[Am-info] Greens Reject Endorsement for Ralph Nader

[Gene Gaines]

See AP News Headlines story below.

Instead of having the endorsement of the Green Party and thus
having an easy road to appearing on the ballots of 22 states and
Washington DC, Nader will have to attempt to organize
voter-petition efforts in every state where he wants to be on the
ballot.

So, in my mind the Green Party did the constructive thing,
actually the only honorable thing considering their beliefs.

Two personal observations:

1. Note the paragraph below, I'll quote here:

   "Republicans, on the other hand, were urged to show up and
   sign the petition so Nader could get on the ballot and,
   perhaps, take votes away from Democratic candidate John
   Kerry."

2. I suspect, sadly, that Ralph Nader will make an effort to
   get on the ballot in those swing states where is most likely
   to damage Kerry.

In sum, the Green Party has made a constructive step.  Nader
continues to go down a destructive road.

I'm beginning to see that Ralph does not know how to play nicely
with other kids.  Should I guess that he does not like to share
his toys with others?  I wonder if he picks up his toys at the
end of the day.  It is amazing what insight comes from thinking
of adults in a playpen with other kids.

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia

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Greens Reject Endorsement for Ralph Nader
Jun 26, 10:54 PM EST
AP News Headlines

MILWAUKEE - The Green Party nominated Texas attorney David Cobb
as its candidate for president Saturday, rejecting Ralph Nader's
efforts to secure the party's formal endorsement and likely
access to the ballot in key states like Wisconsin and
California.

Nader, the party's candidate in 1996 and 2000, had told Green
officials months ago he would not accept the party's nomination
for president, preferring to build a coalition of third-party
groups and independents rather than running under one banner.

Still, he openly courted their formal endorsement as a means to
get on the ballot in the 22 states and Washington, D.C., where
the party has a ballot line.

But 408 delegates voted for Cobb on the second ballot to give
him the nomination.

In Oregon, meanwhile, Nader made another bid Saturday to get
1,000 people together at a Portland high school to sign a
petition to get him on the November ballot as an independent. A
similar attempt in April drew 751 people.

Election officials said they had counted 1,150 people when the
second meeting convened Saturday evening, leaving little margin
for signatures that are later invalidated.

Another complicating factor was a drive by Democrats to stack
the room with committed Democrats who would take up space, but
in the end decline to sign the petition.

Republicans, on the other hand, were urged to show up and sign
the petition so Nader could get on the ballot and, perhaps, take
votes away from Democratic candidate John Kerry.

Nader's supporters at the Green Party convention argued that an
endorsement for him as the only real option for Greens if they
hoped to maintain their national profile and play a role in the
presidential race.

But Cobb has touted himself as a homegrown Green who would work
to build the party from the ground up, while Nader has
maintained he is not a member of the party and does not plan to
join.

Cobb went out of his way to praise Nader in accepting the
nomination, but said later the vote was a sign the Green Party
"has gotten out from under the shadow of a man who has probably
cast a larger shadow than any other living American."

The party's endorsement would not have guaranteed Nader the
Green Party's ballot lines. Rather, it would have given state
chapter officials the option of presenting Nader as the
candidate of their choice for president to state election
officials. Still, that prospect was much less daunting than
other means for getting on the ballot.

In California, for example, Nader will have to gather more than
150,000 signatures to get on the ballot as an independent.

Nader tapped longtime Green activist Peter Camejo as his running
mate this week, a step his supporters hoped would bolster his
chances of winning the party's endorsement.

Many Democrats still blame Nader for President Bush's victory
four years ago and fear he could still siphon off enough votes
to hand the Republican a second term.

Nader recently was polling about 6 percent nationally, according
to an Associated Press poll conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese said the consumer activist knew he
faced an uphill battle for the party's endorsement by electing
in December not to participate in the primary process and not
sending representatives to the party convention until this week.

He said Nader would now turn his attention to his drive to get
on the ballot by other means in states where Greens have access
and said Greens will not know until Election Day whether their
decision to back someone else will pay off.

Nader already has the backing of the Reform Party, which has
ballot access in seven states, but he has yet to be placed on
any state ballots.

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