Nader rips Democrats' bid to stop him

By J. Patrick Coolican
Seattle Times staff reporter

Ralph Nader says he'll take votes from George Bush.

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Speaking to about 200 supporters at Kane Hall at the University of Washington, Nader criticized Bush but saved much of his rhetorical ammunition for the Democratic Party.

"You're seeing the authoritarian tendencies of the Democratic Party and people who call themselves civil libertarians," said Nader, referring to attempts to keep him off the ballot in key states, as well as exhortations to leave the race for the good of what some call the "anybody but Bush" campaign.

Nader favors a revamped tax code to shift the burden up the income ladder, a "demilitarized" foreign policy, a "responsible withdrawal" from Iraq, universal health care and more-stringent consumer safety, environmental and labor-protection laws.

Despite that left-leaning agenda, Nader claims his candidacy will take votes from Republican Bush, not from the presumed Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry.

The campaign, in its early stages, has had mixed results. Among registered voters, 6 percent favor Nader, the most recent Gallup poll reported.

In 2000, he got 2.74 percent of the total vote.

Nader, the Green Party candidate in 1996 and 2000, didn't get that party's endorsement over the weekend, however, and must now comply with some onerous requirements to get on the ballot in the 50 states.

In Washington, he needs 1,000 signatures, which organizers say they already have, though they haven't been verified by the Secretary of State's Office.

Democrats in Arizona have sued to keep him off the ballot there, questioning the validity of signatures. Some Republicans, meanwhile, have been financial supporters of Nader and in Oregon made phone calls on his behalf.

Nader, the son of Lebanese immigrants and a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, came to prominence in the 1960s with the publication of his book, "Unsafe at Any Speed," which documented dangers of General Motors' Corvair. The company's humiliation was complete when it was revealed executives hired a private detective to tag Nader. The book is credited with spurring automobile-safety legislation.
 
Nader went on to found the Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen and public-interest research groups around the country, using investigative and fact-finding techniques to advocate legislation in the areas of consumer safety, environmental health and open government.

This history has given Nader a deep well of gratitude among liberals, but the well has been drying up swiftly of late.

Democrats believe Nader, who won more than 97,000 votes in Florida in 2000, is the reason Al Gore lost the presidential election. (Bush won Florida by 537 votes.) They believe that without Nader in the race, his voters would have supported Gore.

Filmmaker Michael Moore has walked away from Nader, with whom he was once close, to support Kerry. Nader has responded by expressing concern and disappointment over Moore's weight.

Eric Alterman, a columnist for the liberal weekly The Nation and MSNBC, excoriates Nader almost weekly, often ending some condemnation of the Bush administration with "Thanks, Ralph."

Nader responds to this criticism by arguing his voters would have stayed at home had he not been in the 2000 race and takes credit for his voters' support of Democratic candidates down the ticket.

During his speech last night, he scoffed at a recent attempt by the Congressional Black Caucus to get him to leave the race.

Nader said he responded by saying, "You're telling us, trust us again? You even lost an election you won," referring to the fact Gore received more than 500,000 more votes than Bush in 2000.

A few protesters outside accused the Naderites of bringing about a second term for Bush.

"[Nader] says the difference between Bush and Kerry is like the difference between Coke and Pepsi. I say it's more like the difference between Coke and arsenic," said Randy Poplock of Seattle.

J. Patrick Coolican: 206-464-3315 or jcoolican@seattletimes.com

Information from the Associated Press and The Washington Post is included in this report.