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Sunday, August 27, 2000
By Ann McFeatters, Post-Gazette National Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader is having trouble getting above low single digits in public preference polls to date, but the first week after all the national political parties had finished their conventions showed the scope of the modern consumer movement that he helped to create 3 1/2 decades ago.
Cases in point:
Some of the agencies involved -- in particular, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -- were formed partly because of Nader. And offshoots of groups once dominated by his so-called "Nader's Raiders," zealous crusaders for consumer rights and environmental protection, were involved in all of these cases.
Before Nader's frontal assaults demanding more government regulation in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, widespread federal recalls, fines and lawsuits were almost unheard of. Using such names as the Center for Responsive Law, the Center for Auto Safety and Public Interest Research Groups, Nader has founded at least four dozen non-profit, public interest advocacy groups.
A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Nader, 66, who maintains offices in the nation's capital, points to Jesse Ventura's surprise election as Minnesota's governor as evidence that he may do better in his presidential campaign than most pundits expect.
But he also says his candidacy is intended to send a message that the status quo -- by which he means the public influence of big corporations--is unacceptable.
Although for years Nader disdained the idea of running for public office, he has been adamant from the days of his first public forays in the 1960s that his work was a demonstration of true patriotism.
Patriotism means caring enough about the United States to work hard to make it "more human, moral and caring," he once said, adding that everyone has a duty to be a fully engaged and constantly questioning "public citizen."
His advocacy has spawned as well a cottage industry of anti-Nader activisism. His name is anathema to many business leaders, who have contended that he and his minions went after legitimate products and businesses with "scare" campaigns.
Bridgestone/Firestone began flying in foreign replacements to meet the demand after its safety recall of 6.5 million tires, as Ford Motor Co. took steps to halt production temporarily at three plants so that it can make more than 70,000 replacement tires available to consumers. Fisher-Price announced a recall of 3 million swings, walkers and bassinets because of choking and falling hazards. Publishers Clearing House, which mails 100 million magazine solicitations a year, said it would pay $18 million to 23 states and the District of Columbia because of lawsuits that have charged it with using deceptive practices to sell magazines. Refunds are to be offered to people who paid more than $2,500 for magazines in the mistaken belief that the subscription purchases would help them win prize money in the Publishers Clearing House national sweepstakes. The Federal Trade Commission sued owners of adult-oriented Internet sites for allegedly billing thousands of Web users for supposedly free services and for charges to some who had never even visited their sites. Mitsubishi Motors admitted that it had systematically covered up tens of thousands of customer complaints since 1977 and then announced new recalls because of defects found in 88,000 cars and trucks on top of a recall of 532,000 vehicles earlier this summer.