did you give it much consideration before you wrote "Screw Nader"? it's such a typically hostile, emotional, knee jerk democrat attitude.
R
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nathan Newman" <nathanne at nathannewman.org> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:09 AM Subject: Nader Goes Buchananite (Re: [lbo-talk] Vote Nader/Camejo 2004!
How can any progressive seriously support Nader, who advocates cracking down on immigrants entering the country and opposes legalization of existing immigrants in this country. He gave an interview to Pat Buchanan in THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, where he played to anti-immigrant conservatives:
"This is very difficult because you are giving a green light to cross the border illegally. I don't like the idea of legalization because then the question is how do you prevent the next wave and the next?... We don't have the absorptive capacity for that many people. Over 32 million came in, in the '90s, which is the highest in American history...We have to control our immigration. We have to limit the number of people who come into this country illegally..."
He even attacked the AFL-CIO for trying to organize those immigrants:
"The AFL-CIO has no objection to it [immigration] because they think they can organize the illegal workers because they have been so inept at organizing other workers."
This is not an interview he gave to raise provocative questions among a lefty crowd. This was an interview throwing red meat to the Pat Buchanan crowd reading the magazine. Yes, Nader advocates applying existing labor laws to immigrants already in the US, but if he combines that with marshalling more support for tougher INS enforcement, it's hardly a progressive position.
Screw Nader. His "national sovereignty" rhetoric always sounded too nationalistic in the trade debate, but this reveals a real chauvinistic streak in Nader that is unacceptable in anyone posing as a non-"lesser evil."
How Nader supporters can make common cause with the Buchanan-related Reform Party, which has given Nader its endorsement as well, is beyond me.
-- Nathan
----- Original Message ----- From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>; <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 8:42 PM Subject: [lbo-talk] Vote Nader/Camejo 2004!
Vote Nader/Camejo 2004!
Great news! Ralph Nader did the right thing and chose Peter Miguel Camejo for his running mate:
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader selected Peter Camejo, a Green Party activist from California, as his vice presidential nominee on Monday.
The pick comes just days before the Green Party will select its candidate for the White House at its national convention in Milwaukee, where Camejo said he will make the case for Nader, the party's presidential nominee four years ago.
Although not actively seeking the Green nomination, Nader said he would accept it and the access to 22 state ballot lines the party selection brings with it. . . .
Camejo ran as the Green Party candidate for governor of California in the special election won by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. Camejo appeared in the campaign's only nationally televised debate and won 3 percent of the vote. He also ran for governor in 2002, winning 5 percent.
The son of Venezuelan immigrants and fluent in Spanish, Camejo said at the press conference announcing his selection he would lead the Nader campaign's outreach to Hispanics, a traditional Democratic constituency.
The campaign's central issue, Camejo said, would be opposition to the war in Iraq, and criticized Bush and Kerry for having identical positions. . . .
His campaign turned in about 40,000 signatures on Monday to get on the Illinois ballot, more than the required 25,000. Petitions have also been completed in Texas and Arizona and are awaiting certification. . . . (Rolando Garcia/Reuters, "Independent Nader Taps Green Party Activist for VP," June 21, 2004)
Nader's choice of Camejo as his vice presidential candidate makes it much easier for the left-wing of the Green Party -- of which Camejo is the most prominent member -- to get the party to endorse the Nader campaign at its national convention. Now, the promise of the Nader campaign has dramatically increased quantitatively and qualitatively. The Nader/Camejo ticket will likely receive the Green Party's 22 state ballot lines and, in addition to Nader's own efforts so far and the Reform Party's 7 ballot lines, can mount an all-out campaign in almost all states! Camejo will move the Nader campaign's politics sharply to the left, too, especially on issues such as immigration on which Nader's own rhetoric at times has been found wanting by left-wing activists. Now, we're really good to go!
Vote Nader/Camejo 2004!
[The text with full links: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/06/vote-nadercamejo-2004.html>.] -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/> ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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