NN ARBOR, Mich. - Ralph Nader rallied the crowds with his usual anticorporate, pro-labor stump speech, but the Green Party presidential nominee could have left the talking to the celebrity friends who joined him on the road in the industrial Midwest.
Nader stuck to the issues yesterday in an address to University of Michigan students. He focused on what he called a ''sliding backwards in environmental achievement,'' referring to further depletion of the ozone layer, the increase of global warming, and soil erosion. He also cited the large number of workplace deaths due to trauma and industrial toxins.
Nader also criticized his exclusion from the upcoming presidential debates, saying the two mainstream candidates won't address the issues important to most Americans, including an increase in a living wage, a more balanced transit system, free trade, and laws making it easier for workers to unionize.
''We're not going to hear much about these issues in the upcoming presidential debates between the drab and the dreary,'' he said.
Nader was introduced by filmmaker and Michigan native Michael Moore and talk show host Phil Donahue, who have been traveling with the candidate and revving up the crowds with rousing introductions.
Moore, in his trademark baseball cap, said the campaign's next stop would be in Flint, where President Clinton is also scheduled to appear. He dismissed worries that a vote for Nader would give George W. Bush an edge - and a victory - over Vice President Al Gore.
''I'll let you in on a secret,'' Moore said. ''George Bush is not going to be the next president of the United States. Get over it, folks. It's not going to happen.''
Donahue this week addressed the debate issue, saying, ''This principled man must absolutely be on the debates. If Ralph is not on the debates, we're going to have far too many issues that won't even come up.''
Nader wants to participate in next month's presidential debates, which require national poll support of 15 percent. Recent surveys give him about 3 percent.
Nader, conceding that his chance of winning the presidency is a longshot, characterized his campaign as a ''party-building effort'' that will continue to grow after the election.
''After November, we'll emerge as a significant third party that will be a burgeoning watchdog over the two-party system,'' he told hundreds of students who greeted him Wednesday at the Student Union of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Later, he advised supporters to vote their conscience and encourage their friends to do the same.
''The most powerful media is word of mouth - very powerful and lightning fast,'' he said.
Nader took to the union-heavy states to launch his ''nonvoter tour,'' hoping to revive his campaign by targeting young and disillusioned Americans. Both Moore and Donahue will continue to join Nader on his stops in Michigan and Minnesota.
The next stop, Flint, is Moore's hometown and the city that brought both him and Nader their first notoriety. Nader's high-profile career as a consumer advocate got its start with his 1965 book ''Unsafe at Any Speed,'' a harshly critical look at US auto manufacturing that focused on the General Motors Corp. Corvair. Moore's 1989 documentary ''Roger & Me'' assailed the company's actions in closing its Flint plant.
Donohue said he was a radio reporter in 1965 when he first met Nader.
''I just couldn't get over what this one man did to the most powerful, largest, richest corporation on Earth,'' he said. Nader went on to be the most frequent guest on Donahue's television talk show, which aired for 29 years.
''I've retained the admiration that developed 35 years ago for this man who I happen to believe is America's most important private citizen of the 20th century,'' he said.
Wisconsin and Michigan, two important battleground states, are considered toss-ups between Gore and Bush. Nader has a strong following in Michigan.
