Ron Paul fans, Ralph Nader wants your attention

Ron Paul backers, do not despair. You have a new suitor: Ralph Nader.

In the wake of the decision by the 72-year-old Paul to, via his website, officially declare an end to his presidential quest, the 74-year-old Nader showed a political agility that has not always marked his many, many runs for the White House. Today, he released the following statement:

"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 Paul has formally withdrawn his candidacy for the G.O.P. nomination and is no longer seeking the Presidency, there is a clear choice for those who want to support a candidate who will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 isn't quite as assertive on another of Paul's prime issues, the Federal Reserve Board.

Paul, much to the delight of many of his supporters, has pushed for wiping the board off the face of the earth; Nader's focus has been on prodding it to do its job with greater vigilance and more openly.

-- Don Frederick

Photo: Nick Wass / Associated Press

Comments

[Michael Cathcart]

I truely believe that Nader is a good man who has not been corrupted. However he brings big government ideals and solutions to our countrys problems and that is exactly what we need to get away from.

[joe]

Nader just doesn't get it ...it's the Federal Reserve duh! Printing money out of thin air irresponsibility is not cool... sending millions of jobs overseas is not cool...he gets it on many other issues, but us paultards are not ready to drive our Corvars down to the left wing retard party ...sorry ... nice try Ralph! Oh and the L.A. Times still sucks …

[Race]

As a Ron Paul supporter, I think that most of us will have to go with Barr as he aligns more with Paul's ideals than Nader does. Just my humble opinion.

[Eli]

Thank you very much Mr. Nader but we would also like a much smaller government.

[Teflon Ron]

Ideologically incomputable! LA Times, I thought you knew?
Nader is good man, my respects.

[Paul]

Nader? Better than the two clowns the MSM have so carefully worked for us to have, but no thanks. He is not the answer.

[Mike Parker]

Is Nader that stupid? Or just desperate? Either way, he clearly doesn't get it:

Ron Paul's attraction is that he wants government out of our lives -- ALL of our lives. Nader's platform of restoring civil liberties and ending the Iraq war doesn't scratch the surface; he still wants to run every facet of our lives, from how many MPG our cars must get, to taking away our right to own guns, to forcing government-run health care on everyone.

Mr. Nader, you will never get my vote.

[P. A.]

Not only does Nader still need to get on ballots (which would be quite a headache, especially here in N.C.), he also needs to prove that he is a better choice than Bob Barr - the former Republican Congressman turned Libertarian.

Watch his interview with Glenn Beck. Most Ron Paul supporters would pick Barr over Nader any day.

Nader vs. Barr = Centralization vs. Decentralization

I know I'm not the only Ron Paul Republican who will be voting Barr.

[NH]

He wants our attention but he's not going to get it!

He's a died in the wool communist don't forget!

He's not as bad as Obama but almost!

Forget it, we don't care what Nader wants.

[Kenneth Clark]

Ralph Nader has devoted 40 plus years fighting the elite
and powerful interests (corporations, lobbyists) when
those interest trample on the citizenry.

Ralph will assemble a team dedicated to purging D.C. from it current status of
"Corporate Occupied Territory".

Whose side are you on?

Nader/Gonzales-2008 . . . or . . . .

Corporate Greed, Power and Control:

Agr-Business, Big-Banks, Private-Equity, HMOs,
Union Busters, NAFTA, Globalizaiton Illegal Immigration, Low Wages, High Energy, Food etc.

On the contrary, he will get BIG-Govt, BIG-OIL, BIG-Banks etc. pared back and stop this
premeditated massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the so called .. . (elites- phew).

[Henry Miller, Cary, NC]

Nader has got to be kidding! The man is a flaming exponent of huge government and nothing in his record suggests he's ever even read the Constitution.

[Matthew]

From what I've heard of Nader, he's a good independent voice and from the videos I've seen of the man, he is very calm and well spoken. I don't much agree with his (Nader's) methodology for correction of Big Gov, but I believe he is an honest man. He is worth listening to.
However, having dedicated much effort and time to the RP campaign this last year, the good doctor will be getting my vote in November.

