Nader enters presidential race
The Green Party crusader
announced his intentions
to run as an independent
Sunday on “Meet the Press”
By Jeff Zeleny
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
WASHINGTON — Ignoring appeals
from many of his own admirers, Ralph
Nader declared Sunday he would run
for president as an independent but ve
hemently denied suggestions he could
derail the Democratic Party's effort to
defeat President Bush.
The longtime consumer advocate,
whose third-party candidacy has been
blamed for tipping the 2000 election to
Bush, accused Democrats and Republi
cans of being consumed by corporate
interests. By running again, he said, he
hoped to break a "two-party duopoly
that is converging more and more"
His decision to enter the 2004 presi
dential race, announced in an interview
on NBC's "Meet the Press," infuriated
Democrats who believe the general
election match against Bush could be as
narrow as the last race. Several party
leaders, including national chairman
Terry McAuliffe, had personally plead
ed with Nader not to run.
"He's had a whole distinguished ca
reer fighting for working families, and
I would hate to see part of his legacy
being that he got us eight years of
George Bush," McAuliffe said on CBS'
"Face the Nation."
Democratic leaders had few kind
words about Nader on Sunday.
"It's about him, it's about his ego,"
said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richard
son. "It's about his vanity and not
about a movement."
Nader, whose Green Party candidacy
received about 2.7 percent of the vote
four years ago, faces new challenges
running as an independent. He will
have to fight to be included on the bal
lot state by state, and must raise money
without an established political party.
Democrats believe that many of Nad
er's 2,878,157 ballots in the 2000 presi
dential race might have gone to A1 Gore
induding 97,488 in Florida and 22,198
in New I lampshire Gore lost both states
by narrow margins in an election that
was so dose that it ultimatdy was derid
ed by a split Supreme Court derision.
In the 2000 campaign, Nader re
peatedly argued there were few differ
ences between Democrats and Repub
licans. He conceded Sunday there
were, indeed, distinctions between the
parties, but said "it's a question be
tween both parties flunking."
"They may be different in their
mind, they may be different in their
attention, they may be different in
their rhetoric," Nader said. "But in the
actual performance, these corporate
interests and their political allies are
taking America down."
When asked if he was getting into the
race to be a spoiler, Nader bristled, say
ing: "A spoiler is a contemptuous term,
as if anybody who dares to challenge
the two-party system is a spoiler, and
we've got to fight that."
The Bush campaign, which is
preparing to step up its re-election ef
fort Monday with a campaign-style
speech by the president in Washing
ton and television ads to follow next
week, did not comment on Nader's
announcement. The chairman of the
Republican National Committee,
though, said Bush would win regard
less of who was in the race.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the
front-runner in the Democratic presi
dential race, said Sunday that he in
tended to reach out to voters who may
be intrigued by Nader. He rejected the
notion there were few differences be
tween the political parties.
"I think it was pretty clear to most
Americans that the difference was night
and day," Kerry told reporters while
campaigning in Atlanta. "I intend to
speak to all Americans. If people want
to beat George Bush badly and they un
derstand what's at stake here, they'll see
that I am speaking to concerns that
Ralph Nader and other people have"
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina
who is chasing Kerry in the fight for the
party's presidential nomination,
suggested that his candidacy would offer
more appeal to Nader's followers.
"It's important for the Democrats,"
Edwards said, "to have somebody at the
top of the ticket who will be appealing
to some of the voters that Ralph Nader
might attract."
With Howard Dean out of the De
mocratic race, Nader hopes to tap into
the same kind of resentment against
the establishment and lure disaffected
followers of the former Vermont gover
nor to his campaign. Dean, though, has
vowed to support the party's nominee
Susan MacManus, a professor of
political science at the University of
South Florida, said she believed Nad
er's candidacy could make the differ
ence in a narrowly divided electorate
where many voters may be dissatis
fied with both parties by the fall elec
tion. And Dean supporters, she said,
"could be attracted to a rebel and a
nontraditional type of candidate."
The announcement that Nader
would enter the race came in the wake
of an unusually aggressive effort led by
former supporters and other Democ
rats, encouraging him to stay out of the
campaign. A new Web site,
http://www.ralphdontmn.net, was cre
ated to highlight the differences be
tween the political parties.
