Nader talks issues he feels Obama, McCain are neglecting

By Rachana Dixit

Published: July 13, 2008

Anti-corporation sentiments flourished at Gravity Lounge on Sunday afternoon, where White House hopeful Ralph Nader stopped by on his independent presidential campaign tour.

“[Corporations] were never designed to rule us,” said Nader, who first appeared on the presidential ballot in 2000. “They were designed to be our servants, now they have become our masters.”

Nader drew nearly 3 percent of the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election, when he was the Green Party nominee. He was not on the ballot in 2004.

Speaking for roughly 45 minutes, the candidate presented 12 “on the table” issues that he said neither mainstream-party hopeful, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, has

addressed. Among those were cutting the military budget, adopting single-payer national health insurance, completely reversing the United States’ policy in the Middle East, impeaching President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and cracking down on corporate crime and welfare.

Charlottesville resident Armando Lopez said he agreed with several of Nader’s views.

“I think the other two parties are puppies of industrialization,” he said, adding that he has never followed a politician before.

“I’ve never been politically inclined, but it makes for good entertainment,” Lopez said.

Nader, whose running mate is California lawyer Matt Gonzalez, said the two-party political system needs to be toppled to have truly progressive government, but acknowledged that it would not be easy.

“Trying to defeat [the system] is like climbing a mountain with a slippery rope,” Nader said. Gonzalez was not present at Sunday’s rally.

Nader added that several previous U.S. political parties — Populists, Greenbacks and the National Woman’s Party — brought about many of the rights that currently exist, though they never won a national election.

“Where do you think new ideas come from?” Nader asked the crowd of about 200.

National polls estimate that Nader has about 6.5 percent of the vote. In an interview last week, the candidate said he chose to come to Charlottesville because it is “a hub of progressive activity.”

“University towns are always very encouraging and illuminating places for us to campaign,” Nader said.

As far as state issues go, Nader said some of Virginia’s greatest needs are more rail lines and public transport, and it needs to become less dependent on coal-burning plants for energy.

“Energy efficiency is the way to go,” he said in a phone interview last week.

During his speech, he also said that solar energy should be a national priority in government energy policy, not just an addition into the general mix.

“The sun is ready and able,” he said amid chuckles from his throng of supporters.

Currently Nader is on the ballot in 10 states and hopes to be on 15 by the end of this week. The Nader-Gonzalez campaign goal is to be on 45 state ballots by Labor Day.

To be included on Virginia’s ballot, the candidate must obtain 10,000 petition signatures, with at least 400 from each congressional district.

“I would say it’s one of the top 15 difficult states,” said Nader, referring to Virginia.

Albemarle County residents Amanda Downing and Rolland Colella came to the event sporting homemade T-shirts with the words “Darth Nader” sprayed on in black and an accompanying image of the popular “Star Wars” character.

“Darth Vader was awesome,” said Colella, who said that in the end the evil character overthrew his oppressive ruler and restored power to those who deserved it.

But during an open question and answer session, city resident Charlotte Smith said corporations are not only to blame for the course the nation has taken — citizens helped let it go by unprotested. She said Americans need to use their tremendous purchasing power to make a point, something that past generations did not have.

“We let it happen,” she said. “Why did we let it happen?”

Nader’s appearance marked the fourth time a candidate in the 2008 presidential election has come to Charlottesville. Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dennis Kucinich and Obama all made campaign stops here earlier this year.