Nader Says He'll Meet With Kerry Next Month

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Sun Mar-28-04 07:21 PM
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Nader Says He'll Meet With Kerry Next Month

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader said Sunday he will meet with apparent Democratic nominee John Kerry next month, for the first time since Nader decided to enter the race. There was no immediate comment from the Kerry campaign.

Nader told CNN as he campaigned in Atlanta the meeting will take part in Washington in April, but no date had yet been set. He said he and Kerry "have a common objective, and that's to defeat the giant corporation residing in the White House masquerading as a human being."

Nader's comments came as he was asked if he was helping shape the agenda in the race since he started campaigning. He said, "Most definitely...it will be much more intense. I'll be meeting with John Kerry for example. I'm going to say, look, let's collaborate to defeat George Bush, even though we're competitors. John Kerry just stood firm on fuel efficiency standards for cars to go to 36 miles an gallon on the average by the end of 2015. We're going to back him up with the engineering data for that, because we know a little bit about the auto industry. And we're going to say it's not enough. So that will bolster against Bush, who represents oil and gas interests, and wouldn't mind if your car got 6 miles on the gallon."

He said he does not expect Kerry will try to talk him into dropping out of the race before the fall. "I don't think he'd say that. i've known him for many years. I wouldn't ask him to do that if I was in his place. We all have an equal right to run for president in this country. And we should respect that, and compete, and see who do best by the voters in this country."

Nader reacted to former President Carter's direct appeal to him at a Democratic unity dinner this week to withdraw. Carter said Thursday, "Ralph, go back to umpiring softball games or examining the rear end of automobiles, and don't risk costing the Democrats the White House this year as you did four years ago." But Nader claimed Sunday, "I'm going to take more votes away from Bush than from Kerry.The members of the party out of power come back to the fold. There are a lot of conservative, liberals, Republicans and indepedents who are furious with George W. Bush." over deficits, over the sovereignty shredding effect of WTO and NAFTA, over corporate crime that's not being cracked down on, and especially over all these taxpayer subsidies to corporations. Those are the people I'm going to try to appeal to.

During his trip to Atlanta, Nader met privately with the chairman of the Reform Party USA, who urged Nader to run on their party's ticket. "Some Reform Party (leaders) in some states would like to put me on the ballot. It's all an attempt to collaborate and not waste too many resources." But Nader if he does it in some states, it would not be nationally like Ross Perot's runs, saying.,"I'll still be an independent party candidate.

Nader also says in states like North Carolina, he is starting a Populist Party to take advanatage less stringent ballot qualifications for third parties. He called for the federal government to set uniform rules for getting presidential candidates on the ballot in every state, saying. "It's a crazy situation..very arbitrary and capricious. In Tennessee, you can get on the ballot for 300 signatures. Nearby, in North Carolina, it's 58,000. In Connecticut it's 7,000, and in Louisiana, it's cash on the barrelhead."

The candidates addressed an environmental conference during his trip to Atlanta, wrapping up 4 days of visits to North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.