Nader, at debate, wanted to 'leap out onstage in a cape'

Long-shot candidate Ralph Nader, at the presidential debate at the University of Miami, wanted to make a cameo on stage and liven up what he called `a presidential charade.'

BY KARL ROSS AND TERE FIGUERAS

tfigueras@herald.com


Left on the sidelines of the presidential debate, long-shot candidate and alleged race-spoiler Ralph Nader was nonetheless at the University of Miami -- criticizing the two headliners and plotting an unscripted cameo on the prime time stage.

''If I could only go through the ducts and leap out onstage in a cape -- that's my dream,'' said Nader, who enjoyed a dinner at the school's faculty club as he pondered ways to liven up what he called ''a presidential puppet show, a presidential charade'' governed by preset rules agreed on by the Bush and Kerry campaigns.

''You know what would I say to them? Burn the 32 pages of rules and go after each other in a free for all,'' said Nader, who will appear on the Florida ballot as a Reform Party candidate. ``The American people don't want the debates to be a cure for insomnia.''

more: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/9805157.htm

Ralph. For once and for all, YOU. ARE. IRRELEVANT.

his supporters will realize it's time to pull together to defeat Bush.

He is irrelevant.

that was a WWF smackdown!

From semi-serious candidate to giving everyone douche chills.

His boy Bush was getting pounded.

Ralph, we hardly knew ye.

you wouldn't look good at all in tights.

I saw the headline and I thought, "Why is this in LBN when it's clearly a joke?"

wacko

the Hollywood good-looks.

... as the UK Monster Raving Loony Party. Here's their candidate from last night's by-election.

But at least he knows he's a joke.

for Ralph to take a leap.

leap out and open window high up on a building. Maybe he can fly.

Msongs
Riverside CA

please please please take this advise and do it - prove to the world how "super" you really are!

Please!

Just open a window - secure your trusty cape and jump - I'm SURE you can do it!

Come on, everyone - let's all urge him to jump!

JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!

The man is delusional.

me, me" Ralph who wants the attention.

Leaping onstage in a cape. Give me a break.

They took Batman off the Palace facade a while back,

can't he think of something original :shrug:

I'm sure Former Governor Bush would have loved Loony Ralph to be part of the debate so he would not have butt kicked by President Kerry as much as otherwise.

Has he been offered a spot on Hollywood Squares yet?

Poor Ralph. He's losing it.

He's just an annoyance at this point. If Bush is all hat and no cattle, Nader is all talk and nothing presidential.

I use to respect him when he was a consumer advocate. He should have stayed in that roll.

I like the idea. Why did both candidates agree to these rules? It wasn't really a debate, it was two men standing on stage giving two minute speech after two minute speech.

They should shuck the gloves and really go after each other. That's what I want to see.

I don't get all this hostility toward Nader. If you don't like him, don't vote for him, but he makes some good points. He's the only real progressive around with an anti-war, anti-corporate, pro-consumer agenda. He's where the democratic party should be if it had any balls, so I don't get why you guys hate him so much.

You mean: being bankrolled by the Republicans?!

Puh-leez.

He should have the right to be on the ballot -- and the Democratic party should not be preventing that from happening. It makes them look just as bad as the Republicans.

His comments today about the debate were dead-on:

"We didn't hear anything about the Israel/Palestine conflict; we didn't hear anything about global arms control in the broader sense; we didn't hear anything about the global trade treaties-WTO and NAFTA-nor did we hear anything about the need to do something about the military budget of the Pentagon, which is so wasteful."

http://www.counterpunch.com/nader10012004.html

but i can't get over him getting repuke money and support.

who has a bitter revenge fantasy against the Dems. He's no better than Zell Miller.

But there are ballot rules, and old ralph keeps breaking them and getting on the ballot anyway.

JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!

From the highest window!

Please, oh PLEASE!

I heard Gore (the guy no different than W - toss a coin in Florida), I didn't hear Ralph. maybe his cape was still at the cleaners...

What about David Cobb? He is just as progressive as Nader. That's why the Green Party picked him as a candidate OVER Nader.

Nader wants to see the Green Party collapse and have himself declared king of the progressives. He doesn't care that the progressive party with the most support is being undermined by his candidacy. Have you seen anyone in the news talking to or reporting on Cobb? I haven't. It's all Nader, just the way ralph likes it.

I mean I had problems with the format, but the irony there is huuuuuge. :)

Leap on out there in a cape... lordy. I really used to like this man.

AP: Body of Ralph Nader Found in UM Air Vents After Mysterious Disappearance.

Political gadfly and former rights activist Ralph Nader was found dead this morning after an extensive search of the UM campus turned up his body in an air vent behind the stage of the presidential debates last week. He is the victim of an apparent media stunt gone horribly awry.

“It appears that he was trying to make an unscheduled appearance during last week’s presidential debates wearing a purple spandex costume with a matching velour cape.” reported lead investigator, Hubbard White during the press conference this afternoon. “Tragically, the cape caught on a loose screw while he was traversing the ducting network from the building’s right wing to the stage.”

