Ralph Nader announces 2008 presidential campaign

Nader’s three previous campaigns have involved three separate electoral vehicles. In 1996, he ran as an independent; in 2000, he was the Green Party candidate; and in 2004 he accepted the nomination of the rump of the Reform Party, the organization established by Ross Perot in 1996, which backed ultra-rightist Pat Buchanan in 2000. This year it appears that Nader and his supporters will seek independent status rather than seeking the nomination of the Greens, who are expected to name former Democratic congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as their candidate.

In his “Meet the Press” interview, Nader outlined his criticism of both parties as dominated by corporate interests and cited the growing disaffection with the two-party system as a whole, reflected in polls showing that as many as 80 percent of voters would consider a choice outside the existing political structure.

He cited a number of issues for his campaign, including the war in Iraq, the response of the Bush administration to Hurricane Katrina, the Bush tax cuts and the crisis in access to health care, as well as the impact of globalization on the living standards of American workers. He criticized Democratic front-runner Barack Obama for abandoning a “pro-Palestinian” position he had held in Illinois state politics in favor of uncritical support for Israeli oppression of the Palestinians now that he is a presidential candidate.

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