In Nominating David Cobb, Green Party Snubs Nader for 2004

This past week the Green Party selected California lawyer David Cobb as its nominee for the upcoming Presidential election, snubbing 2000 party nominee Ralph Nader, who is again running for the White House. While Nader, who many Democrats considered a spoiler in 2000 for taking crucial votes away from Al Gore, would provide greater name recognition for the Greens, Cobb received a majority of the half-million-member party’s delegates.

For his part, Cobb has visited 40 states over the past eight years campaigning at the grassroots level to build connections on behalf of Greens between environmentalists and labor activists. He credits Ralph Nader as his inspiration for getting into politics.

In the 2004 race, Nader is running as an independent, and did not specifically seek the Greens’ nomination. He told supporters last week, however, that he would accept a Green party nomination or endorsement as a means to get on the ballot in the 22 states where the Nader/LaDuke ticket fared well enough in 2000 to gain ballot positions in 2004.

As November draws near, Nader hopes to attract support from disaffected Republicans and Democrats, as well as from other “third” parties, such as the Reform Party of Ross Perot, which endorsed him earlier in the month and offers ballot positions in seven states. According to the New York Times, some Republicans are actively campaigning to get Nader on the ballot in more states to siphon votes from John Kerry.

Source: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25734/story.htm