[R-G] Camejo Takes the Lead/Green Party Likes Nader

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Good news for the Green Party -- Camejo taking the lead in the Green 
Party primaries, and the Green Party is likely to nominate the 
Nader/Camejo combo:

*****   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

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