Bargain hunters at the rummage sale across the street didn't even notice as bagpipes welcomed Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, as he slipped into the First Unitarian Church on Chestnut Street Saturday afternoon.
Firing up his supporters at the pulpit, Nader spoke passionately about excessive corporate power in politics, the need for a six-month exit strategy from the war in Iraq and the "silent violence" of child abuse, air pollution, corporate fraud and unaffordable health care.
"Corporations should get out of politics," said Nader, a well-known consumer advocate who many Democrats say cost Al Gore the presidential election in 2000 by siphoning liberal support.
Nader also argued that economic growth was irrelevant to the vast majority of the public.
"Most people are falling behind," Nader said, citing a disconnection between the rich getting richer and economic growth. "Meanwhile, you have the paper shufflers ... making money beyond their dreams of avarice."
Nader, who supports a uniform ballot access law for candidates, said that Independent candidates were treated as "second-class citizens [in a] status subordinate to the two [major] parties."
He spoke of the "judicial frivolousness" of the Democrats fighting to prevent him from appearing on the ballot, denying allegations that his campaign might cost Kerry much-needed votes.
"The probability of the Democrats screwing it up again is far greater," Nader said.
Dissatisfaction with the Democrats was a recurring theme among the diverse crowd, which numbered around 300 people.
"Kerry has abandoned [the Democratic] ideals," Independent voter Larry Petkov said, noting that he would nonetheless vote for Kerry to build up the anti-Bush base.
"Nader has no base," said Petkov, who voted for Nader in the 2000 presidential election.
However, he said, "Everything he says I agree with. ... He's way ahead of his time. We need a third party in this country."
Others shared similar political sentiments.
"I'm unhappy with what our choices are as an American," said Brandon Waloff, a Philadelphia native and recent graduate of the University of Pittsburg.
"Kerry's not showing a clear stance on what he believes in, and Bush is just way out there," Waloff said.
He added, "People who would vote for Nader wouldn't vote for either Kerry or Bush," but later admitted that he would vote for Kerry -- who was "the lesser of two evils" -- if Nader was not on the ballot.
Penn alumnus and Philadelphia County Reform Party Chairman David Shrier disagrees with this reasoning.
"When I vote, I vote affirmatively for somebody," Shrier said, noting that the lesser of two evils is still an evil. "I'm voting for a winner who will lose, unlike the Democrats and Republicans who vote for losers who always win."
Indeed, an election with a selection is one of Nader's priorities.
"Tactical voting turns voters into prisoners," Nader said, contesting the "least-worst mentality" that he said some Kerry supporters possessed.
Kerry supporter Leroy Way -- who may have been the only non-Naderite in the crowd -- made little show of his political leanings except for a Kerry-Edwards '04 badge pinned on his polo shirt.
"I just wanted to see Ralph Nader when he came in," Way said. "I heard a lot about him. ... I'm just curious."
However, the day wasn't solely about rallying the faithful. The rhetoric was also accompanied by the sound of money, as adults paid $10 to hear Nader speak while students and seniors received a discount of $5. Donation dishes were also passed out, before Nader left for a Harrisburg press conference and a Pittsburg fundraiser.
Nader confirmed that he was appealing the decision of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania that declared him ineligible for the state ballot. Currently, voters who want to vote for Nader in Pennsylvania will have to write him in on the ballot.
"The people who are going to vote for Nader are so dedicated that they're just going to write in his name," said Andrew Mehdizadeh, a Washington College freshman who came from Maryland to assist the Nader campaign for the weekend. "I don't believe the whole spoiler thing."
