Socialist Party USA candidate for president, Brian Moore, was recently interviewed by Colin McEnroe on the Afternoon with Colin McEnroe Show, which airs on WTIC 1080 in Hartford, Connecticut. A YouTube of the interview is included below.

Moore opened the interview by laughing at the notion that Barack Obama is a socialist. Moore defines socialism by saying that true socialists want to redistribute the nation’s wealth. According to Moore, under the current system “those who inherit the power and wealth control everything.”

The three issues that Moore highlighted in the interview were an immediate withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq, universal health care, and a guaranteed annual income of $35,000 per adult individual. He says that under such an income system, those who did not work wouldn’t be rewarded, and that socialism actually gives people more incentive to work than does capitalism.

Moore, whose Florida U.S. Senate candidacy was managed by third-party historian Darcy G. Richardson, also gave listeners a history lesson by pointing out that the Socialists of the early 20th century championed things such as child labor laws, woman’s suffrage, unemployment insurance, and Social Security, all of which came to fruition during the Progressive Era and the New Deal. Moore says he hopes his candidacy can help agitate for a future universal health care system.

Moore draws a distinction between “universal” and “single-payer” health care. He says his system would cover “all citizens, even illegal immigrants” and include dental as well as mental-health coverage.

Thus far, the Moore/Alexander Socialist Party USA ticket is on the ballot in just two states: Vermont and Colorado. Moore said he hoped to be on in six more states by the end of the week, including Tennessee and Louisiana. A few states Moore ruled out were Connecticut, Texas, California, and Illinois.