Ralph Nader: the people's candidate

A couple of weeks ago, I went to hear Ralph Nader speak at the Statler Towers in my hometown of Buffalo, NY. As a feminist and a former escort at an abortion clinic, I knew I was concerned about allowing George W. Bush, DC '68, who has consistently voiced his desire for a constitutional amendment banning all abortion procedures, to ascend to the presidency of the United States. But I wasn't sure how I felt about Nader.

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Then I heard him speak. The room was filled to capacity, and the overflow in the halls brought the audience to a grand total of around 200 people—no great shakes for any politician, least of all a presidential candidate. But that didn't stop Naderfrom putting on an inspring show for his devoted audience.

In his speech, he went after everything from monopolistic drug companies to soft money, reserving an especially vitriolic tirade for the Democrats, who actually seem to disgust him on a more personal level than the Republicans. He drew roars of laughter and applause with his sneering references to the "born-again populist" tendencies of Al Gore and a description of Newt Gingrich as an "evil, evil man." Charging the current administration with deliberately misrepresenting the nation's economic condition, Nader presented a list of grievances. He pointed out that today a majority of workers are making less money, adjusted for inflation, than in 1979. With inflation, the minimum wage is lower now than it was 21 years ago. American workers are working longer—163 more hours per year than they were 20 years ago—and spending less time with their families and in their communities. The distribution of wealth is more unequal today than at any time since World War II. The richest one percent of American society has more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined—the greatest disparity among all developed nations.

His disdain for "the politics of big business" and the tainted money behind the Gore and Bush campaigns was evident. Calling Bush "a corporation disguised as a man running for president," he echoed the sentiments of syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, who recently wrote that the major-party candidates ought to have the names of their corporate sponsors stitched onto their shirt pockets. "This should not be a government of the Exxons, by the General Motors, and for the DuPonts," Nader thundered. "This is supposed to be a government of the peo-ple, by the people, and for the people!" The last part of this phrase was drowned out by clapping and stomping that had swelled to a fever pitch. As his speech concluded, Nader quietly encouraged us with the most poignant words of the day: "Vote your dreams," he said, "not your fears." In other words, don't be cowed into voting for Al Gore (and thus, big corporations and politics as usual) just so George Dubya doesn't get to grab the White House.

Maybe by now you're asking, "so what?" The man delivers a good speech. A good speech does not a good president make. As I was leaving the auditorium, a man approached an awestruck audience member and asked what all these people were doing here. "Ralph Nader just spoke," the audience member said. "Who's Ralph Nader?" the other asked.

The best little candidate money can't buy graduated magna cum laude from Princeton in 1955, and then from Harvard Law School in 1958. In 1965, he published the book that thrust him into the national spotlight, Unsafe at Any Speed, a stunning exposé of General Motors' defective Corvair. Building on his reputation for standing up to predatory corporations, Nader launched the modern consumer protection movement. He and his activist colleagues (Nader's Raiders) from around the country have since banded together to fight for laws that protect consumers, workers, taxpayers, and the environment, that condemn corporate abuses, and that increase citizen access to government.

His running mate is Winona LaDuke, a Native American woman who does not in any way resemble Liddy Dole. A 1982 Harvard graduate, LaDuke lives on Minnesota's White Earth Reservation and is the board co-chair of the Indigenous Women's Network and the program director of the national Honor the Earth Fund. She is the author of Last Standing Woman and All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life.

I still can't say that I'm 100 percent convinced that voting for Nader is the most pragmatic choice in this November's election. But after hearing the man speak, I can say that I am ready to throw pragmatism to the wind. To hell with prudence and predictions and being afraid of the Big Bad Bush; Ralph Nader is a man of true vision and true conviction, a man to be listened to and given due consideration, and a man with a damned sight more integrity, respectability, and good old fire in the belly than either Gore or Bush. We owe it to ourselves to lend him our ears, if not our votes.

Raina Lipsitz is a freshman in Trumbull.

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