Nader Challenges Michael Moore to a Debate

by votenader Fri Oct 29, 2004 14:01

Washington, DC: Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader today held a press conference to tell the American voter: “You have power with your vote. Use it wisely. Every vote counts. If you oppose the illegal war and occupation in Iraq, vote for a candidate who opposes the war – not one who supports it. If you want health care for all, vote for a candidate that has put forward a plan for health care for all – not those that leave millions without health care. If you believe all full time workers should be able to support themselves and their families on their salary, vote for a candidate who will fight for a living wage – not those that remain silent on the rights of workers.”

We have seen in recent elections how the two major parties will fight to prevent voters from voting or from voting for the candidate of their choice. They manipulate registration lists by removing people from the voting roles or even adding people who don’t exist to the registration roles. Our campaign has been subjected to an unprecedented effort to prevent millions of voters from having the choice of voting for Nader/Camejo. And, we have seen the country move to paperless electronic voting on machines that can be manipulated and which do not allow a real recount. I’ve offered the Nader/Camejo campaign to voting rights activists so they can be credentialed and monitor elections because I want to ensure that every vote counts. ...This campaign will not be the end of fighting back against those Democrats who committed constitutional crimes against the voters of America by working to deny them a real choice on the ballot – we will not forget their political bigotry.
Nader/Camejo is running 50 state campaign. It is the only campaign to do so. One of the problems with the Electoral College is that it renders 41 states irrelevant to the campaigns. The major parties don’t campaign there because they already know who is going to win in a winner-take-all system. “It is not healthy for our democracy for voters not to see the candidates for president. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has introduced H.J.R. 109 which would amend the Constitution to abolish the electoral college and provide for direct election of the president by majority vote. Today, I endorse that amendment,” said Nader.

by votenader Fri Oct 29, 2004 14:00

I was saddened to read your open letter urging people to vote for John Kerry in 2004. Saddened, not because of the impact on my vote but because it signals more of the same surrender of some liberal thinkers.

Senator Kerry made it clear in the three debates with President Bush that he has no intention of getting out of the illegal occupation of Iraq. He is going to fight the war to win it and will send more troops if needed. He also showed that rather than challenging the military industrial complex he intends to expand the military by 40,000 more troops. How can any peace activist support a candidate who holds those views? Even without the voice of the peace movement, about half the American public wants the U.S. out of Iraq. If the peace movement had stood for ending the Iraq occupation and demanding that their candidate do so then we would have had a very different debate in 2004. Now, no matter how the election turns out, we are likely to see a bloody offensive after the war and a quagmire that will become a civil war with the U.S. on the side of our puppet government against the Iraqi people.

Regrettably, the same is true for other popular progressive issues. Two-thirds of the public supports health care for all now, yet Senator Kerry has put forward a plan that leaves 20 million without health care. The American public believes that full-time workers should make a wage that they and their families can live on. Yet, John Kerry only advocates raising the minimum wage to $7 an hour by 2007 – this will keep wages at the equivalent of pre-1960 earnings – at a time when some CEO’s are now earning $7,000 per hour. And, even on the environment, in the debates John Kerry made it clear he did not support the Kyoto Treaty – despite the clear evidence of global climate change and its ruinous impact on the environment. The women’s movement has been told that Kerry will consider anti-choice judges and that he is proud of his vote for Justice Scalia. African Americans have been ignored, taken for granted and their issues not even discussed.

If the liberal leadership had not surrendered to the Anybody But Bush mentality and demanded John Kerry support these issues they would have accomplished two important things. First, they would have made John Kerry a better candidate – rather than allowed him to become an echo of George Bush’s policies. Second, they would have advanced the progressive agenda, rather than allowed this popular agenda to be ignored in a presidential election year.

Those of you who were asked to sign this petition by Robert Brandon, a Democratic Party operative, should know that he misled you with his false statement, claiming that Nader/Camejo are supported by “right-wing campaign donors.” The Center for Responsive Politics found that only 4% of Nader/Camejo donations came from Republican donors, many from classmates who I have worked on various social justice issues. Indeed, the Center found that the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, has taken more than $10 million from Republican donors – 100 times more than Nader/Camejo has received. You should not confuse the conclusion of the letter with its deceptive predicates. You should have done your homework.

Finally, what have you said about the anti-democratic dirty tricks, political bigotry, harassment and intimidation by the Democratic Party and the Kerry/Edwards campaign? We would welcome hearing from you if you want to join us in condemning these gross violations of civil liberties and Nader/Camejo and the millions of voters who are denied the candidate of their choice.

I plan to continue to fight for justice – there should be no holiday from that struggle no matter how this election turns out. We hope the scared liberal leaders who abandoned their principles in 2004 will find a way to find the courage of their convictions in the future and rejoin this effort.

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader