The Independence and Ecology Party held its national convention in El Segundo, California, on August 16. It nominated Ralph Nader for president and Matt Gonzalez for vice-president. The Independence and Ecology Party has three state affiliates: the Independent Party of New Mexico, the Independent Party of Hawaii, and the Ecology Party of Florida.
Why hasnt Nader qualified more long-lasting parties like this? It seems to me that it would be wise of him to start an Ecology Party, Peace and Freedom Party, or Independent Party in every state where he gets on the ballot as a party–and then try to congeal this mass of state parties into a National Party. Through sheer force of will, Nader could keep the party together for years. When Nader gets tired of running for President, Gonzales could run on the ballots.
I like the name of ECOLOGY PARTY very smart it will attract the environmental crowd. And I agree with Trent Hill. Nader should concentrate after this election into one of the Parties he created and make it grow . This would be another lasting legacy for Nader in giving people ballot access, more choices and more voices. Ross Perot tried but the Reform Party fell apart.
Nader’s already made it clear that he’s going to use his resources and knowledge to help the Peace and Freedom Party of CA expand into other states after the election.
Why doesn’t he use the same name in each state? Why Independent Party in one state, Peace and Freedom in another, and Ecology in another? Last time he was using Populist Party. Is he trying to come up with every possible party name?
He’s using Populist in NY this time, last time it Peace and Justice. I wonder if he’s just letting whoever’s local pick what name they want to go by.
I’m sure there is a reason to the madness. it is all about ballot access. What worked for a previous election may not qualify for this one
Re: Mike Gillis
Do you have a link? I’d like to read more on this effort.
Did the Populist Party of Maryland nominate nader?
Nader and Gonzalez were nominated by the new Independent Party of Maryland at its founding meeting in Baltimore, MD on Aug. 9.
The party has recently been certified for the ballot by the Maryland Board of Elections.
The Populist Party of Maryland lost its ballot line in 2006 and many of its founders and officers have now joined the Independent Party of Maryland effort. Both parties were founded by Nader supporters, so I expect the platforms to be similar.
Does anyone know if Nader would run for Congress? You never know, if he has something up his sleeve, he could have a viable chance.
Nader has always said no. unfortunately
Unrelated, but is anyone else having trouble accessing IPR?
Jonathan wrote: “Nader has always said no. unfortunately”
Why is that unfortunate ?
Nader knows full well the principle responsibility of a congressional representative is constituent services. It is very easy to get bogged down in that aspect of the job. Nader certainly doesn’t need the experience as he knows the ins and outs of the Legislative Process better than most of the members of the House and the Senate. Nader wants to stay focused on shaping policy and the direction of the country. The only office he can do that from is the Presidency.
So I find his perseverance and focus most fortunate.
There was an article today saying that the Oregon Peace Party was verified and could nominate candidates as soon as Friday. Any word yet as to whether this party is affiliated with the Nader campaign?
You people are kidding yourselves if you think Nader wants to build a national third party movement. He could do it very easily by forming a single party or by actually joining the Green Party at any point in the last 12 years. Instead he splits the already splinted vote to the left of the Democrats for his own glory.
bolshevik-leninist wrote : “You people are kidding yourselves…”
You people ? You wouldn’t happen to be Ross Perot would you bolshe ?
Actually there are a diversity of opinions about what Nader is up to. Having been involved with all of his campaigns since 96 I can tell you since 2000 Nader firmly believes if he can get into the debates and get a hearing he can ride it into the White House. How Nader can get into the debates is the 64,000 Dollar Question.
Regarding the “Left Vote” what Nader has done is spilt off the people from the Popular Left who value principles over party. Those who value party over principles have stayed with the Democrats.
The Democrats have worked tirelessly to build up a cadre of left opinion leaders whose job it is to pander to this element for 36 months of the 48 month election cycle and turn around in the final 12 months and blow their horns for whatever crook the party puts up. You know whom I’m talking about, the usual suspects like Katrina Vanden Hoople, Norman Solomon, Jeff Cohen, John Nichols, Matthew Rothschild, Robert Scheer etc, etc, etc. It is times like now when they have to not only deliver the “Left Vote” but also neutralize any attempt by the left to influence the process so as to produce a candidate or an agenda that will challenge the dominant politics set forth by the party.
Have you noticed that the term Democrat Leadership Council has dissappeared from our lexicon in the last 2 election cycles ? That is not by accident because the DLC has taken over the Democrat Party and in the process exspunged the usage of that term. The Old Line Liberals continue to exist in the party like a leftover relic from a by-gone era. But in order to do so they have been forced to sellout. You can bet when they retire they will be replaced by younger Conservative Blue-Dog Democrats. As this should be a gradual process the Democrat Leadership is hoping those Liberal adherents will wither away.
By Nader and McKinney running as they are they are providing a haven for those people to go as they become disillusioned. It may take several more election cycles this phenomenon to crystalize into a solid formation or it could happen quite quickly. If Nader runs a strong campaign this year which Checkmates the Democrats much as he did in 2000 it will send a powerful message to the Democrats. Between their muttering of 4 Letter Expletives the Democrats will know for certain that unless they adopt his positions they can never hope to win unless they clean house of all liberals, reset the party’s values and go on an all out raid of the Republicans.
