Boston: Hundreds pack Ralph Nader meeting

WHILE THE last preparations were being put in place for the
corporate-sponsored, stage-managed Democratic Party Convention in the USA,
independent radical presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke in Boston
about why he’s determined to challenge the two-party status quo.

Dan DiMaggio and Patrick Ayers, Socialist Alternative (USA)

On 23 July, 700-800 people crowded two big lecture halls at Harvard
University to hear the anti-war, anti-corporate message from the man who
is drawing more ire from some Democratic Party pundits than George W.
Bush.

Nader called George W. Bush "a giant corporation disguised as a human
being residing in the White House" and said his administration was
"marinated in oil".

But he warned that the Democrats are no alternative – their
presidential nominee John Kerry is "for the war and wants to stay in Iraq,
he tows the Sharon party line, he’s for corporate globalisation, the WTO
and NAFTA, and he voted for the Patriot Act – the greatest single assault
on civil liberties in the country’s history."

Socialist Alternative, (CWI, USA) who supported the Nader campaign in
2000 and is doing so again in 2004, were the main organisers of the rally.

We originally booked a single room with a 350-seat capacity expecting
to fill maybe 200 seats. But as the buzz about the rally grew, Harvard
moved the meeting to a much larger room and even provided a second room
with a live video feed!

Turnout

The turnout was surprising given that organisers had less than a week
to spread the word. With the help of energetic activists who came to
Boston from as far away as Alaska with the goal of getting Nader on the
Massachusetts ballot, thousands of flyers were posted and distributed
throughout the greater Boston area.

Many posters were defaced or torn down, but still 700-800 people turned
up, a tremendous figure especially given the obstacles we faced. These
included the fact that half the population of Boston had fled the city to
escape the Democratic National Convention!

Also, the event occurred at the same time as the Boston Social Forum,
which attracted many local activists, and was at 4:30pm on a Friday
afternoon.

The crowd was overwhelmingly made up of youth, a reflection of the
support Nader is getting from young people. Currently, 12% of young people
between the ages of 18-30 say they are going to vote for Nader.

Avalanche

The turnout is proof that despite the avalanche of attacks that "2004
is not 2000" from the corporate media and liberal democrats, Nader’s
campaign is attracting a very important layer of activists, workers and
youth.

It is helping legitimise the idea of independent politics and is paving
the way for further independent anti-corporate, anti-war and working-class
challenges to corporate politics.

Jeff Booth, a Harvard worker, union member and a member of Socialist
Alternative, spoke about the Harvard "No Layoffs" campaign. Harvard is the
largest employer in the region and the richest university in the world
with a $19 billion endowment but has recently laid off hundreds of
workers.

Patrick Ayers of Socialist Alternative and a student at UMass-Boston
spoke about using the Nader campaign to launch a new party that speaks
"for the millions and not the millionaires".

At the end of the meeting, Nader answered a variety of questions from
the audience. Organisers collected over a thousand dollars in donations.
Anyone who donated $75 or more received an autographed copy of Nader’s new
book, The Good Fight. Also a number of audience members signed up to help
collect signatures to get Nader on the Massachusetts ballot.

  • Socialist Alternative was the most visible organisation at the
    event. We sold $165 of materials including dozens of copies of our
    pamphlet, Support Nader’s Campaign for President: It’s Time to Break
    from the Two-Party System!
  • We also sold over 100 copies of our newspaper, Justice, and
    collected the names of over 20 people who wanted more information about
    Socialist Alternative.

  • www.socialistalternative.org