Ralph Nader — activist, flamethrower and depending on whom you ask, the guy who cost Al Gore the White House in 2000 — is mulling yet another White House bid. No, for real.
He has harsh words for the leading Democratic candidates, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, chastising them for failing to advance aggressive plans to tax corporations more fairly, and to fight for a vastly higher minimum wage.
Obama, he said, is a particular disappointment, since his background suggests that he knows the importance of progressive issues yet hasn’t fought for them in the Senate.
“His record in the Senate is pretty mediocre,” Nader said. “His most distinctive characteristic is the extent to which he censors himself. He hasn’t performed as a really progressive first-term senator would.”
His natural base is Kucinich supporters (and maybe some Edwards voters) who’ve been cast adrift and want another candidate who doesn’t understand the law of diminishing returns.