Labor Chief Touts Third-Party Candidates
By Thomas B. Edsall Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 22, 2000; 1:03 PM
Teamsters president James P. Hoffa today heaped praise on the pro-labor positions of Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and called for the inclusion of both Nader and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan in the presidential debates this fall.
Stopping short of a full-scale endorsement, Hoffa told a packed news conference that "no one in the political arena speaks stronger on the issues important to working American families than Ralph Nader. Ralph Nader understands what globalization means: Money and jobs are going overseas. U.S. workers can't compete with slave labor. It's a race to the bottom."
With Nader by his side, Hoffa said that "only Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan have stood with the American workers on trade." He added, however, that on the broad range of labor issues - union representation, health and safety laws and a host of other issues - Nader is on the side on the union movement, while Buchanan is not.
But, because the two would force public discussion of the crucial issue of trade, Hoffa said the Presidential Debate Commission should drop the requirement that a candidate receive at least 15 percent support in public opinion polls to qualify for participation in the debates and include the two third-party candidates.
"Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan must be included in the electoral process," Hoffa said. "Furthermore, the commission should hold a debate dedicated specifically to address[ing] workers' issues and the issue of globalization."
Nader, for his part, reiterated his sharp criticism of trade agreements negotiated by the Clinton-Gore administration and enacted by Congress, including NAFTA, GATT and the normalization of relations with China. Nader promised if elected president to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.
Hoffa's promotion of Nader is widely viewed as damaging to the Democratic campaign of Vice President Gore, since most of Nader's support is from progressive and liberal voters who would be likely to vote Democratic if faced with a choice between Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
Nader disputed that, contending that he will bring in many voters who might not cast ballots at all if their choices were limited to Bush and Gore. Those voters, he said, will help Democrats in their drive to retake the House and to pick up seats in the U.S. Senate.
Nader denounced both the Democratic and Republican parties, declaring that the two have become advocates of "policies of, by and for big business."
Hoffa did not rule out the possibility of endorsing Gore later on the the campaign, but he said before such an action is possible, Gore "has got to propose a complete policy with regard to organized labor." Hoffa, describing the union movement, said, "We are very powerful and Al Gore cannot get elected without organized labor."
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
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