Green Party Nominates Nader for President

Ralph Nader, the pioneer consumer activist who has spent a lifetime attacking the Washington establishment, Monday accepted the Green Party’s nomination for president, declaring his candidacy a crusade against corporate interests’ domination of the electoral process.

Nader, 62, said he hoped his unconventional, no-frills campaign would galvanize opposition to the Republican and Democratic parties and offer a “progressive alternative” to the two-party system.

“This is the first stage of the breakup of the two-party duopoly,” he said at a midday news conference before accepting the nomination Monday night at UCLA’s MacGowan Hall. “The days of millions of people turned off to politics and staying home and not voting may be changing.”

Ever the iconoclast, Nader made it clear he does not plan to run on the Green Party platform, which includes support for affirmative action and gay rights in addition to its fundamental support of environmental protection and social justice.

“It’s an excellent platform, but I’m independent and I’m not running on any platform,” he said. “I’m emphasizing the parts [of the platform] that reflect my own interests.”

Thus, he declined to answer a question about gay marriages (which are supported by most Greens), saying it would detract from the central focus of his campaign, a critique of corporate America and what he called “a government of the Exxons, by the General Motors and for the Du Ponts.”

It is the first time the Green Party has chosen a presidential candidate. Party officials said Nader was on the ballot in a dozen states, including New York and California, where there are 85,000 registered members. They hope to have him on the ballot in as many as 30 states by November. Nader and party officials said they will meet to choose a vice presidential candidate by the end of the month.

Nader said his would be something of an anti-candidacy, with few of the trappings associated with national presidential campaigns. He will travel alone, without the usual entourage of aides and press deputies, and will spend no more than $5,000 of his own money.

Asked how he planned to reach voters, Nader said he would “campaign through the free [news] media and make very brief sojourns through a number of states.”

A former employee of the Department of Labor, Nader first came to national prominence in 1965, when his book “Unsafe at Any Speed” exposed the inadequacy of safety standards for automobiles. Since then, his name has become synonymous with the movement for consumer protection.

Green Party activists said Nader’s candidacy would help their fledgling party gain prominence both in California and across the nation. The party is running candidates in state and local elections from Alaska to Maine.

“Because Ralph Nader is such a widely recognized, respected individual, a lot of people who didn’t know about the Green Party are learning about it,” said Greg Jan, chairman of the California Committee to Draft Ralph Nader.

Nader’s hourlong news conference reflected what is sure to be the defining characteristic of his campaign: erudite barbs aimed at the wealthy and powerful.

The candidate did not spare either of his major party opponents his sharp-edged wit. “President Clinton is too unprincipled ever to lose to Sen. Dole,” Nader said. “He will never let Dole turn his right flank.”

And of Clinton’s Republican opponent, he added: “There are few legislators in history who have sold out more thoroughly, more frequently and more diversely than Senator Dole.”

Nader said he felt uncomfortable with modern campaigning and its emphasis on personality.

“I do not like to engage in flattery,” he said. “I like to engage in the urgent exhortation of the citizenry.”

Green Party activist and Santa Monica City Council candidate Mike Feinstein would not estimate what the party would spend to help Nader, suggesting a figure of “more than $10,000 and less than $1 million” in California.

Political experts said Monday that although the effect of the Nader candidacy is difficult to assess, he has the most potential for eating into the vote for President Clinton. Nader votes would be especially costly to Clinton in California, where the president is counting on winning the state’s crucial 54 electoral votes.

However, any Nader impact on the Clinton vote might be more than offset by the presence of Reform Party candidate Ross Perot, who is likely to cost the Republican ticket votes.

Nader “can campaign without spending a lot of money because he is viewed as someone who is colorful and interesting to cover,” said Darry Sragow of Los Angeles, a veteran Democratic political consultant. “He does have credibility if not viability. He’ll be taken seriously, but his prospects may not be taken seriously.”

The most logical hypothesis is that Nader would take votes from the Democratic ticket because of his reputation as a strong environmentalist and a consumer advocate, Sragow said.

California Democratic Party consultant Bob Mulholland, asked about the potential impact of a Nader candidacy, answered: “None.”

“The Green Party . . . peaked the day they qualified” for the ballot, Mulholland said. “It’s sort of like the Greens and Nader need each other because neither of them is going anywhere.”

In a Los Angeles Times poll conducted among California registered voters in March, Nader was favored by 7% of those polled compared with 12% for Perot, 31% for Dole and 47% for Clinton. That was before the March 26 California primary.