Soap Opera Stars Nader, Ohio Mayor

Consumer activist Ralph Nader continued his feud with Mayor Carty Finkbeiner by sending him a bar of soap with a note reading, “A cleaner tongue may induce a cleaner mind,” to protest his use of profanity at a recent news conference.

The two have been trading pointed remarks since the city agreed to tear down dozens of homes and spend millions of dollars to keep Jeep’s assembly plant in Toledo. The mayor said the project will keep at least 5,000 jobs. Nader describes it as “corporate welfare.”

Finkbeiner, known for his temper, used a vulgar term this month when talking about a newspaper story that questioned the Jeep project’s cost.

Finkbeiner responded: “I wish Ralph Nader a merry Christmas, and I hope in 1999 he has better things to do.”