Architect Ronald Johnson, brought in to assist authorities in determining what occurred outlined what happened next. “The ducts in that part of the structure are pretty steeply sloped, and I don’t think he anticipated how hard it would be to keep his balance or regain his footing should he fall. As a result, when he did fall, his costume acted like a hangman’s noose. It’s a damn shame.”

When reached for comment, close associates of Mr Nader were deeply upset, but weren’t surprised at the news. “I told him the cape was a bad idea” said confidant Ralph Reed through tears outside his offices in Washington DC. “I told him not to go, that we had other ways to get his message out. But Ralph always had to make a big splash, always be the center of attention. Now we’re going into November without him, and I just don’t see how we can win without his help.”

;)

RTP

Faster than a silver bullet
more powerful than a vengeful motive
able to leap all logic with a single bound

What a twisted self-image!

Last night while watching the debate my roomate asked me

"Who are these people who would still vote for Bush when it's plain to see that he's a complete moron?"

I said..

"It's the same mentality that caused people to vote for Nader in 2000."

No, it's Spoiler Man!!

:evilgrin:

a straight-jacket should work fine for him.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Aren't you here posting, breathing DU air too?

:crazy:

DTH

A Gift to the Kerry / Edwards Campaign
Ten Ways to Beat George W. Bush
By RALPH NADER

snip

5. Expand Worker's Rights by Developing an Employee Bill of Rights and Providing a Living Wage and Health Care to All NOW

The rights of workers' have been on the decline-take-home pay is at the lowest percentage of GDP since 1929, when figures started being collected. It is time to reverse that trend and begin to give our workers-the backbone of the US economy-the rights they deserve. Workers need a living wage for themselves and their families-not a minimum wage-as there has been an ongoing decline in median family income, access to health care, and reductions in medical benefits and pensions for current employees and retirees. Roadblocks to union organizing, including the Taft-Hartley Act, need to be removed. The US should withdraw from trade agreements that undermine worker's rights, environmental protections, and consumer rights by putting corporate profits before national sovereignty. The US should renegotiate them so they are "pull-up" and not "pull-down" trade agreements. See: For more information see: Workplace Fairness, www.nerinet.org

snip

6. End the Drug War and Restore, Expand Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights

Civil liberties and due process of law are eroding due to the "war on terrorism" and new technology that allows easy invasion of privacy. Americans of Arab descent and Muslim-Americans are bearing the brunt of these dragnet, arbitrary practices. Advocacy is necessary for the restoration of civil liberties; repeal of the Patriot Act; an end to secret detentions, arrests without charges, no access to attorneys, and the use of secret "evidence;" military tribunals for civilians; non-combatant status; and the shredding of "probable cause" determinations. Civil liberties must be expanded to include basic human rights in employment and truly equal rights regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, or religion. An end must be brought to the failed and expensive war on drugs--with public health, social services, and tender, supportive time with addicts, especially youngsters, in our depersonalized society. Law enforcement should be at the edges, not the center, of drug policy.

snip

10. Face Up to Increasing Poverty Especially Among Children and Demand an End to Commercial Exploitation of Our Children

The commercialization of childhood seems to have no limits. Children are urged to consume bad products and watch entertainment that is harmful to their physical and mental health. We must remove corporations from child-rearing and restore that role to parents. We must face up to the rise in poverty--the Department of Agriculture estimates that 34.9 million Americans, including 13 million children, experience food insecurity, or the lack of consistent access to enough food to ensure active, healthy living. Overall, households with children reported food insecurity at more than double the rate of households without children, 16.5% versus 8.1%. Forty-seven percent of single-mother households faced food insecurity. Make ending poverty for all Americans a priority, weave it into a network of known, proven policies, many advanced by conservatives and economists years ago. See Growing Up Empty: The Hunger Epidemic in America, By Loretta Schwartz-Nobel (Harper Collins 2004)

<http://counterpunch.org/nader09302004.html>

... back in the 2000 race - claiming there is no difference between Bush and Kerry, between the GOP and the Democrats. Nader still has not learned his lesson, even now at the 11th hour. Sorry, we don't need friends like these, or 'gifts' in one hand and long knives in the other. Given his perfect track record regarding losing elections and his GOP financial ties, I find it hard to take any of his advice seriously regarding politics.

RTP

Kerry is.

Ignore nader and vote John Kerry.

you know * would've curled up in a fetal position and cried.

n/t

Give it a rest, Ralph. If he can't see the difference between Kerry and Bush, there is no help for him at this point. Bush = more preemptive wars. Kerry = war as a LAST resort. Big difference.

Novak breaks his hip and Nader thinks of himself as a super hero. To be honest, I thought this was an onion article before I read the source.

He's barking mad.

Then maybe he'd have been locked-up for a few weeks in a rubber room! :)

"A Vote for Nader is a Vote for Bush"

They would arrest him for trying to harm the president and lock him up forever.

It's official: St. Ralph is batshit crazy. :crazy: