The Single-Digit Guys

They weren't in the same studio, they didn't appear at the same time and they spoke from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader managed to sound the same more often than you'd think during Monday night appearances on CNN's Larry King Live.

Neither candidate has a double-digit showing in most polls or will be allowed to participate in the nationally televised debates featuring Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore, which start Tuesday.

Buchanan, speaking via satellite, dwelt for a long time on his exclusion from the debates, which he said was "a situation where the American people are not permitted to hear a candidate whose campaign they are paying for because a couple of political hacks are fronting for establishment parties in Washington."

Buchanan suggested Nader was a "genuine liberal" who also deserved to be in the debates. Nader — who promised to try to get into Tuesday's debate — sounded a similar theme. He appeared after Buchanan from Hartford, Conn.

"If the major television networks got together and sponsored a four-way debate, Gore and Bush couldn’t say no to that," he said. "We have by default ceded discussion of all kinds of subject matter dealing with the concentration of power."

Of course, the two men differ sharply on most issues. Buchanan bemoaned bilingualism, and what he deemed the Republican party's near abandonment of its opposition to abortion. He slammed Bush for running a Republican convention that "was an insult to Reaganism" and proposing large hikes in social spending.

"Name a candidate who comes to the table with less experience, knowledge, background, depth," Buchanan said.

Buchanan suggested the United States get OPEC's cooperation by threatening to withdraw the Sixth Fleet from the Persian Gulf until Saudi Arabia pumps more oil.

And, he deplored America's "bleeding borders."

"Go to Douglas, Arizona, Larry," he told King. "They are wearing guns down there. Thousands of them are coming in every night and there is an invasion of this country."

Nader, on the other hand, stated his support for solar energy, higher wages, universal health insurance, abolishing child poverty, and rebuilding schools and public transit. He decried the erosion of minimum wage, which he said has less purchasing power today than it did in 1968.

"All this economic growth is not leading to economic progress or justice," Nader said.

He blamed the Clinton administration for allowing major oil companies like Exxon, Mobil, Shell and Texaco to merge and drive up oil prices.

And he went after Gore for being "soft on pesticide," giving the biotech industry a "free ride," caving into the auto companies by not proposing new fuel efficiently standards and backing WTO and NAFTA.

"I would never vote for anparty headed by any candidate who has sold our government to the highest bidder," Nader said, when asked if he would vote for Gore if he were not running.

But for all their obvious differences, the two candidates did sound similar on a host of issues:

• Trade. Buchanan argued that, "We have to put our own country and countrymen first" and avoid undercutting American workers by allowing companies to use cheap labor overseas. Nader said he disliked the World Trade Organization because "It turns progress around on its head in this country," by putting environmental and labor laws second to market concerns. Buchanan suggested that he and Nader take on Bush and Gore in a debate on foreign policy.
• Immigration.Nader said, "I don't think people should come to this country illegally," arguing they should get work permits. He opposed Silicon Valley corporations "brain-draining" talent from third world countries to come work here. And he said, "I think the border is a shambles of smuggling, pollution, contagious diseases." Buchanan, for his part, said, "There's an invasion of this country. The character of this country is being changed."
• Corporations. Buchanan said that big business were "no longer right for America," while Nader identified corporate power as "the central issue in politics" and said ending corporate subsidies should be a top priority.

"If I had anything like the money of Bush and Gore, if I had anything like the front page coverage and network news coverage of Bush and Gore and I were in those debates, it would be a three-way race," said Buchanan. "And we would win a three-way race."

Nader — after King informed him "it would be improbable that you would win" — held out hope that he might make it into one of the later debates.

"If there was a massive, peaceful demonstration when the whole world is watching, maybe Bush and Gore will be shamed into having a four-way debate," he said.

By JARRETT MURPHY