Nader critical of Gore in Phila. campaign talk

Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader continued his verbal criticisms of both George W. Bush and Al Gore during an Election Day appearance at the Liberty Bell yesterday morning. With his longshot bid for the presidency all but concluded, Nader used his speech in Philadelphia to focus on what he called his "long-term, progressive political reform." He did not announce his support for Gore, but instead continued to lambast both candidates and again argued that they represent the same values. "There are almost no differences between the Republican and the Democratic parties," Nader told a crowd of about 50 supporters before proceeding to attack both Gore and Bush. He described the Republican candidate's history of using children for photo opportunities while "leaving them to starve" by allowing the Texas hunger rate to reach the second highest in the nation. "Rather than kissing babies, I've had a record of saving babies," Nader said. In this year's election, Nader played an adversarial role to Gore's campaign, as Democrats worried that Nader would take away votes from the vice president's campaign in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida. Nader has continued to campaign in these states in a push to get 5 percent of the popular vote -- which would give his party federal funding in 2004. Nader denied his interest in supporting either of the two parties and denounced Gore for implying that "a vote for Bush or a vote for Nader is a vote against Gore." "What impudence; what arrogance; what lack of self-confidence," Nader said of the vice president. Nader used the historic location of the Liberty Bell as a reference to American history, and to the Green Party's continuation of the struggle for civil rights. "The United States of America needs a Declaration of Independence from global corporations," Nader said. "Government of big business, by big business and for big business" is the greatest danger that Americans face, he explained. Turning to his own candidacy, Nader said he takes pride in his clean election bid. "The way we conducted our campaign was a win," Nader said. Nader declared the Green Party to be both a corporate and political watchdog that would "dethrone" the "massive corporations [that] are the kings and emperors of today," as well as bring real choice to national politics. He also boasted of the use of only private funding, as opposed to donations by Political Action Committees, or PACs, which are known for their use of donations to influence the political agenda. "Young people always push the envelope with justice," Nader said. "They're not about to settle for the lesser of two evils." "Today is the first step toward a majoritarian party sometime in the next 12 years," he added."[The outcome of this election] is not a matter that has any impact on our determination."