Green Party Picks Nader to Run for President
AP 26jun00

DENVER - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader was nominated yesterday as the Green Party's presidential candidate, a party he said represents majority values, including a fair marketplace, a clean environment and proper health care.

Nader promised a vigorous campaign, and said he believes he has a chance both to win and to force the two major political parties to listen to the issues he raises.

In a prepared acceptance speech, he said the party stands for conservative goals and can "help shape the world's course to one of justice and peace for years to come."

Nader said that the Green Party is moving into mainstream politics and that he is not concerned that his candidacy hurts the campaigns of Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Vice President A1 Gore, as long as the major parties listen to the issues he raises.

"Don't conservatives, in contrast to corporationists, want movement toward a safe environment, toward ending corporate welfare and the commercialization of childhood?" he asked. "Let us not in this campaign prejudge any voters, for Green values are majoritarian values, respecting all peoples and striving to give greater voice to all voters."

Nader is running with Winona LaDuke, an Ojibwe activist from the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

Nader easily defeated challengers Jello Biafra, former lead singer for the Dead Kennedys punk band, and Stephen Gaskin, founder of a Tennessee commune. According to unofficial tallies, Nader got 295 votes, Gaskin 10 and Biafra 10.

He acknowledged his campaign could hurt Democrat Gore more than Republican Bush, especially in key states like California.

A Newsweek poll Saturday showed Nader ahead of Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, but far behind Bush and Gore, who were in a statistical tie at 42 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Nader got 3 percent and Buchanan 2 percent in the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Nader is also doing better than Buchanan in California, according to a survey there.