Nader's Campaign Manager Leaves Door Open for Nader to Seek Green Nomination

Sally Soriano, Ralph Nader’s 2008 Campaign Manager, has posted this statement on www.votenader.org: “Ralph told the media today after ‘Meet the Press’ that he will decide within the coming days how he is going to run for President in terms of ballot access. On ‘Meet the Press’ he mentioned the Green Party positively multiple times thus helping put the Green Party out to “Meet the Press’s” five million plus viewers. Ralph also said that he will announce his Vice-Presidential selection sometime in the next week. If people with the Green philosophy want him to seek their nomination, they could show their support by going to and by donating and signing up on the email list. No matter what he decides he will be communicating the Green Party agenda over the coming months.” Thanks to Dean Myerson for this news. The Nader campaign webpage is here.


Comments

Nader's Campaign Manager Leaves Door Open for Nader to Seek Green Nomination — 19 Comments

  1. The orchestrated attack on Nader’s independent ballot access in 2004 kept an authentic anti-war referendum away from voters, even in so-called “safe” states. The personal attacks on Nader and his motivations mask the real fear of the major parties- that he will remind voters of the problems (and solutions) left out of the debates by Obama or Clinton because of pre-censorship by their corporate backers. Nader can take the heat. Can the Greens?

  2. Well, based on the largely non-existent McKinney campaign, Deran, if Nader doesn’t do it, no one will.

  3. Nader must be hoping that Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the Dem nomination, so he can inherit a good chunk of Obama’s support. If Obama is nominated– as seems likely– I don’t see much of a case for Nader’s candidacy.

    Fox News said this would be Nader’s fifth campaign. He ran in ’96, 2000, and 2004. Was there another year that he ran?

  4. The New Party wanted to nominate Nader in 1972, but he declined and the New Party joined the People’s Party.
    Also, (according to Wikipedia) “Nader stood in as a write-in for “none of the above” in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic Primary and received about 6,300 votes.He was also a write-in candidate in the 1992 Massachusetts Democratic Primary.”

    They must be counting one of these two “runs”.

  5. Of course there’s a case for Nader’s candidacy, particularly if you support instant runoff voting, proportional representation, abolishing the electoral college….basically an end to the two-party system. Plus Medicare for all, fairness for Palestinians & an end to the Israeli occupation of Gaza & the West Bank, an end to corporate personhood…the list goes on and on and on. I may or may not support Ralph depending on what his relationship with the Green Party ends up being, but I’m certainly not going to vote for Barack Obama or any other Democrat. A larger-than-expected vote for Ralph (and any 3rd party candidate on the left, for that matter) will send a strong signal to the pundits and the think tanks about this agenda.

    And it was ever thus. Ralph is just the most recent participant in a tradition that goes back through Norman Thomas, Eugene Debs, Robert LaFollette, the Populist Party, etc. all the way back to the 1840’s, the Liberty Party and the Free Soil Party. There’s always a reason for someone prominent to run when the dominant political parties have allowed the system to deteriorate and refuse to address numerous critical issues. Barack Obama gives nice speeches and certainly attracts & excites a lot of people on the left, but to say there’s no need for a progressive 3rd party candidate if he happens to be the Democratic nominee misses the mark by quite a wide margin.

    We will absolutely need Ralph, the Green Party, and the Socialist Party nipping at Obama’s heels to keep him honest, keep him progressive, and keep the electorate aware of his history, his record, and his promises. And you can’t pressure him effectively in that regard unless you give people an alternative they can threaten to choose when they walk into the voting booth. Lawrence O’Donnell made this point succinctly in the documentary “An Unreasonable Man.”

  6. No, write in campaign for Prez in 92, ran in 96, 2000, 2004, and 2008. The 92 write in was not something he necessary encouraged.

    I too hope he does seek the Green nomination. One sure way to do this is pick McKinley as his VP.

  7. Steve Rankin wrote: “Fox News said this would be Nader’s fifth campaign. He ran in ‘96, 2000, and 2004. Was there another year that he ran?”

    In 1992 Nader ran as a “none of the above” candidate in 2 States. One was New Hampshire. I don’t remember the other.

    Both of Naders efforts in 92 and 96 were informal in the strictest sense of the word. In each case total expenditures were kept below $5000 to avoid filing FEC disclosure forms.

  8. This is Ralph Nader’s fifth presidential campaign. Eugene J. McCarthy ran five times also: 1968, 1972, 1976, 1988, and 1992. I love the overlap (with 1992 being the center).

  9. Comrade Nader certainly has the right to run. I just think he would get more votes if Hillary were the Dem nominee.

    I recall a joint appearance that Gene McCarthy and the Republican Harold Stassen made during the ’68 New Hampshire primary campaign. Both of them attacked Richard Nixon; both, of course, were from Minnesota. Stassen had tried in ’56 to get Nixon dumped as Ike’s VP.

    I always wondered whether McCarthy would have run for re-election to the Senate in 1970 if Hubert Humphrey had not run.

    McCarthy said some funny things in 1984 about his fellow Minnesotan Walter Mondale, the Dem presidential nominee.

