under the Bush administration that he said have left many lower- and middle-class people in debt,” Obama “proposes the elimination of all taxes on the upper class, weekend indentured servitude duties for lower and middle classes, several new Wars in Iraq, and the overt transfer of legislative and judicial power to Jack Abramoff.”
Source: Wonkette
Ron Dzwonkowski of the Detroit Free Press asks whether Nader’s latest presidential bid is of any political consequence. “Nader still has credibility as a critic of big business and big government—especially the big things they do together—but come on, he's not a viable candidate for president,” he writes.
Source: Detroit Free Press
In an article titled “Ralph Nader’s Nadir,” Marc Cooper writes that he was a Nader voter in the 2000 election because “Al Gore was a lousy candidate who couldn't carry his own state nor motivate tens of millions of potential Democratic voters to get off the couch.” Cooper argues that Nader’s fight for consumer rights should not be “shrugged off” by politicians. Yet “his run this time will be doomed to be pathetic. It will accomplish absolutely nothing except to diminish Nader's own towering record as a citizens’ advocate.”
Source: The Huffington Post
Reference: Ralph Nader’s official campaign site
Ralph Nader’s official campaign Web site has information on the Green Party, a short bio and a list of upcoming candidate appearances.
Source: Ralph Nader 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee
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