In a popular vote, Bill Murray would probably defeat Ralph Nader for the title of “Greatest Living American.” But the beloved actor himself believes Nader deserves the title. Among other notable accomplishments, Nader memorably jolted the two-party American political system with two attention-grabbing presidential campaigns. Nader had an especially dramatic effect on the close 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, winning nearly 3% of the vote. It was a percentage that sour grapes Dems thought might have pushed Gore over the top.
But it’s Nader’s work as a consumer advocate that so impresses Bill Murray. Murray believes Nader’s work saved millions of lives. “People thought: ‘Why is this son of a gun making me wear a seatbelt?’ Murray told The Guardian. “Well, in 1965 I think the number was 55,000 deaths on the highway a year. That’s a lot of people dying. So he’s saved just about a couple of million people by now. It’s crazy! And that’s just one thing he did!” Murray went on to lament that there are no “movies about Ralph.” Murray has played everything from Ghostbuster to FDR–he can surely inhabit the complicated being that is Ralph Nader. Where’s the script?