Good blog post.

[Shawn]

Thanks Mr. Nader,

I'll be going to Bob Barr, but I appreciate your consideration. Perhaps your concerns could be addressed in the Libertarian tent as well.

[Jeffrey]

If Nader- or any candidate for public office- want the votes of the Revolution, they know what our agenda is.
The US Constitution has no allowances for the Patriot Act, the Federal Reserve, undeclared pre-emptive wars, torture, nor the hoarding of power by the executive branch and the bloating of the federal government.
When- exactly- did our most treasured document come to be seen as ideas of the "fringe", "wackos", or "extremists"?
When did the utter insanity of powers-that-be become "normal', "business as usual"?
It is early in the movement, but we will have candidates willing to follow these simple principles, and many informed and eager citizens lining-up to support and vote for them.

[Brad Linzy]

I agree with the post by Michael Cathcart, Nader, while much better than what we're used to, is still a big government junkie who would unwittingly turn over more freedoms and responsibilities to state power while trying to combat the most overt abuses.

In order to right this ship, we're going to need a complete 360 degree return to Constututional principles, and that begins with a return to sound monetary policy and a legalization of competitive forms of currency.

The legal tender laws need to be wiped off the books...then you won't have to abolish the Federal Reserve, it will collapse of its own accord beause it didn't offer the people anything but inflation and misery.

Next step is abolishing the federal income tax. This feudalistic tax only enables those who use the federal government for personal gain. You want to remove corporate lobbyists? You want to stamp out the military industrial complex, leftists? This is the place to start.

If you subsidize something, you get more of it. That's what Ron Paul always says. We're subsidizing lack of personal responsibility for our own futures, and we're getting more of it. We're subsidizing war and getting more of it. We're subsidizing inefficiency and quackery in government and creating laws that protect this inefficiency. Only by removing the the funding of all this misguided madness will we fix the problem.

It's kinda like weening someone off crack. We have to ween BIG GOVERNMENT off our money!

[Andrea Thorn]

I am a Ron Paul Republican and will probably vote for Nader this time out. I don't agree with all his solutions, but at least we agree on what the problems are.

[Mr Republican]

We aren't left in despair, this is a Revolution, not another election.

This began with Ron Paul & Ends With Us.

" Every Generation Needs A Revolution "

- Thomas Jefferson

[Lennon Zamora]

I like Nader too. I believe he is a man of integrity and principal. However, I simply cannot agree with his economic and general "Big Government" solutions to the country's problems.

Granted, he would be miles better than any of the other choices save Barr or Baldwin of course.

[Hugh Henderson]

Ralph Nader should endorse Bob Barr. As should Chuck Baldwin. Joining those three. America has had enough or this war, or the loss of personal freedoms and civil liberties.
We don't want what will be here in 20 years. Bob Barr has the best chance to help bring this country back in this election. Most of all. Elect congressmen, senators, assemblymen, and councilmen with these views.

The R[EVOL]UTION lives on.

[Tim Graham]

Yeah, I'll look into Nader. I like him, but he's no Ron Paul, for reasons eloquently stated by Michael Cathcart.

[omg]

If all of these 3rd party fringe candidates that pop up every 4 or 8 years, and the mass of political independents, would just focus on an open primary with IRV/Ranked choice, then everyone could vote their conscience, have a vote that actually counts, AND we would have an accurate picture of political sentiment in this country.

Our electoral system is a couple hundred years out of date...

It's as easy as 1,2,3....

Abandon your go-nowhere candidates -- FIX THE SYSTEM.

[Web Smith]

Freedom is a powerful word. It strikes fear in those who would prevent it and creates courage in those who would have it.

[Web Smith]

Freedom is a powerful word. It strikes fear in those who would prevent it and creates courage in those who would have it.

[Davo]

Nader just generalizes, nothing about adhering to the constitution. Not a chance in hell. I will stick with RP.

[Chuck]

What a joke. The option now for Paul supporters is Bob Barr. If you like him, check out http://www.barrbomb.com for a Ron Paul style money bomb.