Ralph Nader, Independent Presidential Candidate, Statement on Cancellation of The Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Debate
Friday, August 15, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org
RALPH NADER, INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, STATEMENT ON CANCELLATION OF THE FORT HOOD PRESIDENTIAL TOWN HALL DEBATE
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008---Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader today released the following statement on the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall calling on Sen. Barack Obama to listen to veterans and military groups and participate:
Over 4,600 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined and hundreds of thousands more have been severely injured. Thousands of our soldiers have been ripped off by pay-day loan rackets and auto dealer scams that operate on military bases, poisoned by dirty drinking water provided by Halliburton subsidiaries, and killed or injured due to inadequate body armor for years. Many of our wounded soldiers, especially those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and brain trauma as a result of the high incidence of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), have been neglected or saddled with a morass of paper work, bureaucracy and neglect on their return. This moral travesty goes on with no end in sight, while the Halliburtons, KBRs and Blackwaters waste billions of dollars.
This past Monday, the major Presidential Candidates were supposed to discuss the well-being of our soldiers and veterans as part of a forum hosted by the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, composed of dozens of military and veterans' groups across the country.
It is my understanding that Senator McCain confirmed his willingness to participate. CBS News confirmed and agreed to cover the forum live from Fort Hood on national TV from 9-11 p.m. EDT. But, as reported by the New York Times, Senator Obama declined to participate on this date, or to offer any alternative date.
Senator Obama's brand marketing campaign is so tightly scripted that he is reluctant to come out in the open to give the American people the chance to hear his views in an open forum.
Senator Obama's explanation that there is not enough time to fit this or any other presidential forum outside the three narrowly scripted debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates is just not credible. Between January 5, 2008 and February 26, 2008, Senator Obama participated in seven Democratic Party Presidential Primary debates over a 50-day period. Now, he says he will likely only have time to do three debates over the next 75 days. Both Senator McCain and a major network have stepped forward to join this bold initiative organized by some of the nation's most respected veterans groups. What is Senator Obama afraid of?
I challenge Senator Obama to reconsider and take the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall up on their invitation to host a forum anytime before November to discuss the increasingly complex issues facing America's military and veteran communities.
References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/us/politics/12obama.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/080408dnmetmilspouse.45d1e81.html
About Ralph Nader
Celebrated attorney, author and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century". For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and enact the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from the Harvard Law School.
About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally, higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans", Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.
For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.
