Nader acknowledges difficulty in getting on presidential ballot

[Purveyor]

(02-23) 09:45 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

Ralph Nader acknowledged Monday that it will be difficult to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states in his independent bid for the presidency.

Nader, whom Democrats blame for costing Democrat Al Gore the election in 2000, lacks major party support or resources for his candidacy that has riled the Democratic Party. Unlikely to get the Green Party nomination, he faces an uphill battle to get on the ballot, which requires money and signatures.

The first target is Texas, where Nader needs 65,000 signatures in a 60-day period from voters who are not participating in the Democratic or Republican primaries.

<snip>

As an independent candidate, Nader won't be eligible for up to about $18.6 million in government funding for the primary season, Federal Election Commission spokesman Bob Biersack said. And his failure to capture 5 percent of the vote in 2000 -- he got 2.7 percent -- also prevents him from receiving taxpayer funding in the general election.

<snip>

Link to entire AP article

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Ralph may finally get it

he is personann non grata right at the moment.

He should just go home

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. too bad the democrats don't treat bush this way

he can have the GOP convention at a record late date to exploit 9-11, coming in too late to qualify for several state ballots. what did the democratically-controlled legislature in wv do?

they CHANGED THE RULES to accomodate dumbya and let him get away with manipulating the feelings of the country regarding a national tragedy.

and DU calls ralph an enabler!

[mobuto]

4. I thought you were out the door?

You said you were leaving DU.

and DU calls ralph an enabler!

Yup. Ralph Nader is an enabler.

Buh-bye.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

6. i'm packing up

you did nothing to disprove my point that democratic legislatures allow the GOP to be above the law with ballot access while penalizing 3rd party candidates. do you support the wv legislature for doing this? and why weren't they on the top 10 list for enabling bush to recapture wv's 6 elctoral votes?

[flamingyouth]

3. Oh gee, my heart really bleeds for him

:nopity:

[aquart]

5. "Unlikely to get the Green Party nomination"

Yuh think?

[yellowcanine]

7. First target is Texas?

Ok then. How about if Nader concentrates of the following states after Texas?
Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Idaho, Utah, Kansas, etc. Yeah, that's the ticket. All of those really red states.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. I'm sure the Bush's are already working hard to help Ralph.

Now if Ralph will only ask himself "Why on earth would Republicans want to help me?"

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. I hope the bastard spends all his money trying

I can't stand to look at his offensive ugly puss.

There is no doubt that he is the root cause that chimp is in the Whitehouse. He is made of shit.

[Bandit]

10. This is good ~ GOP will spend some of it's money backing Nader

Nader will spend his time and energy badmouthing Bush*. Who knows maybe someone will pay attention to him that won't pay attention to a Democrat. This is America, let him play too. He will do far more damage to the GOP this time around than he will to the Democrats.

[truthbetold]

11. The Greens won't back him?!

I'm so surprised.
No wonder they are backing away- Nader is complete poison and a vote for him is a vote wasted.

[Creamed Corn]

12. more from NYT:

"Mr. Nader is no longer running as the candidate of the Green Party, which means he is faced with the daunting — though not impossible — task of getting on 50 state ballots as an independent candidate. By Mr. Nader's own assessment, that would entail collecting about 1.5 million signatures on nominating petitions in all states. In addition, he would have to battle through a thicket of court challenges that Democrats said they would wage to keep him off the ballots." Link

[Unknown Known]

13. What's wrong with this picture?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/23/politics/campaign/23NADE.html

The NaderBots are holding really nice, manufactured signs which must have cost a lot of money to make - the Dems in the picture, however, are carrying homemade, cheaply-made, crappy signs.

With all of St. Ralphie's friends gone and no party to back him, doesn't this bother some of you in the least.

He claims he has "volunteers" working for him - are they Moonies? Where is Ralph getting his money? Maybe from his corporate investments, especially Cisco, the giant monopoly which Ralph invests heavily in even though Cisco is sending their jobs overseas. I thought Ralph was against corporate monopolies?

[dawn]

14. Nader is obviously doing very well under the Bush* regime.

[smb]

15. The Ballot Laws Need Reform

There is no justification for requiring more than one thousand or 1% of the number of voters in the previous election (whichever is less) -- that's sufficient to screen out the nutballs who run on a lark while allowing people with a serious point of view.

[ursacorwin]

16. while totally agreeing with you in principle

let me be the first to predict: if ralph gets on any ballots in any states, it will be with rethug money and lawyers.

the picture with the signs is telling...and so spot on in your analysis. ralph is bought and paid for by rethug money, and one would have to be a dupe not to see it.

[Robb]

17. Nader doesn't need the Greens.

He doesn't need anybody.

[prolesunited]

18. LOL!

Did you do that!?!?!? If so, I'm impressed. And here I thought you were just a dingbat. ;-)