RALPH NADER: And there are millions of people out there who want a country they can bequeath to their descendants with pride.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you think of Barack Obama’s recent endorsement by Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, along with Congressmember Patrick Kennedy, his son, and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy? This is the Obama campaign commercial made by Caroline Kennedy.
CAROLINE KENNEDY: Once we had a president who made people feel hopeful about America and brought us together to do great things. Today, Barack Obama gives us that same chance. He makes us believe in ourselves again, that when we act as one nation we can overcome any challenge. People always tell me how my father inspired them. I feel that same excitement now. Barack Obama can lift America and make us one nation again.
BARACK OBAMA: I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this message.
AMY GOODMAN: Your response to Caroline Kennedy’s endorsement and her comparison of Barack Obama to John Kennedy?
RALPH NADER: Well, I think it’s an inspirational message. I think the Kennedys made the right move. I think they have been simmering quietly over the years about the behavior and performance of Bill Clinton. I think that’s part of the shift away from Clinton to Obama. Whether it means more votes remains to be seen, but it certainly has given Obama a higher profile for a few days.
AMY GOODMAN: Ralph Nader, if you run, would you run as an independent or would you run for the Green Party nomination?
RALPH NADER: Well, if I run—and we are testing the waters now—I would certainly go for the ballot lines with the Green Party. I would go for—
AMY GOODMAN: So you would go against Cynthia McKinney?
RALPH NADER: We’ll go for—well, that remains to be seen. It’s a little early right now. But we’ll go independent in states where there aren’t any parties. We’ll look for progressive small parties at the state level. You have to do that just to get on state ballots, where there are very obstructive rules. And my campaign manager, Theresa Amato, in ’04 is finishing a very detailed book on this major civil liberties issue of obstructing candidates’ rights, without which voter rights aren’t worth very much. When you have 90 percent of the House districts one party—
AMY GOODMAN: Ralph Nader, we only have—we have less than a minute. John McCain said we could be in Iraq for a hundred years. He’s the leading Republican candidate. For those who say you’ll take votes from the Democrats, none of them are saying we’ll be there for a hundred years. What is your response, that your run could be a matter of life or death for people in Iraq?
RALPH NADER: Well, I would hope that we would push the Democrats into taking a more forceful stand in Congress to withdraw from Iraq in a propitious manner. I would hope the Democrats would look at our progressive agenda, if I run, and say, “Let’s take living wage away. Let’s take full Medicare away. Let’s crack down on corporate crime, fraud and abuse. Let’s get a new tax system.” I think this idea of taking votes away is a very pernicious subversion of progressive agendas and progressive movements in the country. I think John McCain’s greatest Achilles’ heel is that he has demonstrated again and again, most recently in Florida—
AMY GOODMAN: We have five seconds.
RALPH NADER: —that he is the candidate of a perpetual war.
AMY GOODMAN: Ralph Nader, I want to thank you for being with us. His website is naderexplore08.org.
Democracy Now! | Ralph Nader Launches Presidential Exploratory Committee to Mull '08 Run