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Wednesday, September 27, 2000
By James O'Toole, Politics Editor, Post-Gazette
Ralph Nader staged a raid into Pennsylvania yesterday, attacking both major presidential candidates but aiming his most withering criticism at Vice President Al Gore.
Nader charged that Gore and the Clinton administration had betrayed American workers and broken their promises to environmental groups as they prostrated themselves before corporate America.
The Green Party presidential candidate said Texas Gov. George Bush was even worse, but so long was his litany of criticism against Gore that he barely had time to mention the Republican.
"The American people deserve a better choice than bad Democrats and worse Republicans," said Nader.
Nader said it was "inexplicable" that the United Steelworkers had endorsed Gore despite the union's difference with him on trade issues. He predicted that tens of thousands of U.S. jobs would be lost if China is admitted into the World Trade Organization.
"Gore and Clinton have betrayed the labor movement on the installment plan," Nader charged. "They have crippled [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration]. ... It's actually worse than it was under Reagan-Bush."
Nader spoke at an afternoon news conference before being welcomed with chants of "Let Ralph debate; let Ralph debate" at an Oakland fund-raising event attended by about 100 partisans.
Nader and other third-party candidates are not permitted to participate in the coming round of debates between Gore and Bush because of a threshold requirement that they register at least 15 percent support in national polls. He is now well below that.
Last night, Nader delivered a speech at Carnegie Mellon University, and today he was to travel to Ohio for a rally with opponents of the Van Roll/WTI waste incineration plant in East Liverpool, which has long been the object of bitter protests in the community.
The Ohio incinerator opponents are an angry exception to the consensus support Gore has won from most of the environmental movements. Incinerator foes argue that Gore promised to block the facility before the 1992 election, only to walk away from the issue after the administration took office.
The administration has contended that its hands were tied by decisions made by the lame-duck administration of former President George Bush. Opponents contend, however, that the Clinton administration ignored opportunities to curtail the plant's operations. The issue is now under review by an Environmental Protection Agency ombudsman, who is scheduled to issue a report sometime next month.
"They betrayed their promise," Nader said. "It's one of the clearest examples of Clinton and Gore saying one thing and betraying it after the election. ... I can guarantee you that Clinton and Gore will not campaign in that area."
Nader noted that he had written the White House demanding a justification for its WTI conduct. His campaign released a response from George T. Frampton Jr., chairman of the White House office on environmental quality, in which the administration defended its decision-making. "It is not anticipated that any individual in this population would develop cancer as a result of exposure to routine WTI emissions," Frampton said.
Dan Fee, a spokesman for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign in Pennsylvania, dismissed Nader's overall criticisms. "If Ralph Nader wants George W. Bush to win, he should just join the Bush campaign," he said. "But truthfully, I never think of him. He's not hurting us....
"I think of him when I put my seat belt on; I appreciate that sort of thing," Fee added.
Nader has generally registered in single digits in national polls. The latest Gallup poll put his strength among likely voters at 2 percent, but he pointed to a Zogby poll that put his support at 5 percent. Nader said he wasn't concerned by such findings.
"The polls are rigged," he said. He contended that they do not register the support of traditional non-voters who are likely to be drawn to his campaign.
Despite his modest national numbers, Nader is considered a potential factor in some states, such as Washington, where he has registered significant support. He has also managed to draw several remarkably large crowds.
The campaign claimed that more than 10,000 paid to hear him speak in Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland, Ore. A similar mass rally is planned for next week in Boston on the eve of the presidential debates.
"This is a campaign that cannot lose," Nader told his supporters. "Win or lose, we're going to come out of this election with millions of voters; [the Green Party] is going to be a growing watchdog holding the two parties' feet to the fire."