http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-nader131.html

In visit to Chicago, Nader rips Gore, Reagan and praises kids

June 13, 2004

Ralph Nader says some of his biggest fans are cabdrivers.

Nader is nice, said the cabbie who drove him through Chicago on Saturday.

But once Nader climbed out of his taxi, Said Stabou shared some thoughts on politics.

"If you vote for him," Stabou said, "you're voting for Bush."

But Nader, running again for president as an independent, said his candidacy didn't help Republican George Bush capture the White House in 2000.

Further, Nader said, "Most Democrats in the know blame [Democrat Al] Gore for beating Gore. He had it. It was his to lose. He blundered in so many ways, and then he lost his home state of Tennessee, but more than that is, he didn't come across in any natural way, and the debates showed that. He came across wooden, and he came across different, different Al Gore every debate."

Nader also said that tributes to the late President Ronald Reagan glossed over a flawed record.

"He was not good on the environment. On our issues of consumer protection, he was almost contemptuous. He campaigned in Michigan in 1980 against air bags, saying that air bags interfered with personal freedom. Well, in some way he was right," Nader said. "[It] interfered with the freedom to go through a windshield."

"I wouldn't classify him as one of the great presidents of all," he said. "I think the Soviet Union collapsed out of its own corruption and its own internal abuse and inability to put food on the table. . . . He developed a huge military budget. He developed more national debt than all the presidents from George Washington through Jimmy Carter combined."

On the other hand, Nader said, "compared to this president, he was kindly, congenial. He was not nasty in any way, and he didn't have a messianic streak."

The longtime consumer advocate was in Chicago to congratulate fifth-grade students at Byrd Academy for lobbying to improve the dilapidated facility at 363 W. Hill St. Their campaign has drawn the attention of politicians and the media and led to small improvements, such as soap in washrooms.

The pupils have learned English lessons through letter-writing and math from charting temperature fluctuations inside the school (which range from 60 to 80 degrees). They've conducted surveys, created pie charts and made a DVD. In the process, they've improved attendance and test scores, said teacher Brian Schultz.

Initially, student Shaquice Davis said she thought: "Who's going to listen to a bunch of black kids from Cabrini-Green?"

Nader promised to take their concerns to Mayor Daley at a function they were both set to attend.

"There aren't many fifth-grade classes like yours in the country, so you ought to be very proud," he said.

Nader said he is working to get on the ballot in Illinois and other states, despite "very formidable" signature-gathering rules, he said.

"We'll definitely be on the ballot," in Illinois, he said.