An enthusiastic crowd of students and other Madison residents filled the Wisconsin Union Theater to near capacity Wednesday evening to hear independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader address the university community.
While touching on several contemporary issues including the elimination of the North American Free Trade Agreement, conflict in the Middle East, global terrorism and the presidential campaign, Nader concentrated his attention on the separation of corporate interests and government affairs, a position he said he pioneered some 40 years ago.
\The political system has been weakened by the grip of corporations,"" Nader said.
Nader blasted widespread commercialism's effect on American society, at one point referring to retail giant Wal-Mart as a cancer. He added corporations were chartered to be the servants of Americans, but have now become our masters.
Nader then shifted his focus to the American political system, characterizing the policies of the Republican and Democratic Parties as one and the same. Nader called upon progressive groups to hold Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accountable to liberal ideals. ""Kerry and Edwards need to be pulled to a strong position,"" he said.
He continued by expressing his disdain over what he termed the increasing apathy and diminishing expectations of the American voter.
""We have to have a higher estimate of our significance in life,"" Nader said.
Following the formal portion of his speech, Nader yielded the floor to campaign aide Greg Kafoury, who managed to elicit on-the-spot donations of $250, $500 and $1000 for the Nader campaign from the boisterous assembly.
Reactions to Nader's visit were mixed. Ald. Austin King, District 8, was among the group of protesters stationed at Memorial Union. Specifically, King took issue with Nader's endorsement by the Reform Party. ""I'm here to call out Ralph Nader,"" King said. ""The Reform Party is a racist and xenophobic party, and that's why Ralph Nader should reject their endorsement.""
When asked if he blamed Nader for stealing votes from Kerry, UW-Madison sophomore Danny Tenenbaum commented that it is Kerry's responsibility to appeal to the far left. ""I think [Nader is] putting the candidates of the two-party system on the defensive,"" he said.
The Wisconsin Union Directorate Contemporary Issues Committee, a non-partisan group committed to the advancement of social education of UW-Madison, sponsored the event.
