Home > Nader and the Green Party’s Presidential Choice for 2004
By Norman Solomon
This year, Ralph Nader’s presidential campaign has two
trains running that will collide at an unfortunate
intersection — the Green Party’s national convention
in Milwaukee. The collision course is bad news for all
concerned.
Nader, one of the great progressive reformers of the
20th century, has been clear and consistent for months
in saying that he will not seek or accept the national
Green Party presidential nomination for 2004. Yet he
has made it known that he would welcome the party’s
"endorsement" — and there’s a move afoot to give it to
him at the national convention that begins June 23.
Under such a plan, Nader might then try to get his name
on the ballot courtesy of the Green Party in some of
the two-dozen states where the party has achieved
ballot status.
After a high-profile run as the Green Party’s
presidential candidate four years ago, Nader has
emphasized that this time around he is an "independent"
candidate. That’s one train running that is acceptable
(though not preferable) for quite a few Greens. But
there’s another train running that Green Party
activists are just starting to find out about — and it
indicates that Nader is heading in another direction.
Documents obtained from the Federal Election Commission
show that Nader has signed and filed a legal statement
declaring: "I certify that I am seeking the nomination
of the Populist and/or other third Parties for election
to the Office of President in more than one State." On
May 27 the FEC issued a memorandum saying the agency’s
office of general counsel has verified that
declaration, which is required by FEC law to qualify
for presidential primary matching funds.
The situation faced by delegates to the Green Party
national convention is not as it has appeared. Nader
has been saying that while he will not seek or accept
their nomination, he would welcome their endorsement of
his "independent" presidential candidacy. Yet Green
Party national delegates will be asked to swallow a
pill that’s even more bitter than they first imagined.
In fact, the Green Party isn’t being asked to endorse
an "independent" candidate for president this year —
the Green Party is being asked to endorse a candidate
who is seeking to be the nominee of another party.
Barring the unlikely event that the Green Party decides
to opt out of the 2004 presidential race entirely, the
national convention will almost certainly go one of two
ways: Either it will adopt the Nader "endorsement"
scenario, an option that apparently would create
upheaval if not chaos for the Green Party at state
levels. Or the convention will nominate David Cobb, a
tireless Green Party activist with an impressive record
of talking the talk and walking the walk of grassroots
activism.
Meanwhile, what the heck is the "Populist Party" that
Nader mentioned in his FEC filing? The Nader campaign
seems less than eager to talk about it. When I asked
Nader spokesperson Kevin Zeese, he commented that "the
Nader campaign is taking an ecumenical approach to
third parties" and did not respond to my specific
inquiry about the Populist Party. Zeese did mention
that this year Nader has received the endorsement of
the Reform Party (which ran right-winger Patrick
Buchanan as its 2000 presidential nominee). Time
magazine reported in its May 31 edition that Nader is
"forming his own Populist Party, which presumably could
endorse him."
Nader’s Populist Party is clearly designed to get him
federal primary matching funds and ballot access in
some states. It may as well be known informally as the
Ralph Nader Party. An interesting concept of party
building.
Nancy Allen, a media coordinator for the national Green
Party, told me in an interview days ago that Nader
"doesn’t really understand the nitty-gritty grassroots
work of organizing." She described Nader’s approach to
the presidential race this year as potentially very
damaging to the Green Party.
The collision course of the 2004 Nader campaign’s
emerging contradictions could hit progressives hard at
the Green Party convention. And Ralph Nader is likely
to walk away without acknowledging the harm left in the
wake of the smash-up.
Norman Solomon is co-author, with Reese Erlich, of
"Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You."