[Marxism] Nader throws support to Edwards

[Jim Farmelant]

<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7647.html>
 
Nader throws support to Edwards
By: David Paul Kuhn
Dec 31, 2007 08:18 PM EST
 
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Ralph Nader unleashed on Hillary Rodham Clinton  
Monday - criticizing her for being soft on defense spending and a  
chum of big business - and expressed his strong support for John  
Edwards.
 
In an 11th hour effort to encourage liberal Iowans to "recognize"  
Edwards by "giving him a victory," the activist and former  
presidential contender said in an interview that Clinton will "pander  
to corporate interest groups" if elected.
 
Nader specifically accused Clinton of failing to challenge military  
spending because "she is a woman who doesn't want to be labeled as  
soft on defense and she doesn't want to be shown as taking on big  
business."
 
As Clinton campaigned through a snowstorm in southeast Iowa, pledging  
to "bring about the changes we need," Nader accused the Democratic  
senator from New York of using empty rhetoric.
 
"[Clinton] has not led the way against the avalanche of military  
contracting, corporate crime, fraud and abuse," he said. "We want to  
inform the people of Iowa about Hillary Clinton because all the focus  
is on, do they have the experience and do they have the personal  
charisma, and can they cross the aisle" Nader said.
 
"The issue is corporate power and who controls our political system  
and it's not who has experience for six years or two years," he said,  
alluding to an ongoing debate over experience between Clinton and  
freshman Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
 
"She has experience in the Senate, and what that experience has meant  
is going soft on cracking down on corporate crime, fraud, and abuse,  
soft on cutting tens of millions in corporate subsidies," he continued.
 
The Clinton campaign declined to comment on Nader's criticism.
 
Nader, a four-time presidential candidate, called Edwards a  
Democratic "glimmer of hope." He has long criticized Democrats as  
indistinguishable from Republicans, chiding both parties as slaves to  
corporate financing and interests.
 
It was Nader who famously - or infamously to many Democrats -  
siphoned off enough liberal votes from Al Gore in 2000 to hand New  
Hampshire and Florida, and as a result, the presidency, to George W.  
Bush. Since 2004, however, Nader has been increasingly controversial  
within the political left. He was booed at a national conference of  
progressives earlier this year.
 
But he remains a popular figure among some liberals. Activists are  
particularly influential in the Iowa caucuses, if only because  
participation asks hours of voters' time. Only a small portion of  
Iowa Democrats caucused in 2004.
 
Clinton is currently locked in a heated three-way race with Obama and  
Edwards in Iowa, the first contest of the presidential primaries.
 
On Monday, Nader also issued a public statement criticizing Clinton  
as a "corporate Democrat," echoing the exact words Edwards uses to  
challenge Clinton. Nader said he has watched Edwards from afar and  
sees his more pugilistic brand of populism as an encouraging sign.
 
"It's the only time I've heard a Democrat talk that way in a long  
time," Nader said, acknowledging what was, for him, a rare moment of  
praise for a Democratic leader.
 
"Iowa should decide which candidate stands for us," he added.  
"Edwards is at least highlighting day after day that the issue is who  
controls our country, big business or the people."