That Barack Obama’s detractors would play the race card against him in this election was never really in doubt. That one of the most blatant, racially-charged comments would come from Ralph Nader, however, comes as a bit of a surprise.
Ralph Nader’s presidential candidacy has received little media attention, but his latest critique of Barack Obama has come under fire for its seemingly racial overtones.
Speaking with Colorado’s Rocky Mountain News, Nader accused Obama of attempting to both “talk white” and appeal to “white guilt” in his quest to win the White House.
“There’s only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He’s half African-American,” Nader told the paper in comments published Tuesday. “Whether that will make any difference, I don’t know. I haven’t heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What’s keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn’t want to appear like Jesse Jackson? …
“I mean, first of all, the number one thing that a black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor, especially in the inner cities and the rural areas, and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law, is going to be protected by the law, and is going to be liberated by the law,” he said. “Haven’t heard a thing [about poverty].”
When I think about how far Nader has fallen, and what a pathetic figure he’s become, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. Nader was a champion, a liberal lion, and his efforts used to make a real difference in Americans’ daily lives. You know that seatbelt in your car? Nader helped put it there.
But Nader has decided to throw away his legacy. His reputation, diminished after every pointless presidential election (he’s in the midst of his fourth), has been deliberately squandered. Nader decided what he wanted, more than anything else, was to leave his enemies happy, his allies resentful, and his standing destroyed.
These “talk white” remarks were a new low.
Robert Gibbs, Obama’s communications director, called Nader’s attacks “reprehensible and basically delusional.”
Gibbs is right, of course, but I’d add a few things. First, the notion that Nader feels comfortable arguing that Obama’s race should dictate Obama’s talking points is ridiculous. To hear Nader tell it, Obama is black, so Obama should talk about poverty. It’s as if it never occurred to Nader to maybe think about how offensive this is before opening his mouth.
Second, Nader seems wildly oblivious to Obama’s actual record and policy agenda. In this reality, Nader is condemning Obama for failing to emphasize policies that Obama is already emphasizing. Yglesias noted Obama’s aggressive policies on cracking down on predatory lending and other forms of financial exploitation of the poor, and Obama’s lead abatement efforts. Nader should be praising Obama for this, but instead, he’s pretending this record/agenda doesn’t exist.
Indeed, Nader can’t imagine why Obama hasn’t offered “a very detailed platform” on poverty. That might be more compelling a point if Obama hadn’t already offered a very detailed platform on poverty. This is, by the way, more than we can say for Ralph Nader, who has offered vague platitudes and bumper-sticker slogans for his very thin anti-poverty policy (including “detailed” ideas such as, “Job Creation”). Steve M. added that Nader’s own campaign website makes no references to payday loans, no references to predatory lending, and no references to asbestos.
And while Obama is tackling the issues Nader claims to find important, John McCain is ignoring them altogether. Who does Nader decide to attack with racially-charged rhetoric? The candidate who’s emphasizing the issues he cares about, of course.
Nader concluded that he “hasn’t heard a thing” about these issues. And whose fault is that? Perhaps if Nader stopping whining and started listening he’d learn a bit about the very Obama agenda he’s attacking for no reason.
I will never understand what Ralph Nader is thinking, or what motivates him to become a narcissistic farce. I seriously doubt that he’s cashed in and keeps up his antics because he’s being financed by right-wing fat-cats who find him beneficial, but the end result is the same.