Nader Speaks to Small Crowd at ISU Wednesday
by Dawn Mueller

Ralph Nader filled a room of about 290 people Wednesday at ISU, just hours before John Kerry's appearance in Cedar Rapids.

Nearly all were very young students.  The event was nothing at all like Nader's 2000 appearance at UI.

Before the event started, and before Nader had arrived, when I walked in a Nader staffer observed that I had a half-ream of paper rolled up in my hand.  He came up and demanded to see what I had in my hand.  When I objected, he told me that he was a lawyer and that I would be threatened with a lawsuit and removed from the room if I did not comply.

I walked away from him and headed towards a seat in the rear of the room. He called two more Nader staffers:  they surrounded me, told me I was violating the law by possessing unapproved literature in my hand.  They accused me of distributing anti-Nader literature, when, in fact, I hadn't done anything but walk into the room.  When I stated that I had not done anything but walk into the room, I was told that security would be called on me if I did not comply with their demand to leave the room and to turn what paper I had over to them.  I then raised my voice and requested (somewhat loudly so that persons in the back of the room would hear), why Nader people, of all people, would be infringing upon my First Amendment rights to assemble at a political event - especially at a public event where they were trying to attract people.

Security was called, and I was told I would have to leave the premises. When I asked why I would have to leave, the security officer could not answer.  He turned to the Nader people, who couldn't claim anything because I hadn't done anything, and there were plenty of witnesses there to prove it.  I told them to stop harrassing me, pushed them off and took my seat.

Approximately 1/4th left before he had finished speaking.  A number of students, who were apparently politically active on campus in progressive causes, became very upset when Nader accused both Democrats and progressives of essentially monolithic conspiracy with corporations.  They did not take kindly that he inadvertently insulted students who were working hard on progressive causes.

A few students were there with Kerry-Edwards stickers or T-shirts.

The remainder of the crowd applauded at Nader's comments.  I would guess maybe 180 or so.  I did not recognize anyone from Iowa City in the crowd, so the audience was likely all Grinnelians and Cyclones.

After his speech, Nader had a Q & A.  Only four or so of us were able to speak at the open mic (about 8 in line), as Nader tends to give long responses, and the four of us had relatively long statements to make.  All four of us voiced strong concerns about the election.  I discussed Democracy for Iowa; its connection to Democracy for America and Dean for America.  I also stated that I was with I-Renew; a conservationist; a peace activist; and, a women's rights activist.  I stated that Democracy for Iowa was proud to support candidates like Paul Johnson for Congress, and that DFA was working to take down Tom Delay and promote progressives across the country.

Nader made comments supportive of Dean but also one that expressed bitterness at his perception that some Dean people had worked to keep him off the ballot in many states.

I urged Nader to call upon his supporters to trade their Iowa Nader votes for Kerry votes in safe states, and I informed the hall about the organization, VotePair.org.  Nader did encourage those supporters who felt they could to participate in vote trading.

The other three individuals at the open mic really laid into Nader for his perceived jeopardization of the election and for making comments that disregarded the hard work of ISU progressives who were Democrats or were otherwise voting for John Kerry.

I then went into the corridor outside the room as people exited and handed out informational sheets about VotePair.org.  I distributed approximately 100 of them.

All in all, it was not a successful event for Nader.  Perhaps 25 stayed to pick up autographed copies of his book.  He had made a lot of good points during his speech, but he was not as effective as he was in 2000.

I left feeling bad for Ralph.  Clearly, the hostility of the Democrats since the 2000 election has hurt him, and the current political winds were not in his favor, old soldier that he is.  To add insult to injury, the event organizers had taped up the canvas banner behind him with duct tape, and it fell down as Nader spoke.  He looked old and tired.

I would say he probably netted maybe 75-125 votes off that event, including those hard-core young lefties and anarchists who wouldn't have voted for Kerry, regardless of whether or not Ralph was an option.  Maybe 75 were curious but not committed.  The rest will likely fall to Kerry, except for a small handful of Bush supporters who were hovering.