Independent candidate Nader speaks to full house

The Solarium at the Indiana Memorial Union was filled to capacity with an eclectic mix of Bloomington residents and IU students Saturday night 10 minutes before Ralph Nader began his speech. Outside, student groups supporting Presidential Candidate John Kerry or President George W. Bush posed to take group pictures of themselves protesting Nader's speech and advocating their respective candidates' campaign platforms and issue ideals.\nMarshal Kulp, a freshman and member of the Army National Guard, came because he said he considered himself a "middle-of-the-road voter."\n"This is a great opportunity to see a presidential candidate," Kulp said. "I've come to see what he has to say, what he has to offer."\nWhen Nader entered the Solarium, he received a cheering standing ovation and was introduced by Jeff Melton, the Bloomington campaign coordinator. He also said the most pressing issue of the campaign at this point is to collect enough signatures for Nader's name to appear on the ballot in November.\n"In a democracy," Melton said, "we have a right to know who the choices are."\nNader began his hour-long speech with a grievance.\n"Our government is sick, decaying and, worst of all, dull," Nader began. \nNader criticized the mentality of elections, saying the mere label of any third party candidate as a "spoiler" was a misuse of the democratic process.\nHe said the money in campaigns is the corporate leverage in politics that consistently mandates politicians "give up something" in order to make the dollars they need to maintain their positions of power.\n"The corporate government is intrusive in our privacy, education and is strategically palling our environmental and political futures," Nader said.\nNader said that in 1968, the mean wage of a corporate executive was 12 times the average wage of an American citizen. Today, a corporate executive makes 510 times more than the average individual, Nader said.\n"The corporate crime rate has soared for four years," Nader said. "We've seen the loss of jobs, Enron-style, WorldCom-style, to where 40 percent of these corporations pay no federal income tax."\nSpeaking directly to the audience, Nader said the sovereignty of humans has been translated into indentured servanthood where citizens have allowed "ourselves to become lazy."\n"We can't think of government as a form of intellectual sophistication. We cannot give up," Nader said. "We need to see our society having more options, more voices."\nSpeaking only to the students, Nader recalled several student-led civil movements, including the protests against the Vietnam War.\n"The students then still pursued their studies, still 'had fun,' but they had a different level of urgency to ensure justice, the great work of human beings." Nader said. "Who could stop you?"\nIn a brief question and answer session, Nader was asked about the possibility of re-instating the draft.\n"There are two bills in Congress, which the Bush administration has asked the Congress to (hold) conscription (until) 2005," he said. "You've got Bush and (Secretary of Defense Donald) Rumsfeld worrying about 'troop strength sufficiency,' and if the Shiites blow high, we are absolutely going to need more troops."\nWhen asked why he would not run for the Green Party, Nader said the party's current division is inhibiting a solid decision, and with the state ballot laws, unless a decision was made quickly, a third party candidate would not have the time to collect the needed signatures.\nNader signed books and shook hands after his speech.\n"Nader opened my eyes to the corruption between the two parties and their links to corporate systems," said IU sophomore Daniel Harmon. "I don't feel like being enslaved anymore."\n-- Contact staff writer Allison Ricket at aricket@indiana.edu.