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Partial transcript of Ralph Nader's comments

Rocky Mountain News

Published June 25, 2008 at 1:46 a.m.

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Below is a partial transcript of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's comments to the Rocky Mountain News about presumed Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. The interview was conducted on Monday at Nader's campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Q: "Do you see Barack Obama as qualitatively different than Al Gore or any other Democrats. He talks about taking on lobbyists, not taking money directly from lobbyists ... People portray him as being different. Do you see him as being any better than Al Gore or any of the other Democrats that you've opposed over the years?"

Nader: "No. I mean, he's deceiving people. He takes, he takes ... In this very building he would take money from corporate lawyers who are not registered lobbyists but whose desks are across the aisle from corporate lawyers who are registered lobbyists in the same law firm. That has been reported more than once in the mainstream press ... Six out of seven industries, as of a month ago, have given more money to Obama than they have to McCain, only the transportation industry is more equal opportunity corruption.

"Look at the health care industry. It has poured money into his campaign. The securities industry, the defense industry. No.

"There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American. Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards."

"I think his main problem is that he censors himself. He knows exactly who has power, who has too much, who has too little, what needs to be done right down to the community level. But he has bought the advice that if you want to win the election, you better take it easy on the corporate abuses and do X, Y, Z. When I hear that I say, 'Oh, I see. So he's doing all this to win the election, and then he'll be different.

"Well let's see if it worked. Did it work for Mondale? Did it work for Dukakis? Did it work for Clinton? Yes, but only because of Perot? Did it work for Gore? Did it work for Kerry ... ?"

Q: "Do you think he's trying to, what was your term, 'talk white?'"

NADER: "Of course. I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law. Haven't heard a thing.

"I mean, the amount of economic exploitation in the ghettos is shocking. You'd think he'd propose a task force to at least study it. I mean, these people are eroded every day. The kids, bodies are asbestos and lead, municipal services discriminate against them because it's the poor area, including fire and police protection and building code enforcement. And then the lenders, the loan sharks get at them, and the dirty food ends up in the ghettos, like the contaminated meat. It's a dumping ground for shoddy merchandise. You don't see many credit unions there. You don't see many libraries there. You don't see many health clinics there. This is, we're talking 40-50 million Americans who are predominantly African-Americans and Latinos. Anybody see that kind of campaigning? Have you seen him campaign in real poor areas of the city very frequently? No, he doesn't campaign there."

Q: "What do you think the purpose of that is?"

NADER: "He wants to show that he is not a threatening, a political threatening, another politically-threatening African-American politician.

"He wants to appeal to white guilt. You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as a black is beautiful, black is powerful. Basically he's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure, whether it's corporate or whether it's simply oligarchic. And they love it. Whites just eat it up."

Comments

  • June 25, 2008

    4:06 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    windskull writes:

    Ralph you are a fine one to talk,ever since abandoning your niche autos,food, water, medicine & medical device recalls have gone off the charts! Why did you do America & the world that way Mr Nader you should have stuck to what you know making corporations work for the good of all!

  • June 25, 2008

    4:37 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    STOPUSAGiveaway writes:

    Obama Explains National Anthem Stance
    Is this guy crazy or what!
    Hot on the heels of his explanation for why he no longer wears a flag pin, presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama was forced to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.
    According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171. During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.
    "As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides," Obama said. "There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and a ll. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to
    Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it."
    This is a male claiming he wants to become President of the United States of America..
    President of the USA from which US Troops have been systematically sacrificed around the world for FREEDOM....
    and the honor to be able to salute the red, white and blue...
    THERE IS A lst for everything...may we never hear anyone make the same statement ever again...
    Someone is under fire in Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations so they can die for the above...
    Millions of our Dead have turned over in their graves--
    The comment sounds more like an Arab getting ready to declare JIHAD in front of all of us--
    One Nation Under GOD

  • June 25, 2008

    7:04 a.m.

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    mama_mia writes:

    Ralph Nader's comments have got to be the most racist words I've ever heard come out of the mouth of a "presidential candidate".

    Obama should do this and say that because he's black????? He's trying to "talk white"?????

    Thanks for showing us YOUR true colors, Ralph. You are an idiot.

  • June 25, 2008

    11:43 a.m.

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    lauracf writes:

    STOPUSAGiveaway, please check your facts before posting. Obama never said anything like that. It's an urban legend.

    http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/...

  • June 25, 2008

    12:23 p.m.

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    jce44 writes:

    mama_mia said it succinctly! Nader's a has-been, "fly in the ointment", cry baby. Forty years ago, when he had nothing good to say, it was a good thing! Now, he comes off as someone who couldn't make it himself and can't stand a good thing when he sees it?

    I agree that Senator Obama is being cautious! But it may be because he has the good sense to be. Nader using phrases like "talking white" is racially inflammatory, and not to the point. If Ralph doesn't like Obama's lack of radical speech or stance, then he should just say that. Maybe Senator Obama sees a broader audience for his representation, like, ALL of us?

  • June 26, 2008

    12:12 p.m.

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    Alessandro writes:

    The Obamabots favorite way to dis someone, is to say they are old.

    Nader makes several excellent points. The smoking gun points at George Soros. George Soros and his media cohorts at MSNBC, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Moveon, Media Matters and CNN helped Obama while all masqueraded as "news outlets".

    As a result, Obama will not go against George Soros. Barack Obama is a House Slave in the George Soros Mansion, that is what Ralph Nader is saying between the lines.

    http://www.Hillary-Wins.com
    http://www.FAIR-REFLECTION.com
    http://www.CaucusCheating.com
    http://www.WallStreetChange.com

  • July 9, 2008

    6:45 p.m.

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    JBNicholsonOwens writes:

    mama_mia, please describe how Nader's words are racist. It would seem that Nader did a good job explaining where Obama gets his money, that Obama doesn't speak to the poor (directly or by addressing their interests), and that the (largely corporate) power structure in the US is mostly made up white men. Therefore it makes sense to notice how one benefits by not threatening their interests (one of which seems to be killing Arabs in the wars of aggression in Iraq & Afghanistan which Obama votes to continue funding which strikes me as racist because we had no good reason to prosecute these invasions or occupations and we continue them despite any good reason to do so).