Bill Cotterell, Political Editor | Tallahassee Democrat | 09/15/2004
A federal judge refused to intervene Tuesday in the roller coaster legal fight over Ralph Nader's quest for a spot on the Florida presidential ballot, sending the dispute back to state courts. Attorneys for Nader and the Reform Party asked U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle of Gainesville to pre-empt jurisdiction of the week-old case as a federal voting-rights issue - made urgent by Saturday's deadline for mailing absentee ballots to Floridians living overseas, including military personnel.
Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood separately asked him to quash an injunction issued last Wednesday by Leon County Circuit Judge Kevin Davey, who held that the Reform Party is not even a 'minor party' anymore and that Nader's nomination by a few of its members was a ruse to get around the state's requirement that he gather more than 90,000 voter signatures on petitions."
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Aside from the legal issues, the case has major political implications in a closely divided swing state with 27 electoral votes. Republicans have been supporting Nader in his bid to make Florida the 25th state to put him on the ballot because his presence is thought to hurt Kerry's chances more than Bush's in Florida. Nader got more than 97,000 votes in Florida four years ago as the Green Party nominee for president. After Bush's victory was certified by a 537-vote margin, Al Gore supporters blamed Nader for the outcome. Complete Article
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Washington - As Ralph Nader campaigns in swing state after swing state, a large group of prominent endorsers from Nader 2000 is calling for support for Kerry in those states in order to oust Bush. Four years ago this month, Nader convened news conferences in several cities to unveil his personally-selected "Nader 2000 Citizens Committee" of leading supporters.
Today (Sept. 14), more than 70 members of Nader's 2000 committee joined in issuing a statement that urges "support for Kerry/Edwards in all swing states" because "removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority in the 2004 presidential election." Signers of the statement include Noam Chomsky, Ben Cohen, Phil Donahue, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jim Hightower, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Cornel West and Howard Zinn.
We, the undersigned, were selected by Ralph Nader to be members of his 113-person national "Nader 2000 Citizens Committee." This year, we urge support for Kerry/Edwards in all "swing states," even while we strongly disagree with Kerry's policies on Iraq and other issues.
For people seeking progressive social change in the United States, removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority in the 2004 presidential election. Progressive votes for John Kerry in swing states may prove decisive in attaining this vital goal.
For updated list of signers, see: http://vote2stopbush.com/
Add your voice to Bill Maher's, Michael Moore's and these other former Nader supporters: http://www.cafeshops.com/antibush04/332899
David Barsamian, Author, Radio Interviewer
Juliette Beck, California Citizens for Fair Trade
Herbert Bernstein, Professor of Physics at Hampshire College
Thomas Berry, Author, Dream of the Earth
Wendell Berry, Farmer and Writer
Norman Birnbaum, Author and Educator
Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Activist and Writer
Blase Bonpane, Office of the Americas
Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas
Eric Brakken, Former Staffer, United Students Against Sweatshops
Ira Byock, Palliative Care Physician, Author of Dying Well
Edgar Cahn, Founder of Time Banking
John Cavanagh, Director of Institute for Policy Studies
Noam Chomsky, Author and Professor at MIT
Steve Cobble, Strategist, Jackson '88, Nader '00, Kucinich '04
Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry's
Peter Coyote, Actor and Writer
Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association
Herman Daly, Professor at University of Maryland
Iris DeMent, Musician/Songwriter
Phil Donahue, Former Talk Show Host
Mark Dowie, Journalist, Former Editor/Publisher of Mother Jones
Barbara Dudley, Former President, Greenpeace and National Lawyers Guild
Ronnie Dugger, Co-founder of Alliance for Democracy
Troy Duster, Professor at New York University
Barbara Ehrenreich, Political Essayist and Social Critic
Richard Falk, Center of International Studies, Princeton University
Jim Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer
Rebecca Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer
Doris (Granny D) Haddock, Senate Candidate, Reform Activist
Paul Hawken, Author, Economist
Randy Hayes, Founder, Rainforest Action Network
Jim Hightower, Author and Commentator
Wes Jackson, The Land Institute
David Kairys, Law Professor at Temple University and Author
Ynestra King, Ecofeminist Writer/Activist
John Kinsman, Family Farm Defenders
Philip M. Klasky, Co-director, Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition
David Korten, Author of When Corporations Rule the World
Frances Korten, Director of Positive Futures Network
Saul Landau, California State Polytechnic University
Rabbi Michael Lerner, The Tikkun Community
Theodore Lowi, Political Scientist, Author
Howard Lyman, Former Rancher, Vegetarian Activist
Joanna Macy, Author and Scholar
Jerry Mander, President of International Forum on Globalization
Manning Marable, African American Studies, Columbia
Redwood Mary, Plight of the Redwoods Campaign
Robert McChesney, Professor, University of Illinois
Carolyn Merchant, Professor of Environmental History, UC-Berkeley
Peter Montague, Environmental Research Foundation
Gus Newport, Former Mayor of Berkeley, California
Ruth Ozeki, Novelist
Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York
Bonnie Raitt, Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
Sheldon Rampton, Co-author of Banana Republicans
Marcus Raskin, Author
Tim Robbins, Actor / Director and Activist
Vicki Robin, New Road Map Foundation
Susan Sarandon, Actor and Activist
John Schaeffer, Founder of Real Goods Trading Company
Michelle Shocked, Musician
John Stauber, Co-author of Banana Republicans
Andrew Strauss, Professor at Widener University School of Law
Charlotte Talberth, Max and Anna Levinson Foundation
Meredith Tax, Writer and Human Rights Activist
Studs Terkel, Author, Oral Historian
Tom Tomorrow, Cartoonist
Sarah van Gelder, Editor of YES! Magazine
Eddie Vedder, Musician, Pearl Jam
Harvey Wasserman, Author of Harvey Wasserman's History of the US
Cornel West, Professor, Author of Democracy Matters
Sheldon Wolin, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
Howard Zinn, Historian and Author
Other prominent Nader 2000 supporters endorsing this statement:
Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
Jackson Browne
Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry's Co-founder
Bob Harris, Author
Norman Solomon, Columnist
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Commondreams 09/09/04
Greens for Impact: "[We are] dismayed to see that Ralph Nader's campaign schedule for September consists almost completely of battleground states, where his presence could aid in re-electing George W. Bush. From September 11th through September 18th, Nader will be stumping in the swing states of PA, OH, MI, WI, MN, IA, and CO."
