Though he won't be participating in any presidential debates this year, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader hopes to educate the Brown community on the "progressive agenda that's been ignored" by the Democratic and Republican parties in a speech today at 3 p.m. in Salomon 101.
Nader, whose vice-presidential running mate is Peter Camejo, told The Herald that his speech will specifically address the war in Iraq, the military draft, health insurance for all Americans, corporate crime, a living family wage and the military budget, among other things. A question-and-answer session with the audience after the speech will be followed by a book signing for Nader's 2002 book "Crashing the Party."
"We hope to make visible the progressive agenda that's been ignored by the two parties in varying degrees and hold up a higher horizon and expectation level for students because they're growing up in a period with two convergent parties in the nation," he said. Nader added that the country is being divided into Democratic and Republican regions "where 95 percent of House seats are not competitive."
Nader, who was invited to the campus by Professor of English William Keach last week, said his decision to speak at Brown was partially influenced by Brown alums who have worked on his campaigns in the past.
"I have spoken at Brown before and we've had a lot of Brown University graduates such as David Corn ('81) work for us in the past, and it's a student body that hails from all over," he said. Nader's strong support among young voters also may have influenced his decision to visit.
"We're running about 12 percent among voters who are between 18 and 24 years old, so that's one of our biggest bases of support," Nader said. "These are voters who say, 'We're independent voters and we're voters of conscience' - they vote for the candidates they believe in."
Nader's visit is causing a stir among many Brown students, especially among supporters of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Those students say that Nader's candidacy is hurting Kerry's chances of defeating President George W. Bush in the election in November.
"I think that the general consensus is we wish (Nader) wasn't running," said Seth Magaziner '06, president of the Brown College Democrats. "He's pulling between 1 and 2 percent of the vote in many of the states in which he's running, including Ohio and Florida," which have 20 and 27 electoral votes, respectively.
When asked about whether his candidacy was hurting Kerry's campaign, Nader responded by saying that his candidacy was actually helping the Democrat's cause rather than undermining it.
"We're trying to defeat George W. Bush and we're going around the country expanding the opposition to him," he said. "If Democrats stopped trying to harass us and to keep us off the ballot, we could take apart the Bush regime in very powerful ways that (the Democrats) could emulate to help defeat Bush even more readily."
Nader was also critical of the Democratic Party, saying that Kerry should have an advantage over Bush in the race right now.
"They should be landsliding Bush, but they're too corporatized to do that," Nader said.
Nader, the Green Party presidential candidate in 2000, is running as an independent this fall. This June, Nader attempted to convince delegates at the Green Party convention to endorse his candidacy instead of nominating a candidate. His strategy was to collect endorsements from many independent groups, such as the Reform Party. Green delegates balked at Nader's attempt, instead nominating David Cobb to be their candidate. Nader is now the Reform Party candidate in Rhode Island and in at least six other states, although he will appear as an independent in most of the 33 state ballots on which he is currently listed. In the latest poll by the Washington Post, Nader is garnering 1 percent of the national vote among likely voters.
Confusion over Brown policy
Though Nader was invited to campus by a professor, there is confusion within the Brown community over whether or not Nader's speech today violates University policy.
According to the "Guidelines for Political Activities" on the Office of Student Life Web site, "the University is prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity or permitting its resources to be used for support of such activities" because of Internal Revenue Code regulations.
"University facilities and services may not be used by or on behalf of an outside organization or outside individual whose purpose is to further the cause of a candidate or political party," the site states.
The site also states that the political candidate's appearance "must be for an educational or informational talk to the University community and must be sponsored by a recognized University organization."
Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services David Greene said this policy means that political candidates appearing at Brown cannot engage in activities that are not pertinent to their informational talk. These activities include fundraising and passing out pamphlets.
Keach, who invited Nader earlier last week to speak at Brown after learning that the candidate would be speaking in the area and who will introduce Nader at the speech this afternoon, said Nader's visit will adhere to University guidelines.
"The person I've been dealing with (in the Nader campaign) has been very clear that this was a talk by Ralph Nader and not a campaign rally," Keach said.
Greene also said Nader's visit will follow University protocol.
"When we learned that Mr. Nader was coming, we worked out with sponsors of his talk to make sure that the policy was being followed," Greene said. "Everything appears to be in line with policy."
But according to Nader's official Web site and to Nader himself, the candidate will be actively campaigning during his visit to Brown.
After initially contacting the Nader campaign, Keach contacted students he knew who were associated with the Brown Green Party about assisting with bringing Nader to campus, but the only response he got "politely" declined involvement, saying the party's support was behind the Cobb candidacy. So Keach contacted the Registrar's Office to book a room.
"I just phoned the scheduling person in the registrar's office and said I was interested in finding a room for Ralph Nader on campus and Salomon 101 was available," Keach said, adding that he was surprised the large lecture hall was open.
Despite the ease Keach had reserving a room, Nader said planning his visit to Brown hasn't been easy.
"We're having some difficulty with the University administration on facilities and conditions and so on, but as of now, we're on," Nader said.
After news of Nader's upcoming appearance became known, the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions signed on as an event co-sponsor, Greene said.
Brown community reacts
At least two student groups, unhappy with Nader's decision to run for presidency this fall, are responding to Nader's appearance at Brown.
Magaziner said the Brown College Democrats were not planning any official protest of Nader's visit, although many students feel that Nader cost then-Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore the White House in 2000 and that he is now drawing votes away from Kerry.
Still, Magaziner said, "we're going to fill the room with Democrats and come prepared with a lot of questions to ask. I think he has a lot of explaining to do for the 2000 election. We'll show up and be respectful, but if he takes questions, we'll make sure to tell him how we feel."
The Democrats are not the only group reacting negatively to Nader's bid - the Brown Green Party is also upset with the former Green candidate's run.
"I think it's a terrible idea," said James DeBoer '05, of the Brown Green Party. "I think that first of all he's running, knowing that there's a Green Party candidate running as well. The progressive left vote is split while we have this climate of fear that Bush will be reelected. ... I don't know why people would vote for Nader out of great anger."
DeBoer, who supports Green candidate David Cobb, said the Brown Greens will be active during Nader's visit.
"We will be handing out Cobb pamphlets at the Nader meeting to show people that there's a progressive alternative there," he said.
Both Magaziner and DeBoer said they were disappointed with Nader's decision to run, but the speech should be interesting.
"I think he'll get a lot of people coming to see him," DeBoer said. "He's got a good number of people interested in seeing what's he's doing. A good number of people here supported him in 2000. He's sort of billed himself as a controversial figure - whether people will be very angry at him, I'm not sure."
Nick Renzler '07, a Nader supporter who helped with publicity and logistics for today's event, called the candidate "a voice of reason" in a national political scene that is dominated by the two major political parties.
"I think it's important that Nader come to Brown," Renzler said. "For such a self-proclaimed open-minded campus, many people simply dismiss Nader on the flawed argument that he will take votes away from Kerry. ... Nader speaks about new solutions that both major parties ... fail to recognize."
Tickets are not required for admission; organizers recommended that people arrive early to secure seats.
