WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Ralph Nader 's presidential candidacy has received little media attention , but his latest critique of Sen. Barack Obama has come under fire for its seemingly racial overtones . Ralph Nader is running for president as an independent . Speaking with Colorado 's Rocky Mountain News , Nader accused Obama of attempting to `` talk white '' and appealing to `` white guilt '' in his quest to win the White House . `` There 's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate . He 's half African-American , '' Nader told the paper in comments published Tuesday . `` Whether that will make any difference , I do n't know . I have n't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos . Payday loans , predatory lending , asbestos , lead . What 's keeping him from doing that ? Is it because he wants to talk white ? He does n't want to appear like Jesse Jackson ? We 'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards , '' Nader added . Obama said Wednesday in Chicago , Illinois , that Nader was simply trying to `` get attention . '' `` What 's clear is , Ralph Nader has n't been paying attention to my speeches , '' he said . `` Ralph Nader 's trying to get attention . He 's become a perennial political candidate . I think it 's a shame , because if you look at his legacy ... it 's an extraordinary one . ... At this point , he 's somebody who 's trying to get attention , whose campaign has n't gotten any traction . '' Watch panelists weigh in on Nader 's remarks » . Obama 's presidential campaign earlier had called Nader 's comments disappointing , and his communication 's director , Robert Gibbs , said Tuesday that they were `` reprehensible and basically delusional . '' `` I do n't think he 's spent a lot of time looking at the record of Barack Obama , '' Gibbs said on MSNBC . Nader is a longtime consumer advocate who was blamed by many Democrats for Al Gore 's loss in the 2000 presidential election ; they said he claimed votes that would otherwise have gone to their candidate . He said Obama 's top issue should be poverty in America , given his racial heritage . Watch Nader describe whom the Democrats should be `` going after '' » . `` I mean , first of all , the number one thing that a black American politician aspiring to the presidency should be is to candidly describe the plight of the poor , especially in the inner cities and the rural areas , and have a very detailed platform about how the poor is going to be defended by the law , is going to be protected by the law and is going to be liberated by the law , '' he said . `` Have n't heard a thing . '' Nader also said Obama is making a concerted effort not to be `` another politically threatening African-American politician . '' `` He wants to appeal to white guilt . You appeal to white guilt not by coming on as black is beautiful , black is powerful . Basically , he 's coming on as someone who is not going to threaten the white power structure , whether it 's corporate or whether it 's simply oligarchic . And they love it . Whites just eat it up . '' Nader formally entered the presidential race in the spring , expressing disappointment with both remaining Democratic candidates at that time . `` They are both enthralled to the corporate powers , '' he said of both Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton . `` They 've completely ignored the presidential pattern of illegality and accountability ; they 've ignored the out of control waste-fraud military expenditures ; they hardly ever mention the diversion of hundreds of billions of dollars to corporate subsidies , handouts and giveaways ; and they do n't talk about a living wage . '' CNN political producer Ed Hornick contributed to this report .
NEW : Sen. Obama says Ralph Nader 's trying to ` ` get along '' with white people . Nader accused Obama of trying to ` ` . ' '' Obama 's campaign calls the comments ` ` reprehensible '' and ` ` . '' Nader : Obama 's top issue should be racism in America , not his heritage .