President Nader? Maybe third time's the charmIt just wouldn't be a presidential election in the roaring '00s without Ralph Nader, would it? Nader ran in 2000 as the Green Party nominee and as an independent in 2004. He was blamed in some quarters for former Vice President Al Gore's narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000, and so when he announced plans for 2004, he inspired howls of rage -- even outright pleading -- from liberals and Democrats. Now he's thinking of running again.
Nader and his supporters have formed an exploratory committee, are preparing to file papers with the Federal Election Committee and have launched a Web site. Nader has told various reporters that he will spend the next month gathering volunteers and staff and deciding whether or not to run. His decision will reportedly hinge on whether he feels he can raise $10 million and get enough free legal help to secure ballot access.
Via Salon's 'War Room' blog:
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/01/30/nader/index.html===
NaderExplore2008.org:
http://www.naderexplore08.org/index.html===
Via ABC News today:
Ralph Nader Flirts with Presidential BidWith Harsh Words for Current Field, Nader Says Candidacy as Urgent as EverBy RICK KLEIN
Jan. 30, 2008
Ralph Nader has formed a presidential exploratory committee, and said in an interview Wednesday that he will launch another presidential bid if he's convinced he can raise enough money to appear on the vast majority of state ballots this fall.
Nader, who ran as an independent candidate in each of the past three presidential elections, told ABCNews.com that he will run in 2008 if he is convinced over the next month that he would be able to raise $10 million over the course of the campaign — and attract enough lawyers willing to work free of charge to get his name on state ballots.
Nader said he established an exploratory committee and launched a Web site after Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Ohio congressman, announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race last week. He was set to announce that he had formed an exploratory committee Wednesday, even before former Sen. John Edwards made it known that he'd be ending his candidacy. But with Edwards — who has made economic populism and ending poverty cornerstones of his campaign — leaving the Democratic field, Nader said, he feels his candidacy is more urgent than ever.
"When Kucinich threw in the towel, now you have Edwards gone — who's going to carry the torch of democratic populism against the relentless domination of powerful corporations of our government?" Nader said. "You can't just brush these issues to the side because the candidates are ignoring them."
He has harsh words for the leading Democratic candidates, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, chastising them for failing to advance aggressive plans to tax corporations more fairly, and to fight for a vastly higher minimum wage. Obama, he said, is a particular disappointment, since his background suggests that he knows the importance of progressive issues yet hasn't fought for them in the Senate. "His record in the Senate is pretty mediocre," Nader said. "His most distinctive characteristic is the extent to which he censors himself. He hasn't performed as a really progressive first-term senator would."
More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4215961&page=1:banghead:
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