Nader tries a little one-upsmanship on eve of GOP fest

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Presidential candidate Ralph Nader on Saturday bitterly denounced George W. Bush's record as governor of Texas, and dismissed the upcoming Republican National Convention as "political entertainment."

Nader, the Green Party nominee for president and a longtime consumer advocate, continued with his blistering criticism of the two major parties at a campaign stop in Wilmington, Delaware, before coming to Philadelphia, the host city for the GOP gathering.

"The conventions now are no longer forums for vigorous debate between contending candidates and contending issues," Nader said. "And they're primarily a forum of political entertainment funded by corporate patrons who expect favors in return."

In Wilmington, Nader railed for more than an hour about economic disparities and poverty at a time of unprecedented and prolonged prosperity. Toward the end of his speech, he lashed out at Bush's record in Texas, saying he had placed corporate interests ahead of education and health programs to help the state's youth.

"All these candidates talk about children. George W. Bush has pictures with minority kids all the time while he lets them rot in Texas," Nader said. "When are we going to decide that enough is enough?"

Scott McClellan, a deputy press secretary for the Bush campaign, dismissed Nader's comments, insisting the governor had a "record of achievement" in Texas.

"This is a race between Al Gore and Gov. Bush," McClellan said, downplaying Nader's role in the presidential race.

Nader later stopped in Philadelphia as many of the 4,132 delegates and alternates streamed into the city for the Republican convention, which kicks off Monday. His harsh assessment of the event stood in stark contrast to the rosy preview of the political gathering that Republicans have been talking about for days.

"It is extremism when corporations corrupt our government, buy and rent our politicians, block our access to the courts, dominate our executive branch agencies, appropriate middle class tax dollars in the form of corporate welfare, subsidies, handouts, bailouts," Nader said. "That's extremism. It's not extremism to have a Green political party movement that wants to put an end to this."

He accused both Bush and Gore of neglecting sound energy and environmental policies to appease the auto industry.