You have to have a sense of humor to run for president and especially as a candidate for something other than the two big political parties. As you're alternately attacked and ignored, if you're not able to laugh, you'll find yourself screaming and/or crying.
You can see that unfold before your eyes this election cycle. Nader noted of The Progressive and The Nation's response to his campaign, "they're hostile and indifferent" despite the fact that the issues he is standing for are the issues they claim to support. The editor, publisher and office stylist of The Nation seemed eager to prove him right as she bragged later on the same show of how her magazine "in 2004 and again in 2008" ran a "Ralph, Don't Run" campaign. Only the pea-sized brain of Katrina vanden Hevuel could see that as something to be proud of.
"Political bigotry," Nader had pronounced it on his earlier segment and that's exactly what it is. And there was political bigotry in George Steph's interview. We would call it louder but it wasn't that different from what "Independent" Media Queen Amy Goodman recently offered. As in his appearance with Goodman, Nader again had to defend his right to run -- a right that all Americans have. The press fights for the First Amendment, the NRA for the Second Amendment but it's mainly Ralph fighting for Article II. Considering that the Constitution is the Law of the Land, you'd think others would give a damn. George appeared to care as much about Article II today as Barack cares about the Fourth Amendment.
Which is why Ralph was yet again asked to defend his right and decision to run.
"Isn't the consequence of your campaign," George asked ". . . that it's going to hurt" the Christ-child Barack?
Who else gets asked those questions?
It needs to stop.
In America, everyone who meets the qualifications has the right to run for president. If you don't like it, try to change the Constitution. However, as long as that document remains the Supreme Law of the Land, you might try showing a little respect.
Ralph noted it was political bigotry and it is that.
It's also opportunism and, if you doubted that, you only had to catch Katrina later in the show gleeful over the idea that Bob Barr's run might mean some conservatives made him their choice and not John McCain. If Ralph Nader were Newt Gingrich running as a third-party candidate, you better believe The Nation wouldn't push a "Newt, Don't Run" campaign.
George also wanted Ralph to explain why he was criticizing Barack. He wanted Ralph to explain that and he lectured Ralph on not criticizing McCain. But Ralph has called out McCain and if George was going to repeat the Obama campaign's talking points (Ralph's not listening! Barack has addressed poverty!) (no, he has not), he probably should have familiarized himself with what Ralph and his running mate Matt Gonzalez have said throughout their campaign thus far. The reality is that until Ralph criticized Barack last week, the media was ignoring his campaign.
Ralph noted he had criticized McCain but we wish he would have added, "Of course, when I have, you haven't brought me on your program to hector and lecture me."
George wasn't done with the perceived "hurt" to Barack that Ralph's decision to exercise his Constitutional right to run for the presidency was allegedly doing, "How do you answer the charge that your campaigns are hurting" the Democrats?
The reply to that should really be, "Well, I don't hold it against the Democrats or Barack that they're 'hurting' my campaign. I am the left candidate, not the centrist posing as a left candidate. But I figure, in America, everyone has a right to run. So Barack, I'm glad you're in the race."
It was really was amazing to see and so soon after Amy Goodman had pulled the same stunt. Someone running for president wasn't asked about their own campaign, they were asked to defend their right to run and asked (repeatedly) to explain why they would 'hurt' Barack's chances.
In defending Barack on poverty, George went straight to the talking points from the Obama campaign and seemed to grasp that (and stumble) when he realized that citing things from Barack's state legislature career (going back to before 2004) weren't really getting at Ralph's criticism last week which was that, as a presidential candidate, Barack's not addressing poverty in this country.
And he's not. One of the saddest things on the Democratic side was seeing John Edwards, the one who pushed the poverty issue like no one since RFK, declare he was withholding his support and just hoping his issues would be pursued only to then come out and endorse Barack who was doing nothing on the issue.
In addition to what he's not talking about, what he does talk about, Barack presents a curious slant on. Ralph noted that for someone who "says he's against the Iraq War," Barack's voted to fund it several times.
Ralph called out Barack last week and it was news. Sadly, it wasn't news for the critique Ralph offered. That should have been news, it was a strong critique. However, it was news that anyone would dare call out the Christ-child. The point was made later in the show, during the roundtable, when Arianna Huffington pointed out that the one-time press favorite John McCain was now playing second fiddle to Barack. It was apparently a shock to the news media that anyone would dare criticize Saint Barack.
A few weeks ago, we warned that the organized effort by The Cult of Obama was underway, that they were planning to do the same thing with Ralph that they did to Hillary and to John Edwards before Hillary: counsel, plead that the candidate focus their ire on John McCain and "Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Baby."
It was strange to see George Steph appear to counsel the same thing, to express amazement that Ralph would criticize Barack.
Nader's running to be the president of the United States. He's not running a 527 for Team Obama. He'll criticize any candidate he wants and that's his right. It's also smart and, if you doubt it, just grasp that last week's criticism got him on national, broadcast television.
That probably only works once. The media's not interested in his critique, they're just interested in expressing their faux shock that anyone would say a word against Barack. To George's credit, he didn't cut Ralph off when he talked about how Barack had scraped and bowed before AIPAC or when Ralph was talking about the attacks on the Palestinian people.
But, like Amy Goodman, he didn't treat Ralph like a presidential candidate. Not only did he not ask Ralph about his positions or plans, Ralph had to jump in at the end to note his campaign's website -- and note that other candidates promoted their websites when on television. [C.I. note: Nader noted it once before in the interview as a friend at ABC pointed out over the phone.]
During the same broadcast, a Barack supporter and a McCain supporter were on discussing their two candidates. Here's a thought, from now on when they do that, Ralph Nader needs to be allowed to come on or send a surrogate. Each week we're going to see that, between now and the election, that back and forth between Democrats and Republicans. But those aren't the only candidates running. We'd say the same of Bob Barr being allowed to be on or send a surrogate. (For both Nader and Barr, we'd advise skipping a surrogate whenever possible and appearing yourself because TV time does wonders for a campaign.) We can't make that argument for Cynthia McKinney's campaign because she's defined her campaign as an effort to get 5% of the vote (and declared that "victory") so someone who has publicly admitted they aren't running for president doesn't really have strong ground to stand on when demanding equal time.
But we think the idea could have traction -- at least with regards to This Week. A) George knows he needs to differentiate himself not only from the other hosts of the chat & chews but from This Week past and allowing candidates and surrogates to mix it up in a free wheeling debate could help with ratings. B) George is much more an in-the-mix person. He can do the canned analysis easily, no question. But where he always comes off best is in those moments that require him to be thinking on his feet. It was true in the Clinton White House as well. George was never cooking as strongly as when there was some flare up that needed to be addressed. His eyes do this thing that has nothing to do with shape or eye lids, the color themselves changes. Watch the video online and you'll be able to pick out those moments easily.
C) George used to believe in democracy more than anything else. What some might call bunk or sneer at as something left over from a Norman Rockwell painting, George always took seriously.
If he still does and he actually has the control of the program that he's been promised, he should be inclined to bring on reps from the campaigns of Barack, McCain, Barr and Ralph's (with the latter two representing themselves as much as possible).