Nader: Pres. Obama 'flunked' first year

Ralph Nader was incredibly critical of candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign -- at one point predicting the former Illinois senator would become the nation's premier "panderer-in-chief."

But almost a year into Obama's first term as president, Nader said he remains steadfastly unsatisfied with the administration's performance, which he described on Friday as "concessionary."

In an interview with The Hill, the former Green Party candidate noted Obama had basically "flunked" his first year in office, in part because he was too conciliatory to businesses, interest groups and political opponents. (Flunking is below "hanging in there" and "prevailing," Nader explained of his grading scale.)

"He's been far too concessionary to large corporations, many of which want to block his legislation and many of which are being bailed out by his administration. That's the Wall Street crowd and the drug and health insurance [companies]," Nader said.

"And when you're concessionary, for the president, the Republicans smell weakness, they smell pliability, they smell the desperation... and when you project weakness, instead of steadfastness, then you facilitate divisions within your own party," he added. 

Obama graded himself a B+ last week, mostly as a result of this year's healthcare debate. Still, the mark shocked many of the president's political opponents, who quickly demurred he deserved a far lower grade.

Nader said Friday he agreed with that sentiment, describing the president's performance so far as "a weak presentation of self." He also charged Obama had reneged on a number of his original positions -- from his promise to establish a robust public option, to ending torture, to raising the minimum wage -- and ultimately threatened Democrats in 2010.

"I never through he'd achieve the degree of political cowardliness he projects towards his oppoents or big business, or that politically that he'd turn his back on liberals and progressives...," Nader said of the president's policy objectives, noting that early defeats hardly portend well for presidents by the end of their terms.

"It's not like he doesn't know anything about Washington," Nader added. "The minute you signal you're going to cave, you're going to cave... you lose your bargaining power."
 

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