At a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor this morning, Ralph Nader told reporters that Barack Obama is “blurring himself” with John McCain on crucial issues. “That’s the fatal mistake all these Democratic presidential candidates have made since Walter Mondale,” Nader said. He argued that “the case against offshore drilling is overwhelming,” but Obama’s “handlers say McCain is scoring here. So [Obama] blurs.” Obama recently said that he is open to supporting an energy compromise that includes offshore drilling under certain environmental regulations, but Nader argued that damage to the environment could not be reduced “to an acceptable minimum.” Asked if Obama is the same as McCain, Nader said it depends on the issue: “I can see [Obama] better on some domestic issues. I can see McCain–ornery–taking on a military contract that Obama wouldn’t.” Nader also argued that Obama has not lived up to the vision of what civil rights leaders hoped for in an African-American politician. “People who have fought the civil rights battle economically, politically, legally, as we have since the ’50s, would often talk about, ‘Look what would happen if we have an African-American president,” Nader said. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to be what we all thought it was going to be.” Nader later elaborated that civil rights activists hoped African-American leaders would bring about “a real crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos and in poor rural areas.” According to Nader, the only member of Congress to hold a recent hearing on such economic exploitation is Dennis Kucinich. “Where’s the black caucus?” he asked. “This is what happens when you have gerrymandered safe districts.” Nader expressed disgust with the press for ignoring his candidacy and said that labeling a third-party candidate as a “spoiler” is a form of “political bigotry”–as if such candidates are “second class citizens.” Despite polling in the single digits, Nader said that he has a real chance of winning the presidency if he could get his message out. “Allow me a slight tinge of immodesty,” he said. “Put me on all the debates and we’ll have a three-way race.”
