Nader, Greens, Rally For Election Year Fight

by Cara DeGette

It may not be a sleeper of a presidential election year after all.

In a somewhat peculiar symbiosis, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and a burgeoning Green Party solidified what they hope will become this year's populist rallying cry to reengage disaffected labor union members and environmentalists alike: Turtles and Teamsters Forever!

And in a stunning move, a representative of the 23-state coalition of the Reform Party of America offered a decisive endorsement for Nader at the Greens national convention in Denver on Sunday.

Dismissing the notion that a vote for Nader is a vote thrown away, speaker after speaker attacked Democrats and Republicans as indistinguishable as they satiate their voracious appetites for cash from the same corporate and special interest trough.

"I don't think voting your conscience is throwing your vote away; I think you waste your vote when you vote for someone you don't like," said convention organizer Dean Myerson.

Four years ago, Nader only halfheartedly campaigned on the Green Party ticket. This year he insists he's in it to win.

However, a more realistic goal is to secure that magic five percent voting percentage, giving the Greens a massive boost and access to millions in matching federal funds in the 2004 presidential race.

Or, as Jello Biafra, the lead singer of the now-defunct punk band Dead Kennedy's, puts it, "Can you imagine what would happen to American television if people like me get to design the presidential campaign ads?"

Biafra was also drafted to run on the Green Party ticket for president this year, as was Stephen Gaskin, who helped found the Farm in Tennessee in the 1970s -- at the time the largest hippie commune in the world.

Not unexpectedly, Nader easily won the nomination. But both Biafra and Gaskin say they are helping to revive interest in politics among groups that have become disenfranchised and have reeled in disgust away from politics.

Now the Green Party USA is formally organized in 38 states, with a high-profile presidential candidate, 78 candidates holding mostly-local public offices, and 118 candidates running this year.

"It's exhilarating for a lot of us; this is a real culmination of many years of efforts," said Oregon delegate Blair Bobier, a longtime U.S. Green Party organizer.

Grassroots organizing and a clean and safe planet are key for Greens, but they are also agitating for universal health care, an end to corporate welfare and legalizing hemp.

Labor unions, angered by Gore's recent support of trade with China, are attracted to the Greens, as are Reform Party activists who have long derided NAFTA. And, the Greens are building on the momentum generated by last year's widespread protests of the World Trade Organization in Seattle and the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C.

"This is a very long term movement, with people of all ages, stripes and designs totally fed up with a corporate monarchy," said Biafra. "Our constitutional democracy has slowly but surely been overthrown in a sugar coated Disney-crusted coup."

Last weekend, Reform Party spokesman Don Torgersen carefully distinguished his branch of the Reform Party -- which was founded by H. Ross Perot in 1992 Ð from the Buchanan Brigade of 2000. Perot hasn't personally weighed in, but Torgersen said his group's endorsement represents 23 state party affiliates.

"Most of the traditional Reform members have walked away from Pat Buchanan," Torgersen said, and are offended and disgusted by the so-called Buchanan Brigade's blustery emphasis on a conservative social agenda, including damning abortion.

So what does Ralph Nader have in common with the Greens?

"He has an incredible connection, I can't think of a more natural alliance," Bobier said. "He's impressed by our dedication to civic democracy and we're impressed by his commitment to doing it."

The independent Nader said he has no plans to formally join the party that selected him as their presidential nominee. In exchange, the Greens will benefit by having a high-profile candidate in their camp.

The arrogance and complacency of the major two party system has resulted in widespread alienation in the political democracy, Nader said. Less than 50 percent of eligible voters -- or 75 million people -- tuned out for the vote four years ago.

Big money has not only forced major parties to their knees, but democracy itself is in peril, Nader warned.

"We've got one corporate party with two heads wearing different make-up," Nader said. "We're one choice short of a [dictatorship]."

Nader issued a challenge to the media to treat third party candidates as seriously as they do the two major parties -- and to insist he and Buchanan not get shut out of the debate. Currently candidates must garner 15 percent support in the polls to be allowed to participate in presidential debates, a system that was devised by the Democratic and Republican parties.

A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll suggested Nader is currently ahead of Buchanan by 7 percent to 4 percent.

Yet, despite assertions that Nader would steal Gore's thunder, he may also capture the vote of people who -- turned off by Bush's candidacy -- would otherwise vote for the Republican. Nader support is growing in the Pacific Northwest, and in the crucial high electoral state of California.

Nader also asked the media to treat third party candidates equitably, allowing them equal access to the masses, instead of working in the mindset that only the two major parties are legitimate.

Sure enough, by the end of the convention, Nader and mainstreams press were cozying up nicely with each other. The day he accepted the nomination, Nader's press handlers insisted that the candidate -- the champion of the little guy -- would only be available for interviews with major daily newspapers.

Manning Marable, the founding director of the Institute for Research in African Studies at Columbia University, delivered a rousing oration calling for economic and social justice. He urged people to ponder tough moral questions.

"Which is worse, George W. Bush's decision to send an innocent man to his death this week, or Al Gore's failure to denounce him?" Manning thundered over Gore's silence over the execution of Gary Graham in Texas.

Radio commentator and keynote speaker Jim Hightower electrified a packed house, highlighting the weekend's oft-repeated theme: Republicans and Democrats have sold out.

Hightower blamed an exodus of would-be Democratic voters from Al Gore's camp on a major party that has abandoned its core values and is now indistinguishable from Republicans.

The former Texas Agriculture Commissioner commended the Greens for their enthusiasm and for shaking things up.

"Agitation is what America is all about," Hightower said. "If it wasn't for agitation we'd all be sitting here wearing powdered wigs and singing God Save the Queen."

In response to Democrats claims that Nader will steal votes away from Gore, Hightower offered the vice president a little piece of advice: "If you want to get rid of the Nader problem, become a Democrat."

Hightower hooted as he cited a June 23 New York Times story quoting U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, condemning potential spoiler Nader as "a very selfish person" who is on an ego trip.

"You can say a lot of things about Ralph Nader, but selfish?" Hightower asked, noting the celebrated consumer advocate lives in a rental apartment, has not owned a car since 1959 and still watches TV in black and white.