Kerry isn’t pressing Bush enough, Nader says

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

If Ralph Nader had a spot in tonight's final presidential debate, things would be much more contentious, the third-party presidential candidate said in an interview Tuesday.

"They'd be quite dramatically different," Nader said. "I wouldn't let Bush get away with what Kerry is letting him get away with."

Nader spoke to the Sun Tuesday while working his way to Las Vegas, where he was scheduled to give a lunchtime speech today at the UNLV student union.

If he were the moderator of the debate tonight, Nader said, he would have one question: "What are you doing to shift power from big corporations to workers, consumers, small taxpayers and voters?"

"That covers a huge agenda," Nader said, adding that he sees the role of government as something that shifts power "from the few to the many."

Nader said he is disgusted that Kerry hasn't pressed Bush on issues of tort reform, trade agreements, corporate subsidies and an exit plan for the war in Iraq.

And, he said, he was upset with Kerry's promise not to increase taxes on families making less than $200,000 a year.

"I think it's reckless," he said. "What if we have a huge crisis? You're not going to tax someone who's making 150 grand a year or more?"

Nader said he planned to discuss his plan to exit Iraq in six months at the UNLV event. Tonight's debate isn't the only one he'll be left out of: This week, he unsuccessfully challenged former supporter Michael Moore to a debate.

"Michael Moore is a turncoat," Nader said. "He did not respond to my invitation to debate. He was our big champion in huge rallies in 2000, and he's lost his nerve."