Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
Nader says, "We need more politicians like Dr. Paul" Presidential candidate praises Ron Paul while wooing his progressive and libertarian supporters.by George Dance
(libertarian)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
On June 13, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader issued the following statement on Ron Paul's suspension of his campaign for the Republican nomination:
Ron Paul was a lightning rod for millions of Americans against the war in Iraq and for the protection of personal liberties that the two major parties have turned their back on -- by continuing to support the illegal criminal war and the PATRIOT Act.
Now that Dr. Paul has formally withdrawn his candidacy for the G.O.P. nomination and is no longer seeking the Presidency, there is a clear choice for those who want to support a candidate who will stand up against the war and stand up for personal liberties and privacy that have been trampled by the notorious, misnamed, PATRIOT Act.
The people want the next President to immediately withdraw our soldiers and corporate mercenaries from Iraq in the safest manner possible.
I would veto any attempt to extend the so-called PATRIOT Act or anything else that came across my desk that was designed to circumvent the civil liberties of the American People.
The PATRIOT Act grants excessive power to the government to abuse civil liberties through wiretaps, monitoring internet usage, authorized 'sneak and peek' of our homes, and forces libraries to turn over records of the books read by their patrons -- and those abuses of power have been used repeatedly by Bush and his Justice Department.
We need more politicians, like Dr. Paul, who are not afraid to stand up for our civil liberties.
Nader, 74, is in his fifth campaign for President. As the Green Party nominee in 2000, he received just 3% of the vote, but was widely considered the "spoiler" who cost Al Gore the presidency. He has been polling as high as 6% in national polls this year.
While Nader's statement looks like an up-front appeal to the "Ron Paul left" (as Reason puts it), it could also appeal to libertarians upset with Liberarian Party nominee Bob Barr, who as a Republican congressman voted for both the USA PATRIOT Act and the "use of force" authorization on Iraq.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of George Dance only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. George Dance is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
I disagree with Nader on enough issues to not vote for, though I admire his motivation. Those who are angered by his candidacy and claim him to be a spoiler need to realize that their solution to their "problem" would be to have a their candidate be worth voting for. Of course, those people never vote FOR anyone, anyways.
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