Ralph Nader

* Thank God for Ralph Nader. Where would we be without him (June 27)? He reveals that 25% of children in California live below the poverty line, 20% in the nation. California, one of the richest states in the union, has children going to bed hungry every night.

California is below the national average in education spending per child. Also, quality of education may differ within the same school district. Nothing will change. It doesn’t matter whether Al Gore or George W. Bush is elected president. They worship at the same altar of corporate giants. And the giants can handle both Gore and Bush. They can’t handle Nader.

DON RADEMACHER

Glendale

*

Your June 26 coverage of Nader, the day after he was nominated for president by the Green Party, consisted of a seven-paragraph Associated Press story on Page A10. I watched most of Nader’s speech on C-SPAN June 25. If American voters ever actually heard what he has to say, the two major candidates--particularly Gore--would be forced to begin discussing real issues, the ones that impact the future of all Americans and of democracy itself.

It’s clear that’s what Nader’s after. Not to win, but to get the candidates to deal with reality. He wants the presidential debates opened to all candidates who qualify for federal matching funds. But the two major parties are limiting participation to candidates with at least 15% support in national polls, a goal which Nader is guaranteed never to achieve if newspaper coverage of his candidacy consists of short pieces buried on Page 10.

GAIL CHRISTENSEN

Burbank