  10. This is why we need Ralph Nader now (read all below, my case in facts); CHASE AUTO FINANCE NEEDS TO BE UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATOIN FOR THE BELOW.

    Nader needs to see the below. He could sure use it in his campaign.

    I would love to send you all the docs I have in PDF to support the facts below.

    Worst thing; Attorneys don’t find this mess worth the cost of litigation. Breach of Contract is only for the costs and mental anguish is not allowed in breach of contract cases. Therefore, it’s not really illegal for a small time person to get screwed on a breach of contract against a trillion dollar company because attorneys wont take the case. The monetary value is not high enough for us little people. The law is only for the big Corporations with lots of monetary damages.

    Therefore, I – the LITTLE CONSUMER, AGAIN, looses against Trillion dollar Chase Auto Finance who wins all our little money and gets bigger off stealing.

    Chase needs to be under Federal Investigation. I’m sending all my documentation to the FBI. I am sure I’m not the only one who has over paid interest to Chase Auto Finance, and stuck in a loan because they are not paying down the principal on the cars which wont allow us to sell them for the value we need to get out of the loan.

    I bet there are millions of us with this problem and Chase is well aware. I made 70+ calls to try and get an accurate answer. I would have never known about the bad loan until I got the illegal 18K lump payment due and they threatened to find me anywhere, even when I tried desperately saying they were wrong while crying extensively begging for them to review my loan.

    I bet millions are screwed by Chase who has over 700 bad postings on Ripoffreport.com
    ___________________

    RE: JP Morgan, Chase Auto Finance, Garden City, NY – A Seven year mess continues.

    Chase charged me over $23,000.00 on a simple interest $48,235.00 loan for a BMW. I put $30,000.00 down on the car. Chase sent me a Maturity Notice for approximately $18,000.00 more in November 2007. I reaffirmed in 2003, that’s when the trouble started of miscalculation of interest to their advantage, which prevented me from selling the car due to, too high a principal amount. Then threatened me extensively with collections and repossession again and again stating they would find me no matter where I went. After an attorney I was forced to hire I still can’t get an accurate calculated amount.

    After sitting on hold over 70+ documented times; transferred around and disconnected –
    All I ever heard – over and over and over – for several hours at a time is:
    “Chase the right relationship is everything”, “Chase the right relationship is everything”….

    Due to sickness I tried to sell the car and upside down on the loan due to Chase’s inaccurate principal/over interest calculations, always short about 5-6K. My payments at $858.98 were killing me.

    In 2006-2007 for months all and on, they stated my payments were not due and then I received an 18K notice to “ pay or else with collection notices”. Without my knowledge Chase changed their computer system. It appears in a desperate attempt to correct, inaccurately. Now 160K miles and forced to pay high maintenance costs to keep it running, I still don’t get an accurate payoff to my loan with an accurate “loan summary”.

    I made over 70 documented calls (ACT data base notes) to Chase since 2003. I have all my phone records for the duration of my loan. I was forced to hire an hourly attorney when I received the 18K notice 11/2007 to stay out of repossession again. Looks like they illegally repossessed the car twice.

    The Vice President- Chase – Andy Sulfsted – 602-221-3835 finally acknowledged there was a problem with my loan only after an attorney was involved. He stated I had a 9% simple interest loan. . Mr. Sulfated stated I had a 39 mo loan when it’s actually 46 month as I have the payoff coupons. Per the Edmonds.com car calculator Mr. Sulfated, shows “a tap dance” of calculations which still do NOT add up to the correct payment we calculated. Additionally, Mr. Sulfsted stated: “the reaffirmation terms were based on an outstanding balance of $34,517.23. HOWEVER, Chase’s principal and interest full loan calculation ‘computerized’ summary shows my loan was calculated during the reaffirmation at $28,708.42 and Mr. Sulfsted is WRONG or LIED to cover up.

    Mr. Sulfated sent a letter of somewhat apology in January 2008, with lowering the loan amount to $4,294.00. However, their collections is still threatening repo for approximately $18,744.00. Mr. Sulfsted will not return my calls since my hourly attorney is not on the case. Even though his latter states I owe much less than $18, 744.00. Therefore, it appears I am threatened with repossession and collections in which “they will find my anywhere”, for a loan amount I do not owe. When their own so called Vice President was to re-calculated and fix it !!

    The Chase VP also stated he enclosed the reaffirmation contract with his letter to my attorney. AND, he did not enclose it. He only enclosed the original contract I signed with Sterling BMW. My Attorney and myself have never been able to get Chase to turn over my reaffirmation agreement. Now I’m stuck with attorney fees too.

    My hired attorney stated in correspondence to Chase that it was the “most messed up loan he’s ever seen. “ Chase’s collections were all over me. They had already previously filed liens in OC courts when I was not to be in repossession in 2005.

