I’ve been following Ralph Nader’s campaign very closely. I’ve spoken to him twice in the last month, once on the phone and once when he came to Tampa as part of his Florida tour the night before the first presidential debate.
I’ve been hoping he would give voters a clear sign that he would prefer them to vote for Kerry rather than Bush as he seemed to hint at that during an interview session in Tampa. Even though he acts cynical about Democrats almost as much as Republicans he is clearly a very intelligent man and must understand that Kerry would be a better choice than Bush, as far as all his personal beliefs are concerned.
I listened to the clip I recorded when he came to Tampa several times and I think my original assessment was correct. Back then I had the feeling he was essentially telling the press “I just discussed the issues with you and they are very important to me. But we all know the system is rigged, so don’t vote for me, I am just here to raise the issues.” Especially since he knew the cameras and recorders were still running it seemed like he was making a well calculated statement.
But decide for yourself. The clip is here (1 mb wav). As usual, a transcript is inside.
Nader spoke to the press for about 40 minutes. The reporters asked him several rather hard hitting questions while all of them (about 20) and Nader were crammed into a small room. Nader held his ground and eloquently defended all his issues. But after finishing a question about what a Gore presidency may have looked like (the tail end of it is audible in the clip) he stood up and after the press thanked him for the interview he just looked at us all for a moment. After he had looked at each and every one of us the following exchange took place:
Nader: Tell me… do you enjoy these sessions?
(The guy laughing is his campaign manager, which I thought was also odd. Did he know Nader would be doing this?)
The press just stood there looking at each other rather perplexed.
Nader: Huh? (pause) Do you enjoy these sessions?
Reporter: As far as what, sir?
Nader: As far as… why are you spending your time on a small candidate?
(another moment of rather awkward silence. Nobody knew how to respond at first)
Reporter: (crosstalk) Why do you call yourself a small candidate?
(crosstalk)
Nader: Because the system is rigged. The system is rigged.
Reporter: But the more you say that the more the people believe that.
Nader (laughing): Well I am saying it in here, you know. It’s inside baseball. You are not going to relay all that?
Reporter: The cameras are on.
Nader: I dare you to. I am sure you will be surprised about (inaudible)
I remember turning around to a fellow reporter and asking, “Did he just take the proverbial dagger?” The other reporter agreed that this was Nader’s way of telling us that while he is trying to get attention on his issues, he knew full well he did not only stand no chance in the election and he also did not want Bush to win.