This route cannot be coincidental and it in fact belies claims he made when first announcing his presidential candidacy: 'This is a campaign that strives to displace the present corporate regime of the Bush administration.' On September 3, 2004, Ralph Nader's campaign issued a press release entitled "Bush Rhetoric and Reality Are Two Different Things."
Following this model, Greens for Impact seeks to figure out what could possibly motivate Nader to visit every swing state. Our analysis indicates: "Nader Rhetoric and Reality Are Two Different Things."
See: http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0909-01.htm
Also see: GreensDemocratsVSNaderBush@yahoogroups.com
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Nader will appear on Washington ballot, but not Oregon's(9/2/2004) - Seattle Post Intelligencer
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader will be on the Washington ballot this fall, but he has once again been stymied in Oregon. Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed verified and validated 1,008 signatures yesterday nominating Nader and running mate Peter Miguel Camejo.
As the Green Party's candidate in 2000, Nader was widely blamed for spoiling Al Gore's bid for president, with Democrats saying he took votes that should've gone to the vice president in the tight contest. In Washington, Nader won 4.8 percent of the votes in 2000. Gore won the state by a narrow margin over George W. Bush.
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According to the latest Elway poll, Nader has the support of 4 percent of independent voters in Washington, with Kerry and President Bush each favored by 40 percent of independents. Sixteen percent of independent voters are undecided, according to the poll of 405 registered voters last week. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.
In Oregon, Nader has failed to qualify for the state's presidential ballot because some petition sheets turned in by his supporters failed to comply with state law, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said yesterday.
It was a serious setback for Nader, who captured 5 percent of the Oregon vote in the 2000 presidential election. Gore barely won the state in that election, and Democrats contend Gore's slim 6,700-vote margin over Bush was attributable to Nader's siphoning away additional votes that would have gone to Gore.
But Nader has been unable to make the same headway in Oregon this year, especially in the face of an aggressive campaign by the state's Democrats, who have suggested that Nader's presence on the ballot could tip the state's electoral votes to Bush.
Reports also emerged that Oregon Republicans were actively trying to propel Nader onto the ballot.... Oregon is considered up for grabs in this year's closely fought presidential election.
A Zogby International poll published Aug. 24 showed Kerry with about 54 percent support among Oregon voters, compared with 43 percent for Bush and 1.5 percent for Nader. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Also yesterday, Nader lost his bid to get on the ballot in Texas and Michigan. And in Pennsylvania, he asked the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling barring him from appearing on that state's presidential ballot.
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(9/2/2004) - Corvallis Gazette Times, Oregon
Once an admired figure in Oregon, Ralph Nader has failed to qualify for the state's presidential ballot because some petition sheets turned in by his supporters failed to comply with state law, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said Wednesday.
It was a serious setback for Nader, who captured 5 percent of the Oregon vote in the 2000 presidential election. Now-President Bush was barely defeated by Democrat Al Gore in Oregon in that election, and Democrats contend Gore's slim 6,700-vote margin over Bush was due to Nader.
But Nader has been unable to make the same headway in Oregon this year, especially in the face of an aggressive campaign by the state's Democrats, who have prophesied that Nader's presence on the ballot could tip the state's electoral votes to Bush. Reports also emerged that Oregon Republicans were actively trying to propel Nader onto the ballot.
On Wednesday, an angry Greg Kafoury, leader of Nader's Oregon campaign, said a circuit court challenge to Bradbury's decision would be filed by Friday. Kafoury, a Portland lawyer, said Bradbury "has joined the national campaign to sabotage Nader's candidacy. Bradbury has dishonored his office and disgraced himself."
Bradbury, a Democrat, is required by law to certify the presidential ballot by Sept. 8. He said the Nader campaign fell about 200 short of the 15,306 registered voters' signatures needed to put Nader on the Nov. 2 ballot.
He said state law is "remarkably clear" in saying that signatures on invalid petitions cannot be counted and that petition sheets have to be numbered before they're turned in to county clerks for signature checking.
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Nader has already tried twice this year to get onto Oregon's ballot, to no avail. He held two conventions in Portland but at each failed to attract the needed 1,000 registered voters to sign petitions at those events.
Oregon is considered up for grabs in this year's closely fought presidential election. A Zogby International poll published on Aug. 24 showed Kerry with about 54-percent support among Oregon voters, compared with 43 percent for Bush and 1.5 percent for Nader. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Nader so far is on the ballot in 13 states and Washington, D.C., and can appear on at least five others through his Reform Party endorsement. He has turned in petitions to be on the ballot in at least 15 other states.
Also on Wednesday, Nader lost his federal court bid to get on the Michigan ballot as a Reform Party candidate. And in Pennsylvania, he asked the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling barring him from appearing on the state's presidential ballot.
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