    I tried to sell the car on many occasions to get from under the high payments/ high maintenance costs of a BMW. Brakes; $1,800, tires $2,000. Approx $4,000-$6,000 per year maintenance with leaks etc. Car now has 160K miles. I had to barrow money from friends, at times; to make my Blue Cross monthly payment, food, doctor bills, etc, as I was sick for many years. I needed the car for Dr appts and was upside down on the loan. The high cost of mo payments and maintenance were killing me. The value of the car was MUCH, MUCH lower than the principal amount. I was stuck with Chase loan for years and could not even refinance with another company. The stress of having to borrow money from friends was horrendous.

    Chase credited payments and un-credited them charging me late fees. Chases ‘loan summary’ shows a great deal of payments were not credited to my account until about a year later. A collection person stated my checks bounced when I tried to explain the problems. I have every check written since the duration of my loan and none bounced. About 11 of my payments were not credited until a year later.

    I made over 70 calls to Chase. All documented using my cell phone with ACT database. Chase only transferred me around, disconnected me and I would be forced to call back again and again, desperately begging for help on many occasions. This caused a tremendous amount of stress, anxiety and I have a heart problem, IBS, signs of LUPUS. I get fevers when I get upset now since all this started. Cell phone records will show hours on the phone at a time. My data base notes state how I cried.

    Chase repossessed the car in 2004. If the payments had been correct with principal I would have had the extra money to pay. Again, I was trying to sell the car that year and stuck upside down on the loan. I was charged extensive repo fee’s. It loan was calculated properly, should have had extra money. I tried to explain to their collections, I woke up my car was gone. I have lived in fear since of my car disappearing.

    Chase tried to repossess the car again in 2005. They had attorneys this time. The attorney letter stated I had 30 days to dispute. I disputed it. I should not have been behind or even been in repossession at all. However, they already filed (2) liens in OC Courts, on my record and then admitted a mistake. The liens stayed open for years and I disputed prior to the 30 days. With the liens, I was denied an apartment. It looked at though my car was still in repossession 3 years later.

    Thinking I made payments to this company above and beyond all these years…. while trying to get out from under this loan, with 70 calls….makes me physically ill to this day and very, very angry, stress, upset, sleepless, anxious.

    This past September 2007, after a Chase Manager told me in July 2007, I had an 18K balloon coming in November 2007…. I was put on rest disability, my fevers become more frequent. Now stuck with attorney fees to correct their mistake. I tried desperately to understand the mess with my loan. Chase’s representative, Managers, and Chase’s Vice President will not give me an accurate statement of accounting, payoff amount.

    End of December again I could not sell the car as the pay off amount is much greater than the loan amount. I was forced to put another 3500 to keep it running, the steering went out. Now my radiator is leaking and the suspension is out. I need to get out from under this mess.

    I want restitution from Chase and desperately need a consumer activist attorney on contingent. I have all documentation since the origination of my loan. .

    My hourly attorney wrote on my behalf:

    Ms. ______:

    I hope this works out for you. Chase really jerked you around and you did not deserve that. They do that because so few people actually see an attorney and hold their feet to the fire.

    Good luck on this.

    Signed attorney

  11. RE: “One sure way to do this is pick McKinley as his VP.”

    This would certainly be one way to leap-frog over the state laws that effectively put third-parties and independents at a disadvantage in the timing of their campaigns. On the other hand, why shouldn’t Representative McKinney announce Nader as her VP running mate?

    If Ralph is finished talking to Senator Obama, then it seems reasonable to assume he is talking to whoever he feels will help him in his campaign, and I can’t think of anyone better positioned to do this than McKinney, the leading official Green candidate.

    Here is some food for thought: The news today, to the extent that it mentions Nader at all, cites his criticism of Senator Obama over Palestine policy. Representative McKinney was ousted from the Democratic Party over her principled stand on this very issue.

    I don’t recall the timing over this in the last election cycle, but it does make sense that a Green candidate would name a VP running mate well before a summer convention. I think Greens might resent the suggestion of a `coronation’ implicit in the convergence of the two leading candidates for their nomination. But, the state ballot access laws really disadvantage any “minor” party that waits until the convention season to rally around its slate.

    So, if “Mr. Frugal” wants the biggest bang for his buck he can invite either McKinney, who clinch ballot access in 20+ states, or Bloomburg (ha!) who could buy ballot access, and maybe debate access, ala Perot `92.

    I, for one, am eager to hear next week’s announcement.

    Bern.

  12. We all know Ralph is getting paid by Republican backers to run this campaign as he did in the last two elections.

    It’s sad that a man who stood for the interests of the common man and woman in America has stooped so low. His actions have made him complicit with everything that George Bush has done. He has become the man whom he despised in his youth.

  13. Tom – I’m not a Nader fan by any stretch of the imagination. But think real hard now – do you think it’s just possible that Nader realizes that there is no difference between a Democrat and a Republican and that he is actually giving people a choice on the ballot where one might not have existed if he didn’t run? Why is it that you people profess that third party candidates have a right to run, and then in the next breath state that they shouldn’t because they’ll only spoil one of the two major party’s chances of winning? What gives the Democrats the right to dictate to the left leaning third parties who should and shouldn’t be running?

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