This is a partial transcript from “HANNITY & COLMES”, July 6, 2004, that has been edited for clarity.
HANNITY: Joining us now is the author of a brand new book, “The Good Fight,” and the presidential candidate for theIndependent Party (search), Ralph Nader.
Under no circumstances are you getting out of this race before November?
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Under no circumstances. It’s independent candidate, not Independent Party.
HANNITY: I’m sorry. I apologize.
NADER: Nader/Camejo, independent.
HANNITY: And if you did, would you consider what you did a betrayal to those people who support you?
NADER: Look, I want to give the people who want to vote for me and Peter Camejo (search) an opportunity to do so. The Democrats are playing dirty tricks, trying to get us off a number of state ballots, and Republicans are puffing and doing nothing.
HANNITY: Now before we get to that, I just want you to explain to the audience why you called me the “spitting, screeching viper-like Sean Hannity.”
NADER: Because I looked at a web site, VoteNader.org, and you didn’t contribute to my campaign.
HANNITY: Well, you wrote that in a column, “spitting, screeching viper-like?”
NADER: Because, I saw you when I was being interviewed in your promo, and you were really angry and there was no audio. There was no audio. You looked like a spitting viper.
HANNITY: At times even Alan gets under my skin. All right.
I spoke with you earlier today. And you said something that is really profound. You said that the Democrats — and you’ve also said Democratic Party — Democrats are afraid of democracy.
And you also said — you’re accusing the Kerry campaign of launching a Watergate-style (search) dirty tricks operation in a bid to keep you off the ballot in November. And you called John Kerry and you told him that today.
Tell us the nature of the charge and how the conversation went.
NADER: I didn’t say the Kerry campaign. I said Democratic Party operatives. And I asked him whether he knew anything about it. He said he didn’t. He said he’ll look into it.
But the way, from a guy that wanted to appoint John McCain, a Republican, for his vice president, for a guy he said he wants Republicans to — Democrat votes, I won’t be…
COLMES: By the way, I support your right to run, as a Democrat, and I think people should have a choice…
NADER: As a Democrat you said?
COLMES: I’m a Democrat.
NADER: OK. As a Democrat.
COLMES: You’re not running. I as a Democrat support your right to run, and I’ve told you many times.
But you know that Republicans in Oregon are trying to get you on the ballot because they want to divide the vote. Will you disavow their attempt to do it, because they have nefarious reasons for doing it? They’re not doing it because they support you.
NADER: I haven’t seen any evidence of that. But when we had our convention in Portland a few days ago in an auditorium, the Democrats packed it with over 150 people to get us over the thousand number that we needed under the authority of the Oregon officials, who were right there with the counters, to lock the doors and to give us the impression we were over the one thousand necessary. And then they didn’t sign. They were like Trojan horses.
The reason why I’m running, you know. Politics is broken. We’ve got a war quagmire in Iraq that we’ve got to bring the troops back home, have independent elections for the Iraqi people so they can separate themselves from the insurgents and get out from our military and corporate operation.
COLMES: You point out in “The Good Fight,” and you talk about the corporations in politics. Does it matter whether Bush or Kerry are elected in terms of their relationship with corporate [America]. Does it matter which of those two are elected?
NADER: It’s like two trains running downhill at different speeds. The question is, are they good enough? Or are they both flunking?
COLMES: Even if that’s what you think, wouldn’t you want the one that’s going to go slower down that hill?
NADER: I want my candidate to go. I want to get on the ballot. I want to get on the debates, you know. There’s a new debate commission, Citizens Debate Commission…
COLMES: You know you are accused of being a spoiler? You know that that comes up. It came up…
NADER: How do you spoil a political system that’s spoiled to the core? Let me clarify that. That’s a contemptuous term, Alan, I wouldn’t think you’d want to use.
Either we’re all spoilers of one other because we’re trying to get votes from one another. And let me clarify that. That’s a contemptuous turn, Alan, I wouldn’t think you’d want to learn.
Either we’re all spoilers of each other, because we’re trying to get votes from one another on a level playing field, or none of us are spoilers, because we have an equal right in the USA, land of the free, to run for political office.
HANNITY: Ralph, if you had your way, Saddam would be in power, if you were elected last…
NADER: Don’t put words in my mouth.
HANNITY: Saddam would still be in power. Uday and Qusay, the raping, murdering thugs would still be alive. And because — What would you have done to get them out of power?
NADER: I told you earlier. George W. Bush was 24 hours away in the Gulf War from toppling Saddam. He kept him in power — let me finish. He urged the Shiites and Kurds to rise and overthrow him. Then he left these people be slaughtered.
HANNITY: What would you do in 2001, if you’d been in power?
NADER: What’s 2000. We’re talking about 1990.
HANNITY: The last election, what would you have done? He was in power in 2000. What would you have done? He’d still be there if you…
NADER: Here is what I would have done. I would have looked at all dictators around the world and tried to get an international rule of law and try to advance democracy.
HANNITY: Rule of law. He had 17 resolutions already.
NADER: Hey, you want to talk about countries that are violating resolutions…
HANNITY: Still be in power if you were elected.
NADER: Listen, he wouldn’t be in power, because he would have been toppled, and under international law in 1990. Why do you always avoid that?
HANNITY: I support your right to run, and I think it’s principled that you stay in the race.
NADER: We’re not only staying in the race. We want to get on the debates.
HANNITY: I’m watching the debate.
NADER: We want to get young people into the political system. That’s a good thing. Get more people out to vote, push the agenda.
You know something, you’re talking about the terrorism — you know what irritates me about you, Sean, let me just say…
HANNITY: I’ve got to go.
NADER: You don’t seem to care about 58,000 American workers who get killed because of occupational diseases.
HANNITY: I’ll bring you back. I’ll bring you back.
NADER: You don’t care about 80,000 people killed in medical malpractice.
HANNITY: We will — Because I do care about it.
NADER: Why don’t you talk about it?
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