A Call to Nader
by Scott Cullen

"Do these kids not have anything better to do with themselves, or do they just not like their parents?" über-hardballer Chris Matthews asked about protesters at the recent Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. Most of his guests, whose official political leanings spanned the spectrum, offered the same disdainfully dismissive assessment, suggesting that while there are some very substantive arguments to be made against globalization, none of these young protesters seem to understand them. They are portrayed as leaderless, clueless and ineffective.

Remembering that the "MS" in MSNBC stands for Microsoft, the usual progressive reaction to criticisms such as Matthews' is to dismiss them as products of a sensationalistic mainstream media, subject to corporate control and subservient to profit motive rather than editorial integrity. Such a response reaffirms the minority, outsider identity that underpins so many of the factions that comprise the progressive cornucopia. It also fails to address the most significant challenge to the progressive movement today.

As evidenced by the condescension from Matthews and company, the progressive Left is, by and large, not taken seriously among the Washington punditocracy. At best, it is dismissed as a bunch of ex-hippies, burnout college kids and disgruntled unionists. At worst, the movement is regarded as a mass of violent anarchists and insurrectionists.

As the roster of major protests grows, anti-globalization activists are treated more like a predictable sideshow than as a source of major upheaval. What was shocking at the WTO meetings in Seattle and unnerving at the Wold Bank meetings in Washington was strangely familiar at the president's inauguration in January and was flat-out stale by last weekend. It is a tragedy that progressivism is relegated to the fringe — or, rather, that it allows itself to be, because the agenda of the progressive movement is by no means marked by fringe issues. What fringe issues are those? Living wages, criminal justice reform, workers rights, consumer protection — all have a tangible impact on millions of Americans. They are goals worthy of an effective strategy and a messenger.

"We've got to stop preaching to the choir," says Cort Greene, a progressive activist who works at the Liberation Collective in Portland, Ore. Part bookstore, part resource center, the collective acts as a focal point for the myriad entities that comprise Portland's thriving community of progressive activists.

"Right now, with each major protest action, all of these components of the movement are learning to work together, to work through differences and remain unified. That's the first stage. After that, we have to take the message outside of progressive circles and start reaching out to people who we might not have, traditionally."

A sound strategy, but one not easily attained when your movement doesn't get any respect.

Re-enter the messenger, Ralph Nader. A non-viable candidate for the presidency and a thoroughly viable one for the Most Hated Man in America Award, the Green Party candidate has been conspicuously absent since the November election. He has published a couple of op-eds, made a few speeches and given a handful of interviews to make clear he harbors no personal guilt or remorse about Al Gore's defeat. But he hasn't been out in front. He has been notably quiet in the face of some of the most turbulent and notable political developments in modern American history.

Nader's resumé is full of laudable achievements, but presently, his greatest asset, and the source of his opportunity, is simply the fact that he's a grown-up in a suit who has name recognition but not dreadlocks. The Left presently recognizes a vacuum in leadership and direction in both its centrist and progressive wings. As hated as Ralph Nader is among many Democrats, he is nonetheless that rare breed who enjoys entrée with both the far Left and the mainstream. He could be a respectable pair of shoulders upon which American progressives can hitch a ride through the door to the rest of America, a door they have to go through if they are serious about making progress on their issues.

In November, 2.8 million people threw their votes behind Nader and proved they weren't afraid to make plenty of noise on his behalf. In one sold-out arena after another, he pledged to use the momentum of his campaign to build a vibrant third party movement. He has promised that Green candidates will run competitive campaigns in many congressional districts in 2002. If these promises are to be kept, there's a lot of work to do, and at this point, momentum stands to be squandered by further inaction.

Last October, Chris Matthews welcomed Ralph Nader for an hour-long Hardball, live from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before a packed auditorium of energized students, a gushing Matthews could barely contain his respect and admiration for the old war-horse of the Left, calling him a "great man." It makes you wonder if the disdain of the talking heads would have been as potent last week if Nader had sat opposite them in the studio as the face and voice leading the defense of the progressives in Quebec City. The protesters, and their familiar protests, are almost out of political capital. Someone has to pick up the banner and run. Time for Ralph to step up.

E-mail Scott Cullen at scoofy at dezmin dot com.