Lainey, check out the Peace Party website at: http://thepeaceparty.net/
Look at the first character of each paragraph, and I think you shall find out who they advocate for the nominee of their party.
As to the issue of a “party”- Nader has stated that the infighting in the Green party is what drove him away from the organization. Perhaps the Peace and Freedom party will do better, though I don’t hold out much hope. Nader has also stated that his hope after the election is to help start congressional watchdog groups in as many districts as possible. These would be citizen based groups that watch the actions of their local representative, and is probably the best way to hold their feet to the fire (short of any actual change to our electoral process that has created 90% “safe” seats for incumbents.)
Thank you Independent Party! Thank you Ecology Party! Thank you to everyone who is helping in the Nader-Gonzalez campaign!
Ralph Nader for president and Matt Gonzalez for vice president!
Well said Bob Marston regarding the DLC and building an alternative to the left. I think the local party building effort is a good way of getting people involved however they can outside the duopoly. The more experience people have in party work the more chances we have to build a model that is democratic and effective.
In this election, Nader is running the kind of pure campaign that isn’t predicated on party politics. McKinney is running an activist campaign out of the Greens with the base (and the baggage) of a preexisting organization.
The recent dustup in the Colorado GP shows how difficult it can be for activists to work together. In a few election cycles we should be engaged in other kinds of discussion, with more people in the room and hopefully more understanding of different tactics.
Incidentally, the Peace Party webpage, has changed since the last time I looked at it. A favorable exposition of a fusion strategy (mentioning Kucinich) has been replaced with a paragraph on Instant Runoff Voting.
Nader formed the Independent Party of Hawaii earlier this year.
He’s starting Indpendent parties in states where there aren’t any. Or states that only have two choices for voters.
How cool is that.
Ralph knows what he’s doing, man…
Matt,
Do you think that the VOTENADER was intentional, or just a coincidence?
…coincidence??
For adults –
NONPARTISAN nominations (only by EQUAL nominating petitions)and elections using Approval Voting for elected executive offices and all judges.
Way too difficult for party hacks, leftwing and rightwing — with their pre-school flippant irrelevant comments about the past and current party hack machinations (aka corrupt deals – which mini-faction is controlling which mini-party, etc.).
The party hack WORLD CRISIS is NOW — due to accumulated gerrymander laws since 1776 — and since 1929 especially.
Unfortunately in Maryland there is already a party called the Maryland Independent Party which recently nominated Alan Keyes as its Presidential candidate. I think this will cause much confusion at election time.
The Ecology Party of Florida was not formed by Ralph Nader. We formed the Ecology Party because we felt there was a need for a party that would not accommodate the Democrats, as our former party did, would demand competence, as our former party did not, and would focus on the environment which we believe is the most important issue of the times. That’s why we are the Ecology Party
Which presidential candidate could a party formed to oppose the corporate major parties, formed to defend the environment, formed to oppose corporate “personhood” nominate? Which presidential candidate would attract members who would be in agreement with our mission and grow the party?
The obvious choice was Ralph Nader. That is why he was nominated by the Ecology party of Florida.
Nader has focused on networks of small and/or self-founded temporary lines because he’s fundamentally non-partisan and activist-centric, and he’s always been clear about why he works that way. For him it’s as much personal as strategic, but the strategic concerns should resonate with all of us who consider ourselves issue activists and seek to integrate electoral processes into those efforts. Party platforms always become vague during the process of coalition-building. Issue activists keep their focus and can easily avoid the ambiguities that weaken or terminate attempts at action.
That’s why I like what the new Ecology Party is trying to do in Florida. They’ve figured out that when an issue is a tangible, fundamental human/world issue (you know, something like finding a cure for cancer, to which nobody could possibly object) rather than one that varies with levels of self-interest, bigotries, morals, or social philosophies (as is usually the case with partisanship, in all its ranges and tent sizes), then a new kind of coalition-building becomes possible, one that sharpens and strengthens, rather than diffuses, the core issue around which the coalition is being built. This is probably what most early Greens had been hoping would be the case for them, before the influx of general left social justice refugees left them with no meaningful trans-partisan issue, and no clear basis by which to distinguish themselves from Nation/Kucinich Democrats.
It’s a brilliant concept if anyone wants to give it a try. Action for environmental protection will always have social justice benefits, but the reverse is most frequently untrue, and pursuit of which invariably turns you from Green to Blue, until you vanish. And since environmental action does not wear a progressive social justice agenda on its sleeve, it gains a unique ability to gather more people than it scares off.
I don’t live in Florida, but if I did, I’d be giving my attention to the Ecology Party. I hope it catches on.
The Ecology Party makes for a better political environment in Florida. Ralph, yes we can!
Great to hear that Nader/Gonzalez ticket will have a ballot line available for them in Florida. Agreeing with Margaret Ward, this greatly improves the political landscape for voters here.
[To the editor: Could the header as well as the news bit itself be edited for contents? There seems to be some distorsion regarding the proper name of the national party. And a lack of accuracy relative to whom created what. Are the sources been double-checked?]
Thanks Mr. Winger for the correction you just provided. The item reads better and it’s more factual.