Nader Rejects Green Party Backing

[tritsofme]

Ralph Nader, whose 2000 campaign many Democrats believe cost former vice president Al Gore the presidency, has decided not to run for president next year as the candidate of the Green Party but is still contemplating a presidential race as an independent, a Nader associate said yesterday. Ross Mirkarimi, who ran Nader's presidential campaign in California, said Nader recently called him to announce his intentions and is in the process of informing national Green Party officials that he will not be their standard-bearer in 2004.

Ross Mirkarimi, who ran Nader's presidential campaign in California, said Nader recently called him to announce his intentions and is in the process of informing national Green Party officials that he will not be their standard-bearer in 2004.

"My understanding is that, if Nader runs, he does not want to run a mediocre campaign, and he is trying to assess the political and resource variables on how he would run the most serious campaign possible to unseat George Bush," Mirkarimi said. He said there appears to be "no consensus" within the Green Party over its approach to the 2004 campaign.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23298-2003Dec22.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Well this may be good news

and I am not kidding

Last we need is Nader (or any other independent) runnning

Of course he could always challenge George Bush (DUCK)


Now seriously this is NOT politics as usual, he should be bow
out... and teh same goes for some other candidates in the
Democratic Party

[aquart]

2. Green Party told him to stuff it, huh?

"Unseat George Bush." What a colossal egomaniacal ass.

"Do my damnedest to get him elected" is what he really means.

[MidwestTransplant]

4. Don't forget

"There's no difference between George Bush and Al Gore."

[corporatewhore]

3. Run Jello Run

Jello Biafra ran for president as a green in 2000 but backed out
read his platform http://www.angelfire.com/punk/jello2000/platform.html
some of my fav reasons for wanting him
Abolish the Military
And the CIA, NSA, DIA, DEA, ATF, hopefully the FBI, and disband all SWAT teams.
Our biggest national security threat is the environmental destruction of our planet and the arms race with ourselves. So let’s use the defense budget, personnel, and know-how for a new mission: clean up toxic waste, rebuild cities and infrastructure, dismantle all nuclear arms and satellites, and implement worldwide the very environmental and labor practices Third World WTO delegates complained are too costly.

Withdraw from NAFTA and the World Trade Organization.
Wealth addicts have gotten carried away; now it’s time for rehab. Earlier in our history there were strict laws mandating public hearings and revocations of charters of corporations for misconduct, and restricting board of directorships to one corporation per person. Letís bring these laws back.


End the war on drugs

Decriminalize marijuana and illegal narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, and crack. Hard-core addiction is an illness, not a crime. Put users on prescription, and crime will drop dramatically when they donít have to rob and kill people to pay the Mobís high drug prices.

Any president or governor can stop the prison-building boom right now by commuting sentences for minor, non-violent drug offenders to time served. Why not pressure them to do it?

The same goes for the death penalty. I have chosen Mumia Abu-Jamal, a noted author, journalist, and activist currently on Death Row in Pennsylvania on questionable charges, as my vice presidential running mate to show why we should join the rest of the civilized world and halt executions forever.

I am an anarchist in my personal life. I try to live my life in a way that I don’t need cops or baby-sitters to keep me from infringing on others. But I don’t feel we have evolved far enough as a species to make anarchy work in society itself. We still need government to transfer the wealth from those who have too much to those who have too little, to make sure important projects get done, and keep territorial humans from screwing over and killing each other.

So guess what? I’m Tough On Crime!, especially when the punishment fits the crime:
# _ Sentence slum lords to live in their own buildings.
# _ Sentence polluters to inhale and swim in the mess they’ve made until they clean it up. Sentence Savings and Loan sharks and white collar gangstas from our recent bank deregulation to pay back all the money they steal, just like if they held up a 7-11.
# _ Sentence arms dealers and manufacturers to pay for rebuilding all the places destroyed by the by the wars they help start.


Other Proposals:
# Limit junk mail to one 3 x 5 card per mailing
# Ban drug and lie-detector tests of employees and students, and forbid the drugging of schoolchildren against their will.
# Give out giant waterproof Yuppie Parasite decals containing a skull and crossed cell-phones to be plastered by concerned citizens on all sport utility vehicles until they are eradicated from urban and suburban areas.
# Convert giant sports stadiums into homeless shelters until the maximum wage imposed on today’s sports stars funds the necessary low-income housing.
# Fight gentrification by allowing those under siege to spray whipped cream on those who flaunt their upwardly mobile invader status until the interlopers leave town.
Vote Straight Punk Party Ticket !!!

[tkmorris]

5. I'm about as left as you can get but........

That political platform is insane. It's designed to appeal to a bunch of over-excited children who don't think past the ends of their collective noses. It might get a cheer at a concert but I'd bet even those kids know better than to actually WANT that.

[R Hickey]

7. I would agree with the first five paragraphs, plus the first 2 other props

The rest I would have trouble with.

[ParticipatoryDem]

9. Abolish the Military?

This kid would be lucky to get more than one vote...his own.

[durutti]

13. Kid?

He's 44.

[koopie57]

15. what branch

of the military do you belong?

[durutti]

14. I agree w/ a lot of it.

Though I can't agree with abolishing the military and lowering the voting age to 5.

[ClintonTyree]

6. If he takes my e-mail to heart..............

I filled out his "exploratory questionaire", he'll not only NOT run, he do well to stay within the country. I was not kind in my comments about his running again.

[Dragon Turtle]

8. Please don't run again Ralph.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Dragon Turtle!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[tinanator]

10. Ralph should run against SUV's and their asshole owners

He could do some good, but let's not all strain ourselves trying to wrap our brains around that concept.

[GRClarkesq]

11. If he runs without the Greens

does he have access to any other kind of organization?

Are there more than 10 people who want to see him elected after 2000?

[flaminbats]

16. Nader is not an idiot.

"My understanding is that, if Nader runs, he does not want to run a mediocre campaign, and he is trying to assess the political and resource variables on how he would run the most serious campaign possible to unseat George Bush," Mirkarimi said. He said there appears to be "no consensus" within the Green Party over its approach to the 2004 campaign.

Nader has been accessing his options for some time. Clearly growing divisions within the Green Party, its continued difficulties in obtaining ballot status for candidates in all 50 states, and the defeat of Gonzalez are factors contributing to Nader's decision. Now Nader will use his limited political influence among liberals and Greens to play a role in the primaries. It is likely that Nader would run as an independent only if Dean and Kucinich are overwhelmingly rejected in the primaries.