Kerry is as good as Roosevelt, Nader as bad as Bush : Pittsburgh Indymedia

Kerry is as good as Roosevelt, Nader as bad as Bush
by Heckraiser Thursday, May. 13, 2004 at 9:30 AM

“Progressives need to understand that Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932 on a wishy-washy platform no bolder than the Kerry platform...poll after poll shows the Nader vote depleting Kerry and helping Bush, and tipping swing states and their electoral votes to Bush."

A Progressive Response to the Nader Campaign

by Jeff Cohen

I am ideologically aligned with Ralph Nader, not John Kerry. I agree with Nader on virtually every issue...But I'm also distressed by the deception coming from the Nader campaign. We keep being told that Nader will draw votes away from the Evildoer-in-Chief, George W. Bush; yet poll after poll shows the Nader vote depleting Kerry and helping Bush, and tipping swing states and their electoral votes to Bush.

In my view, Kerry vs. Bush is not Coke vs. Pepsi. It's more like Coke vs. Arsenic (quite literally, in the environmental sense). The Bush/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft regime is far more dangerous than the regimes of Nixon/Kissinger/Mitchell or Reagan/Weinberger/Meese.
There can be no greater imperative for progressives this year than to Vote Bush Out. In the 17 or so competitive states, that means building the Kerry vote to defeat Bush.

But our work doesn't end on Nov. 2. After we mobilize to oust Bush in '04, progressives must stay mobilized in '05 to ensure that our agenda is heard by the Kerry White House. If the Iraq war drags on under the Kerry administration, I'll be in the frontlines of peace protests.

Progressives seemed to demobilize in 1993 after Bill Clinton ended 12 years of Republican rule. In the absence of powerful and independent networks of activists, we saw that a Democratic White House was capable of enacting pro-corporate Republican-oriented policies. We won't be fooled again. Thanks to the Internet and the youth-infused antiwar and global justice movements of recent years, it will be easier to sustain progressive activism in '05 and after to hold a Democratic White House accountable.

Progressives need to understand that Franklin Roosevelt was elected president in 1932 on a wishy-washy platform no bolder than the Kerry platform.

But powerful social movements, especially militant unions, propelled the New Deal agenda and pushed FDR to being the most progressive president of the last century.

2004 is a crucial juncture in our country's history, with millions of people in our evenly divided country -- especially people of color, labor, feminists, enviros -- yearning for a path to end the national nightmare of George Bush. Progressives need to be a bridge forward, not an obstruction. Noam Chomsky has described the choice we face: "Help elect Bush, or do something to try to prevent it."

Ralph Nader has long set a standard for public integrity: speaking truth to power no matter what the consequences. But in recent months, he's sounding more like a politician, making promises that he must know he can't deliver on -- like his claim that he will help defeat Bush by pulling "more votes away from Bush than the Democrats." And Nader is being ridiculed as just another politician: "Conservatives for Nader," scoffed Comedy Central's Jon Stewart. "Not a large group. About the same size as 'Retarded Death Row Texans for Bush.'"

This election is not about Kerry. Nor Nader. It's about putting Bush out to pasture before he does any more damage.

* * *

Jeff Cohen founded the media watch group FAIR and was communications director of Kucinich for President.

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/05/con04206.html

Facts bout John Kerry:

(Surprisingly, it's not what the corporate media has told you:)

NGO ratings:

2001-2003 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights: 100%

2000-2003 National Education Association: 100%

1995-2001 Planned Parenthood: 100%

2001-2003 National Abortion Rights Action League: 100%

2001-2002 National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare: 100%

League of Conservation Voters Lifetime Rating: 96%

AFL-CIO Lifetime Rating: 90%

Americans for Democratic Action Lifetime Rating: 92%

http://www.greensforkerry.com/johnkerryfacts.php

"Not only has Kerry historically refused to take PAC money, but his record shows that he has been a leader for more than a decade in full reform of campaign financing, advocating for clean public money not only for presidential but also congressional campaigns."
-- Nick Nyhart, Public Campaign, Chellie Pingree, Common Cause, and Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen, February 3, 2004

"Rifle through the archives of the League of Conservation Voters, and you'll find he gets an A+ -- literally. Kerry has a 96-percent lifetime voting record, outscoring all of the other candidates. Despite concerns that Kerry is a limousine liberal, there seem to be few contradictions between his environmental image and his track record."
-- Amanda Griscom, Grist Magazine

"John Kerry is a man whose unparalleled record on environmental issues has earned him an extraordinary lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters...he understands that the American people need a president who will never roll over to corporate contributors at the expense of the health and safety of the public...(he) understands how to protect our water and remove mercury from our air. This is a man who will stand up to the corporate interests and tell them to do what is right for their country, not their wallets. This is a man who understands that the 2004 election is about the world we pass on to our children not passing the problems of our world to our children. John Kerry is the candidate to defeat President Bush, who has compiled the worst environmental record in the history of our nation."
-- Deb Callahan, President of League of Conservation Voters

"When Bill Clinton needed support on tough and politically difficult issues like climate change, the one person we could always count on was John Kerry. He came to every round of negotiations over the Kyoto Protocol all around the world and was a strong voice for action. He was always out-numbered by corporate lobbyists and opponents of environmental progress, but he never backed down. He not only has vision, he has guts."
-- Roger Ballentine, Former Director, White House Office on Climate Change

"Even on the most difficult issues, we've never had to worry about John Kerry's position. We applaud Senator Kerry ... who pledges to do whatever it takes to protect our fundamental right to privacy and a woman's right to choose."
-- Kate Michelman, president of NARAL

"Kerry's urban renewal plan will invest in people, strengthen our communities, and rebuild our economy. We have always been able to count on John Kerry to lead the fights to improve health care, to strengthen schools, and to create jobs."
-- Rep. Charles Rangel (NY), February 23, 2004

http://www.greensforkerry.com/quotes.php

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