Nader: Think Global, Act Texan

Ralph Nader speaks to local supporters in an Austin appearance earlier this year. (Photo By John Anderson)

Ralph Nader rolled through Texas again last week, still pushing for the requisite number of signatures to get him on the Lone Star State's presidential ballot as an independent candidate. By May 10, Nader needs 65,000 signatures (10% of the ballots cast in the 2000 Texas presidential election), but they must come from people who did not vote in this spring's Republican or Democratic primary.

Nader chose an interesting way to draw attention to his candidacy – rather than attack the sitting president, he went after the governor of Texas.

"Governor Perry's proposal to fund education through gambling – 'slots for tots' – is one that I oppose," Nader announced at a press conference at the downtown DoubleTree hotel last Friday. "We should not be funding education by encouraging gambling, which produces addiction, breaks up families, strikes hard at lower-income people, and represents the decay of any society in history. Slot machines – casino devices currently prohibited by Texas law and considered the crack cocaine of gambling – turn racetracks into casinos running a few horses on the side.

"Helping to educate Texas children by installing and promoting new gambling outlets would be like state promotion of cigarette sales with the view that more smokers would raise more money to cure lung disease."

Why is the non-Texan Nader dipping into state politics during a presidential campaign? "Because this is a problem all over the country," he replied. "Gambling is like a cancer. It is now moving some states like Oregon to put video lottery terminals in convenience stores." The reason for the expansion, Nader said, is that the gambling lobby is aggressively pushing for it.

"The spin is that video lottery terminals are needed," Nader continued, "because Texas needs more funds for education reform for our children. The real answer is that the horse racing business in Texas is in decline and their lobbyists are looking for help. The Texas Lottery Commission is equally self-seeking. Declines in lotto sales have them looking for new games." He also accused Gov. Perry of using sin taxes to avoid raising real taxes, and said that it shouldn't surprise anyone that Perry chief of staff Mike Toomey is a former lobbyist for a Houston racetrack.

Nader said he is not opposed to sin taxes, but, "Sin taxes are OK when you're not trying to expand the sin. So, if there is a state policy to discourage people and youngsters from smoking and a state policy to increase taxes on tobacco, those are synchronized efforts going to the same objective. ... But when you have a tax on gambling by expanding gambling, that is mischievous to the nth degree."

Reporters pursued the campaign and Nader's actual opponents – why is he running, and why won't he get behind the Democrats?

"Everybody has the right to run for public office. Everybody tries to get votes from each other. That's the end of my answer," he said tersely, but later added, "The idea that somehow millions of people in this country should be denied the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice by keeping someone off of the ballot is not very democratic, and it's very autocratic."

Nader did say that he would like to meet with presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. "We do have a common objective, which is defeating George W. Bush, and there are a number of issues that can be announced on that score if he is willing, publicly. If he's not willing to do that publicly, we can have a private conversation; I will convey to him some ways that I think he can broaden out his appeal to defeat George W. Bush."

Finally, Nader confirmed that he didn't just fly in to bash Perry, but to chase those signatures.

"Texas is the first state deadline, and needless to say, it's a very important state. This is the state where President Bush comes from, and it's a state that has very high barriers [to independent candidates]. The lack of competition by the Democrats here in Texas gives George W. Bush a support level beyond what would be the case if there was competition. I think the Democrats, by abandoning the Southern states in their presidential campaign, reduce the number of votes for their slate of candidates all the way down to city council ... and further increase the one-party domination of the Republicans. That's not smart. And that leaves us with an opportunity, because the Democrats, by abandoning the state of Texas, are providing a vacuum that we wish to fill."