Nader Rejects Green Party Backing

[messiah]

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

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.

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

[kstewart33]

1. A holiday wish

I wish this guy would quietly go away.

[Killarney]

6. Me too.

[robbedvoter]

2. Somehow, I think it was the other way around. Ralphie just preempted

a public humiliation.

[Nadienne]

3. If he could suddenly turn conservative

and split the Republican party... wouldn't that be nice?

[Bush loves Jiang]

13. Not necessary...

I can see a strong paleoconservative candidate in 2004 really fucking Bush over. ;-)

[Iverson]

4. an end to confusion?

Hopefully, this will help to eliminate the misperception, perhaps deliberate, that the Green Party begins and ends with Ralph Nader.

[wanderingbear]

9. I never thought that in the first place.

[Forkboy]

12. Many do though wanderingbear

The hatred of Nader here is a spectacle to behold.Sadly,as Iverson mentioned,this spills over to the Green Party as well.

[JI7]

5. i think peter camejo is running

peter camejo the green party candidate for governor from california said he will run for president on the green party side. camejo did a very good job in the debates, including the one with arnold which was shown nationwide on just about every major tv station yet still didn't do well in the elections.

[Ernesto]

7. Yes, he is the Green's man.

That is what I've read

[wanderingbear]

11. Oh ya Him..

Sounds like a good chioce.

[ajacobson]

8. Not surprising

to me, as someone who was very active in the Nader campaign in 2000. There was no national Green Party infrastructure at the time--it was all Ralph. The state parties were weak or had just gotten ballot status. Now, there is a modest national infrastructure and the state parties, while weak, have a little more experience and internal life. IMHO, Nader would not subordinate his campaign to the Green Party national leadership under any conditions. If they tried, there would be a split sooner or later.

I think the 2000 Nader campaign brought a lot of new people around. I think there should be a pressure from the left on the Democratic Party. However, in 2004 a GP Nader campaign would be a disaster, both because of the drawoff of progressive votes (and the implications of that) but also the resources it would suck from the state parties and distract from local base building. Thus I am here at DU and not "G"U.

[wanderingbear]

10. Green Party is still running a canidate..

Nader will Disapear with out the Green Party. But the Green Party will still be here.