Third Party Watch

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader (Princeton ‘55, Harvard Law ‘58) took the occasion of his speech at Dartmouth College to slam the political apathy of Dartmouth students. According to the Dartmouth News:

Nader noted that fewer than 10 of the approximately 40 audience members appeared to be Dartmouth students. He criticized the “sterile political debate [...]

This from independent candidate Ralph Nader’s presidential campaign:

As part of its get-out-the-vote effort, the Nader/Gonzales Campaign is adding 22 offices and nearly 50 field-staff staff to its base of thousands of volunteers this week, aiming at securing votes in 49 states. A map of all office locations is available at www.votenader.org.

Recent polls indicate that a [...]

Okay, so the October 7 debate is history, but another one is coming up on Wednesday, October 15, and it promises to be yet another titillating edge-of-your-seat battle between national socialist candidate Tweedledum and national socialist candidate Tweedledee.

So, here is how the Nader presidential campaign celebrated last night’s debate. Pretty funny and innovative. [...]

Scott McLarty protests on OpEdNews.com that basically only one viewpoint on the Iraq war and the Wall Street bailout will be given to the American people in tonight’s presidential debate. He has an alternative proposal:

When the LWV [League of Women Voters] ceded authority over the debates in 1988, it called the growing Democratic-Republican domination [...]

The following is a media release from the Ralph Nader presidential campaign:

October 2, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marc Abizeid, 202-360-3273, marcabizeid@votenader.org

NADER TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE GRAND MOSQUE FRIDAY, OCT. 3

Ralph Nader will be holding a news conference Friday, October 3 at 11 a.m. outside the Grand Mosque Islamic Center in Washington DC where he will [...]

Before last night’s vice presidential debate, the Los Angeles Times political blog, Top of the Ticket, predicted:

Well, we probably won’t get to know much about Wayne Root and Matt Gonzalez during tonight’s vice presidential debate in St. Louis. That’s because the vice presidential running mates of libertarian Bob Barr and contrarian Ralph Nader are prohibited.

Too [...]

Douglas E. Schoen, a pollster, writes in the Los Angeles Times that “the presidential election could well turn on a factor that has gotten virtually no discussion this year—the votes drawn by Libertarian Bob Barr, Green Cynthia McKinney and independent Ralph Nader.”

After demonstrating how their candidacies could make a difference in various states, Schoen asks: [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 29, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marc Abizeid, 202-360-3273, marcabizeid@votenader.org

NADER CAUTIONS UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED CONGRESS TO PUT BREAKS ON STEALTH BAILOUTS

This weekend, drowned out by the $700 billion Wall Street bailout negotiations, the Senate approved a bloated loan package that released $25 billion in below-market [...]

Ralph Nader, the independent presidential candidate, says on his blog that it isn’t who won (Obama or McCain) but what won:

Militarism won.
Boondoggle star wars won.
Corruption won.
Corporate crime won.
Bailouts for Wall Street won.
Nuclear power won.
Aggressive NATO won.

What Lost?
Peace advocates lost.
Consumers lost.
Workers lost.
Solar energy really lost.

Constitution Party congressional candidate (Pennsylvania, 16th district) Dan Frank, independent candidate John Murphy, and Democratic candidate Bruce Slater participated in a WGAL-TV Round Table Discussion on Tuesday, September 23. Noticeably absent was incumbent Republican Congressman Joe Pitts, who bowed out of the debate a day or so earlier.

A key issue was the bailout of [...]

“If John McCain wants to bow out, I’m willing to step in and take his podium on Friday,” says Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate for President:

The financial meltdown won’t come any closer to a resolution because a presidential debate is postponed. Now is the best time for Americans to see how prepared their leaders [...]

Bob Barr (Libertarian Party) calls Treasury Secretary Paulson’s $700 billion gift to his Wall Street friends the “bailout from hell”:

The Bush administration played this game before, using 9/11 to ram the Patriot Act through Congress, and then misused its authority while resisting court oversight. Never again should Congress allow itself to be duped in this [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 23, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (Washington) Toby Heaps, 202-471-5833, toby@votenader.org

POLLS INDICATE NADER HELPS OBAMA
Is Nader a Republican ‘spoiler’ this year?