While many Democratic governors
meeting Sunday in Washington ex
pressed concern about the prospect of
Nader's candidacy, Gov. Tom Vilsack of
Iowa said the climate has changed con
siderably since the 2000 campaign, in
which Nader declared both political
parties equal.
"I don't think his message is going to
fly," Vilsack said in an interview. "One
thing we know for sure in this country,
after three years of President Bush's ad
ministration, there is one hell of a dif
ference at every level. There's a hell of a
difference and people know it and peo
ple see it."
(c) 2004, Chicago Tribune.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Chicago Tribune
correspondent Jill Zuckman
in Atlanta contributed to this report.
‘Gadfly’ showcases successes,
trials of former Oregon senator
"American Gadfly," a play
shown at Lane Community
College on Sunday, details
the life of Wayne Morse
By Catherine Ryan
Freelance Reporter
Hero, maverick, unstable politician,
gentleman and squeaky wheel: All titles
used to describe the late Wayne Morse,
the subject of "American Gadfly," a
one-man play performed Sunday at
Lane Community College.
Lane Community College teacher Ju
dith "Sparky" Roberts directed the
Charles Deemer play starring Claude
Offenbacher. The performance was es
pecially relevant because Morse, an
Oregon senator from 1945 to 1969,
made his home in Eugene until he died
in 1974. Performing the play at LCC
was fitting because Morse said he be
lieved liberty needs an educated citi
zenry to survive.
The play began with Offenbacher en
tering the stage hall from the rear of the
performance hall. As he made his way
to the stage he paused to shake hands
with audience members.
"Nice to see you here" he said. "I'd
appreciate your vote."
Dressed in a suit glasses and hat Of
fenbacher brought the character to life.
He paced back and forth across the
stage and directly addressed the audi
ence. He made campaign speeches,
talked on the phone to personalities
such as Richard Nixon — "Dick," as
Morse called him — and lamented the
state of politics. In the play, nothing was
safe from Morse's cutting criticism. The
play portrayed Morse giving his fili
buster speech from 11:30 a.m. to 9:56
a m. the following day in an effort to
stop a bill that would have given Texas
tidelines to oil companies.
In 1952, Morse left the Republican
party in protest of the presidential candi
date; Dwight D. Eisenhower and his run
ning mate, Richard Nixon. In a symbolic
gesture, Morse brought a folding chair to
the senate and sat in the aisle separating
the Republicans and Democrats.
"The Republicans disown me, the
Democrats have nothing to offer me,"
he said. "Then I'll bring my own chair
to the Senate and sit in the aisle."
He later joined the Democratic par
ty in 1955.
Roberts said the play was meant to
portray Morse's personality and work.
She said it showed the good arguments
he had and the reasons why many peo
ple disliked him.
"He didn't care about being unpopu
lar, "she said.
Indeed, Morse's actions onstage even
ruffled some feathers in the audience.
In a panel discussion after the play, Eu
gene resident George Boehnke said
Morse had good ideas but was too fo
cused on himself.
'That's why he got so few things done
for the state of Oregon," Boehnke said.
Even Morse's character joked about
his lack of victories. In his filibuster, he
said, "My daughters rib me from time
to time They will say, 'Dad, do you ever
get anything through the Senate? Do
you ever win any of your batdes?'"
But according to Deemer, Morse ex
ercised the important role of the gadfly
although he claimed few political vic
tories. Morse acted as a persistent critic
of politics he opposed.
"I vote my conscience, not a party
line," Offenbacher said in the play.
While his stands on controversial is
sues alienated many politicians and cit
izens alike, he became a hero for many.
Panel member Marjorie Goss, who met
Morse at a dinner party, came to admire
him although her family thought he
was a "nutcase."
"He was a real beacon for some of
us who thought we needed someone
who was outspoken, frank and hon
est," Goss said.
Panel member and former Oregon
representative Jim Weaver said he
watched the play wondering what
Morse would say about the current po
litical environment.
"He would be attacking the Bush ad
ministration on the floor of the Senate
so hard, so well, that he would have just
shriveled (Bush)," Weaver said. "We
need Wayne Morse back again."
Roberts said she directed the play
because of the "timeliness of
(Morse's) words." She said she hopes
to tour colleges and civic groups
throughout the Northwest and wants
to bring a political message through
drama, especially to students.
'They have got to speak out" Roberts
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