My name is Nicholas Johnson.
No, I’m not a Hollywood celebrity. No, I was not sent here by a major political party to divert attention from the issues. I am just an Iowa City boy who, 50 years ago, regularly stopped by this very room on my way home from school two blocks down the street.
Later I spent most of my professional life in Washington, D.C.
Why is that relevant during an evening with Ralph Nader?
Because, like many of you, I do not take my support of a presidential candidate lightly.
I have worked for the election of Democratic presidents since Harry Truman in 1948. I have received three presidential appointments from two Democratic presidents. I have run for Congress from Iowa as a Democrat. I have served the Democratic Party at every level from local precinct chair to a Democratic National Committee task force.
So it’s not been easy for me, this endorsement of a Green Party candidate.
But the corporate corruption that engulfs both major parties has now reached the stage when we cannot afford to wait any longer.
An organization called Common Cause has for thirty years joined Ralph Nader in his campaign finance reform efforts. Ralph talked me into serving on its national board. I think thirty years of broken promises from both major parties is long enough. Don’t you?
And every four years it gets worse.
A million dollars in soft money produces a billion dollars in corporate profits. Billions in tax breaks, price supports, anti-trust exemptions, defense contracts.
The two major parties are simply incapable of reforming themselves.
There is good Iowa precedent for third parties in times like these.
After the Civil War the Democratic Party came to be dominated by big business. The party was ignoring the plight of small family farmers. Disgusted Democrats formed a third party. By 1892 an Iowan, James Weaver, was that party’s presidential candidate.
Dissident Republicans did the same thing in 1912 when their party came to be dominated by big business.
In fact, it’s those third parties that gave us wage and hour laws, child labor laws, the women’s right to vote, safety in the work place, social security -- you name it.
It’s no different today.
How many of you have heard Ralph Nader speak before? You know you’re in for a treat.
But for those who have not let me say a few words about this genuine American hero – and I emphasize “genuine.”
Normally, I speak for entire semesters at a time. It would take at least that to give you a measure of this man. Here are some highlights.