[Marxism] 'Greens Reject Endorsement for Ralph Nader'

[David Quarter]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/a
p/20040626/ap_on_el_pr/green_party_1

 
 
Greens Reject Endorsement for Ralph Nader 


By JR ROSS, Associated Press Writer 

MILWAUKEE - The Green Party nominated Texas attorney David 
Cobb as its candidate for president Saturday, dealing a blow to 
independent Ralph Nader (news - web sites)'s campaign. 


AP Photo 
 
   

Nader, the party's candidate in 1996 and 2000, had hoped for the 
party's endorsement and access to the ballot Greens have in 22 
states and Washington, D.C. (news - web sites) Instead, he will 
have to find another way to get on the ballot in those states, 
including Wisconsin and California. 


Nader told party officials months ago he would not accept the 
party's nomination for president, openly courting their formal 
endorsement instead. 


But 408 delegates voted for Cobb on the second ballot to give him 
the nomination. Maine radio personality Pat LaMarche was the 
party's nominee for vice president. 


Cobb has walked a line between praising Nader and questioning 
what his candidacy as an independent offered the Greens as they 
try to expand their status as a third party. 


Had Nader won the party's endorsement, it would have been up to 
the state parties to decide whether to present him as their 
candidate for president to local election officials. Getting on the 
ballot in some of those states as an independent could now require 
him to gather thousands of signatures and meet other 
requirements. 


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. 


The delegate vote at the party's national convention in Milwaukee 
underscored the deep divide among party members over who 
serves their cause best — Cobb, a little known party activist, or 
Nader, a prominent national figure, but someone who has never 
joined the party and does not plan to. 


Nader tapped longtime Green activist Peter Camejo (news - web 
sites) as his running mate this week, a step that was expected to 
bolster his chances of winning the party's endorsement. 


In speeches before the vote, Camejo, who ran for the Green Party's 
presidential nomination as a Nader backer, and Cobb tried to 
stress what they shared, not what divided them. Still, their 
addresses illustrated the split within the party over Nader's 
candidacy. 


Camejo portrayed Nader as the only option who could truly give 
voters an alternative to the George Bush and John Kerry (news - 
web sites) campaigns. He said Nader would give the party the 
profile it needed to successfully build its base. 


Cobb promised to support whatever decision the delegates made 
but warned them many state parties could lose their ballot access 
without a nominated candidate, an obvious warning about the 
possibility of endorsing Nader.