Ralph Nader has had his turn as the spoiler in Democratic elections. He has run as a Democratic Party Write-in, a Green Party candidate, and most recently as an independent.
He understands how frustrating it is when people discount candidates who are not a part of the mainstream party elite.
So when Ralph Nader tells Senator Bernie Sanders that he should stay in the race, it carries some weight.
Reporter Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! interviewed Nader about the current presidential election. Nader was very strong in his support of Bernie Sanders’ right to continue his campaign, even in the face of those who claim that he is damaging the Democratic Party by continuing to oppose Secretary Clinton for the nomination.
Nader was clear in his belief that it is Sanders’ first amendment right to express his views and to remain in the running for the nomination. Goodman talked to Nader about the fact that Bernie Sanders had decided to run as a Democrat, rather than in Independent. Sanders said that he wanted to make a positive statement about progressive issues. Nader replied:
“Well, the two-party tyranny is so exclusionary, of ballot access barriers, keeping independent candidates from being on the debates, and on and on—here we go again—that the Hillary coterie is getting ready basically to say, ‘Drop out, drop out, drop out, Bernie Sanders.’ I don’t think anybody should be told to drop out. They’re exercising their First Amendment rights of speech, petition, assembly. You want to oppose them, fine. But to tell them to drop out is to tell them to shut up and give up their First Amendment rights. I wrote—in 2008, I wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton urging her not to drop out when the Obama forces, in June of that year, were telling her to drop out. So I think that’s very anti-democratic and very presumptuous, especially since the only reason Hillary Clinton is ahead now in delegates is because of closed Democratic primaries and the superdelegates, who are her cronies, as I mentioned, mostly in Congress.”
Nader remains an outspoken critic of the current election system in the U.S. He continues to believe, and to say, that the powerful elites control too much of the electoral process and that all parties should be equally represented at all levels of government.
He is particularly critical of the primary system. Because the primaries in each state are paid for by taxpayers, Nader thinks that they should all be open. He believes that any voter should be able to vote for any candidate, regardless of party. Nader states that if primaries were run that way, Sanders would likely have won many of them. Says Nader:
“If the parties want to pay for their own primaries with their own private money, that’s one thing. But you don’t have taxpayer-supported official primaries that become the private preserve of closed primaries, Democrat or Republican.”
As the polls close tonight, it is clear that Bernie Sanders is continuing to win primaries across the country.
Those who want to unite the Democratic Party are urging him to drop out and throw his support to the likely nominee. But those who believe that elections are about more than two powerful parties, are urging him to continue the fight. Ralph Nader agrees with them.
Featured image by Sage Ross via Flickr. Available through Creative Commons License 2.0.
