Consumer advocate and progressive liberal Ralph Nader said Thursday he will send a letter to a targeted group of 40 former university presidents, retired congressmen, progressive business leaders and civic activists and ask them to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.
“The pitch is this: Look, take six months off from your routine, form a slate, challenge Obama in the primaries,” Nader said on Fox News.
The letter will go out in “a few days,” he said.
“If he’s not challenged from the progressive liberal wing of his party that elected him, there’ll be a very dull campaign,” Nader said.
A two-time independent candidate, Nader said it’s “very unlikely” he will run for president.
“It’s a two-party dictatorship unless you’re worth billions of dollars to overcome all the obstacles, harassment, and all the state laws,” he said.
Obama needs to be challenged by members of his party because he has failed to deliver on his campaign promises, including raising the minimum wage, making it easier for workers to form trade unions, and revisiting “job-depleting trade agreements to third-world countries.”
Further, Obama has continued to follow former President George W. Bush’s military and foreign policies and tax cuts on the wealthy, Nader said.
The so-called slate of candidates who would challenge the president wouldn’t be expected to win; instead, their mission would be to raise an “agenda debate inside the party.”
“He should pursue redirections in the country,” Nader said of Obama and his failed administration.
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