***** March 14, 2004 Camejo takes the lead
Peter Camejo won 99 of 132 state delegates in the California primaries, garnering 75.4 percent of the vote. Even though he is only on the ballot in a handful of states, Peter is now well out in front of all other candidates in the race for the Green Party presidential nomination. . . .
<http://www.draftcamejo.org/> *****
***** "Over the last eight years, Nader has done more for the Green Party than anybody else," said Howard Hawkins, a Green Party organizer from Syracuse, N.Y. "We should draft him and have a candidate who can be in the national debates" with Bush and the expected Democratic nominee, U.S. Sen. John Kerry.
Hawkins was present to represent Green Party presidential candidate Peter Camejo of California, a one-time associate of labor leader Cesar Chavez who has pledged to turn over to Nader any delegates he wins at the party's nominating convention. He said Nader has attended Green Party fund-raisers in 31 states since his controversial role in the 2000 presidential election.
Representing Nader in an hourlong "debate" - which actually was a rather uncontentious question-and-answer session - was Tim McKee, a party activist from Manchester. He said Nader, who declared his independent run for president on Feb. 22, rejects the argument of some Greens that he should make a limited effort, avoiding states such as Florida and Ohio where a close contest is expected between Bush and Kerry.
Nader considered such a strategy a "schizophrenic" campaign, McKee said. "The amateur politics of well-intentioned people [within the Green Party] made it impossible for him to commit to that process." . . .
The only voice against a Nader endorsement was Lynne Serpe, campaign manager for David Cobb of California, a lawyer who declared his candidacy for the Green Party's presidential nomination in mid-2003. She said Nader, by not seeking the party's nomination sooner, "has taken himself out of the democratically contested process." . . .
McKee said he would welcome a ticket that pairs Nader with Camejo as a vice presidential candidate. . . .
"Clearly Connecticut is going to go to Kerry, so a Nader candidacy wouldn't make much difference except building a local Green Party," McKee said. "And I'd like to double or triple [the voter turnout] we've had in the past."
Hawkins agreed. "Nader will bring a media profile that commands attention," he said. "Ralph Nader shows up and it's news. That's just the way it is. It gets us into the race."
(Paul Marks, "Green Party Likes Nader," March 14, 2004, <http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-greens0314.artmar14,1,5582163.story?coll=hc-headlines-local>) ***** -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>