United States: Thousands rally for Nader

Four thousand people turned out for a campaign rally for independent presidential candidate and long-time anti-corporate and consumer rights activist, Ralph Nader in Denver, according to an August 29 CQpolitics.com report.

Speaking at the rally, which coincided with the Democratic National Convention also occurring in Denver, Nader slammed the Democrats as a party of the rich and criticised the media for ignoring candidates outside the two-party system.

Nader argued that the Democratic Party had "abandoned working people" and was an "indentured servant" of corporate interests, according to the report.

"The corporate merry-go-round has hitched its wagon to the Democratic Party and the rhetoric of the Democratic Party has responded accordingly", Nader said, pointing out that the convention was funded by corporate sponsors.

Nader slammed the corporate media for excluding candidates outside the two major parties from its election coverage and debates. He claimed that if he was allowed into the debates, it would be a three-way race.

A CNN poll has placed Nader at 6% of the vote.

Nader ran as a presidential candidate for the Greens in 2000 and as an independent in 2004, and was similarly excluded from the mainstream media. According to an August 19 Votenader.org report, Mark Shields from PBS News Hour apologised to Nader following the 2000 vote for not demanding his inclusion in the debates.

VoteNader.org reported that actors Sean Penn and Val Kilmer, former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, former Dead Kennedys lead singer Jello Biafra, and anti-war activist Cindy Sheenan were scheduled to appear at the Denver rally.

According to CQpolitics.com, Penn, who has not endorsed any candidate in the November presidential vote, attacked the US media as "servants of a corporate agenda" at the rally.

Greens presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, who is also running on a progressive platform, has been similarly excluded from the media.

From GLW issue 765