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Ralph Nader’s presence on the ballot in 2008 actually helps Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, according to at least five national polls [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 23, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Toby Heaps, 202-441-6795, toby@votenader.org

Ralph Nader to Congress: Put the Brakes on “Carte Blanche” Bailout:
“Haste Makes Waste” with Goliath of Panic Legislation.”
“Taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for corporate malfeasance.”

Independent presidential candidate and longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader said [...]

Politico finds that while the major party candidates “have stepped gingerly around the financial crisis and the question of government intervention, third party candidates Bob Barr and Ralph Nader have shown no such compunction. ”

The article says Barr and Nader saw this coming:

Barr boasts that he was a few weeks ahead of the curve, pointing [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 21, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mike Welch, 202-471-5833, mike@votenader.org (National HQ);
Joe Alfone (504)319-9312, (Local)

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RALPH NADER TO SPEAK IN PITTSBURGH

On Wednesday, September 24, at 7 p.m., Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will host a news conference in 1500 Psovar Hall, 230 Bouquet St, University of [...]

Is the Federal DepositInsurance Corporation (FDIC—you know, the people who “insure” your bank account up to $100,000) in trouble? Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader was ridiculed in Congress when he brought up the subject two months ago. Now an Associated Press story shows he was justified at being concerned.

The story is told here [...]

The following is a media release from the Ralph Nader presidential campaign:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (National HQ) Loralynne Krobetzky, 202-471-5833, loralynne@votenader.org; (Florida) Mark Kamleiter, 727-822-1543, kamleiter@votenader.org

ECOLOGY PARTY NOMINATES NADER/GONZALEZ PRESIDENTIAL TICKET FOR FLORIDA BALLOT

Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and V.P. running mate, Matt Gonzalez, were nominated by the Ecology Party of Florida and will appear on [...]

On The Nation magazine’s blog, Christopher Hayes puts in “the credit-where-credit-is-due file” all the warnings from Ralph Nader over the past decade about Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the rest of the financial mess in Washington.

Interestingly, Hayes goes on to say:

Relatedly, I’ve gotten a lot of emails from conservatives in the last few weeks berating [...]

Supporters of Ralph Nader in Austin, Texas, have organized to push for open presidential debates that would be open to third party candidates.

In a press release, Austin for Nader says:

In response to Ron Paul’s recent call for his followers to buck the major parties and vote for a third party candidate, Austin For Nader has [...]

According to Ballot Access News:

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is on the ballot, so far, in 46 states.

The Libertarian Party’s Bob Barr: 44 states.

The Constitution Party’s Chuck Baldwin: 37 states.

And the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney: 32.

In a meeting with Politico reporters and editors, Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke about the Wall Street crisis in the headlines:

“I predicted this. All this I’ve written about five, 10 years ago.”

Nader blames the crisis on “pure greed, coupled with concentrated power on Wall Street and elsewhere.” And according to Nader, [...]

Tampabay.com in St. Petersburg reports that the Florida ballot is going to look like a phone book:

Ralph Nader is on the Florida presidential ballot, along with other semi-big names like the Libertarian Party’s Bob Barr, the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney, and the American Independent Party’s Alan Keyes. Because it’s easier to be a minor [...]

The Burlington (N.C.) Times News reports to its readers that they will have alternatives to the Republicans and Democrats in November:

In addition to Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, Libertarian Bob Barr’s name will be on the North Carolina presidential ballot.

Three other candidates who won’t be on the ballot qualified as write-in presidential candidates: [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 14, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mike Welch, 202-471-5833, mike@votenader.org (National HQ);
Joe Alfone, 504-319-9312 (local)

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RALPH NADER TO SPEAK IN BATON ROUGE

On Wednesday, September 17, at 7 p.m., Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will host a news conference in Room 105 of the LSU School [...]