EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnMichael WashburnrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.f. Brown, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett,rnChristine Haynes, E. Christian Kopff,rnj.O. Tate, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, William Mills,rnJacob Neusner, ]ohn Shelton Reed,rnMomcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRE’IARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute,rnEditorial and Advertising Offiecs:rn934 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103.rnEditorial Phone: (815)964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (813) 964-5813.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morns, IL 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution by Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., One Media Wav, 12406 Rt. 230rnMilan, Ohio 44848-9705rnCopyright © 1996 by The Rockford Institicte.rnAll rights reserved.rnChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishedrnmonthly for $39.00 (foreign subscriptions add 512rnfor surface delivery, $48 for Air Mail) per car bvrnThe Rockford Institute, 934 North Main Street’,rnRockford, IL 61103-7061. Preferred periodicalrnpostage paid at Rockford, IL and additional mailingrnoffices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes tornChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris, IL 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of The Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot bernreturned unless accompanied by a self-addressedrnstanrped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol. 20, No, II November 1996rnPrinted in tlic Uiiifcd States i)f AmericarnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn Ralph Nader and thernGreen PartyrnLike many Chronicles readers, I too amrneoneerned about the way our electoralrnprocess is rigged in favor of the twornestablishment parties. I supported PatrnBuchanan for the GOP nomination thisrnyear, but I am disappointed that he didrnnot take the approach of Jerry Brown inrn1992: Brown refused to run on a thirdpartyrnticket but also refused to endorsernClinton-Gore.rnChronicles has often discussed alternativesrnto the Republicans and Democrats.rnYou have mentioned the U.S. Taxpayers,rnReform, and Libertarian parties,rnbut what about the Green Party? I amrnplanning to vote for Ralph Nader forrnPresident in November. I le was on thernballot in a dozen states as of Labor Dayrnand will eventually be on the ballot inrn30-some states, with write-in campaignsrntaking place in the others (includingrnFlorida).rnNader is often portrayed as the championrnof big government and regulation.rnBut actually, I think he has always beenrnmore about exposing corporate and governmentalrncorruption and wrongdoingrnthan about rules and regulations. Whenrnwrongdoing is exposed, government usuallyrnpasses some law to pacify critics andrnthen the wrongdoers promptly co-optrnthe agency which is supposed to enforcernthe law. I think Nader understands this.rnPerhaps in the 1960’s and 1970’s he wasrnmore optimistic about the ability of thernfederal government to bring about positivernchange, but by the late 1980’s he wasrnemphasizing the need for fundamentalrnpolitical reform, for greater democratization.rnThat’s what appeals to me.rnAs a Jeffersonian, Nader supports decentralizationrnof both economic and politicalrnpower. In his introduction to ThernCase Against Free Trade: GATT, NAFTA,rnand the Clohalization of Corporate Powerrn(Earth Island Press, 1993), Nader writes:rn”It is rare that regulatory breakthroughsrnoccur at the national, let alone international,rnlevel. L’sually, a smaller jurisdictionrn—a town, city, or state—experimentsrnwith a standard, other cities andrnstates copy it and, eventually, nationalrngovernments and international governments,rnlagging behind, follow their lead.rnThis pereolating-up process will bernsquelched by GATT and NAFTA, withrntop-down mercantile dictates replacingrnbottom-up democratic impulses.” In arnWashington Times op-ed earlier this yearrn(“U.S. Companies Should Pledge Allegiance,”rnJune 4), Nader argued that U.S.-rnbased transnational corporations shouldrnbe required to pledge allegiance to thernAmerican flag and the republic for whichrnit stands. He believes the annual stockholderrnmeetings would be the appropriaterntime and place for such a pledge.rnNader is a true patriot. Nader was anrnadvisor to the Jerry Brown campaign inrn’92, and he is the logical heir to Brown’srnpolitical legac).rnOf the third-party candidates runningrnthis year, only Nader has the kind of transcendentrnpopulist appeal discussed byrnKevin Phillips (Arrogant Capital) andrnBill Kauffman (America First!). Naderrncan appeal to Brown Democrats, BuchananrnRepublicans, Browne Libertarians,rnPhillips Taxpayers, Perot Reformers, and,rnof course, Nader Greens. I am not sayingrnhe is the first choice of most of thesernblocs, but his emphasis on political reform,rnfair trade, genuine democracy, frugalrngovernment, noninterventionism,rnand decentralization cuts across the oldrnideological and party boundaries. If theyrnare willing to move beyond a knee-jerkrnreaction to his name and listen to whatrnNader is saying and has been saying forrnthe past decade, I think many populistrnconservatives would be attracted by hisrnanti-NAFTA, anti-GATT, anti-MexicanAVallrnStreet bailout, anti-corporaterngreed, anti-congressional pay raise, anti-rnChina MFN, anti-Gulf War, pro-termrnlimits, pro-referendum, pro-campaignrnfinance reform message. Nader andrnBuchanan clearly agree on many issues.rnOf course, if people are looking for arncandidate who espouses or implicitly acceptsrnracial discrimination and otherrnforms of inegalitarian thinking, Nader isrnthe wrong man. Or if abortion is the onlyrndefining issue, then Nader is not thernright person. I also understand why conservativesrnmay be wary of a party perceivedrnas a bunch of left-wing tree-huggers.rnWhile I do not speak for the entirernstate party, I am a founder (and currentrnchair) of the Missouri Green Party. Onernreason I was attracted to the Greens isrnthat they claim to be “neither left norrnright.” That’s one of our slogans. Whenrnthe Greens started in West Germany,rn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn