gdp's Comments

http://www.votenader.org/ : Biggest Ballot Week for Nader/Gonzalez -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 07:46:42 +0000

Obama is now saying that he will only participate in the three CPD debates; presumably, then, he won't be in the Google / YouTube debate. That could be good news, though. Whereas it looked like Nader might be shut out of the New Orleans Debate, now perhaps it could be a showcase for Nader. If Google / YouTube go on with the show, and make it a Nader vs. Barr debate, that will give Nader twice as much time to speak his message. Please contact the organizers of the event at: www.neworleansdebate.org and encourage them to invite Nader and Bob Barr to participate in the debate--with or without Obama (and/or McCain).

http://www.votenader.org/ : Imperial Presidency -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:08:49 +0000

Nader is at 6% in CNN's poll released today, but you won't find that information on the CNN website--they're only reporting the Obama and McCain numbers. They're censoring their own polling data! Write to Gallup and Rasmussen and ask them to include Nader in their daily tracking polls: http://www.gallup.com/poll/contactUs.aspx info@rasmussenreports.com You can see the data from today's CNN poll here: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mv...

http://www.votenader.org/ : Imperial Presidency -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:27:24 +0000

If you haven't already done so, go to www.kucinich.us to sign the petition to demand impeachment hearings. Kucinich will be delivering the petition tomorrow, 7/31. I am so pleased to see the Nader campaign pushing for impeachment, too. I know Kucinich is running for re-election and so needs the Democratic Party's support, but, honestly he's so much closer to Nader than to Dems in general and Obama in particular, that there really should be a Nader-Kucinich alliance of some sort.

http://www.votenader.org/ : Is Nader/Gonzalez for Real? -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:27:45 +0000

Someone who is Wikipedia savvy should go to the entry for the National Initiative for Democracy and add the information that Nader/Gonzalez advocates it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Initiative As of now, only Mike Gravel is mentioned as a supporter of the NI4D.

http://www.votenader.org/ : Is Nader/Gonzalez for Real? -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:56:37 +0000

The IPNY has not yet announced a nominee. Their convention isn't until September 21. However, it may be that they have already effectively made their decision. Thanks for looking into this!

http://www.votenader.org/ : Is Nader/Gonzalez for Real? -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:31:45 +0000

How actively and with how much hope for success is the Nader/Gonzalez campaign pursuing the nomination of the Independence Party of New York? Of the candidates running, Nader seems to represent best their interests as described in their platform: http://www.ipny.org/ Not only would this get Nader ballot access in NY, it could also lead to some helpful connections. Mike Bloomberg recently donated $150K to IPNY: http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/07/14/mayor-blo... Would Bloomberg ever consider supporting Nader/Gonzalez? Also Dean Barkley (independent candidate for Governor of MN) is cozy with the Independence Party of America (of which IPNY is an affiliate); both on his own and as a close political ally of Jesse Ventura, he could also be very helpful to the Nader campaign. On a different note, but staying with the theme of political networking, now that Nader / Gonzalez has added the National Initiative for Democracy to their "on the table" issues, what will it take to get Senator Mike Gravel's support/endorsement? He endorsed Jesse Johnson previously, but Johnson did not get the GP nomination. Let's reach out to Gravel, too!

http://www.votenader.org/ : Is Nader/Gonzalez for Real? -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:43:43 +0000

I know we are going to see the donations in this fundraising drive go up quite a bit during the next few days. At the house party I attended last Friday, another attendee pledged to donate $2300! During the conference call, if I heard right, a few others pledged to donate $1500. Please help, please donate. Here are a few other things we can do to support the campaign, too. Write to the organizers of the Google / YouTube debate and tell them you want to see Nader in the debate. Go to their site and click on the “Contact Us” link at the bottom: www.neworleansdebate.org Write to the cable news outlets and ask them to give the candidates proportional representation. With Nader at 5% in national polls, they should be giving him no less than 10% of the time and attention they are giving to McCain or Obama—neither of whom is above 50% in the polls. That means they really need to ramp up their Nader coverage! Here are some addresses for contacting them: letters@msnbc.com Nightly@NBC.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html...foxnewsonline@foxnews.com http://www.cnn.com/feedback/hdlns/ Larry King has an address where they accept suggestions for guests. Every day they collect the emails and produce a report--if they get a bunch of emails tomorrow, it WILL register with the decision-makers on the show. Tell them to invite Ralph Nader! The address is: larrykingguests@cnn.com Note the article in the NY Times by Kate Zernike (linked below). A number of veterans groups called the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium are organizing a town hall meeting and inviting the presidential candidates. McCain has accepted but so far Obama has not. According to the article, “CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.” This would be a great event for Nader and Barr to participate in—irrespective of whether Obama participates. Below is the list of organizers along with their respective websites. I encourage you to contact all of them, in addition to CBS, and to encourage them to invite Nader and Barr to participate in the town hall meeting, too. I have received very receptive replies from some of the organizers. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/us/politics/12o... American Veterans: http://www.amvets.org/ Disabled American Veterans: http://www.dav.org/ Military Order of the Purple Heart: http://www.purpleheart.org/ Veterans for Common Sense: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ Military Spouse Corporate Career Network: http://www.msccn.org/ On August 16, Obama and McCain will share the stage at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Compassion and Leadership in Lake Forest, California. The event is being held at Saddleback Church and moderated by Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Drive Life. It is also being co-organized by Faith in Public Life. I am sending emails to the following addresses to encourage them to invite Ralph Nader and Bob Barr to participate in this forum as well. admin@faithinpubliclife.org support@faithinpubliclife.org info@saddleback.com info@purposedrivenlife.com

http://www.votenader.org/ : Get Autographed Unreasonable Man DVD Now -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:25:06 +0000

Well maybe after the matching period ends (when the "primary season" ends), they could open up PayPal donations.

http://www.votenader.org/ : 15 Dollars, 15 States, 15 Days -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:16:04 +0000

CNN is interviewing McCain tomorrow and accepting video questions from viewers. I posted a question asking him if he will debate Ralph Nader and Bob Barr. Please go push up the rating of the video to help it make it onto the air. http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-49879

http://www.votenader.org/ : 15 Dollars, 15 States, 15 Days -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:51:33 +0000

We Nader/Gonzalez supporters have made every benchmark that Nader has set for us so far. Let’s all donate what we can and raise $100K+ in the next 15 days. Here are a few other things we can do to support the campaign, too. Write to the organizers of the Google / YouTube debate and tell them you want to see Nader in the debate. Go to their site and click on the “Contact Us” link at the bottom: www.neworleansdebate.org Write to the cable news outlets and ask them to give the candidates proportional representation. With Nader at 5% in national polls, they should be giving him no less than 10% of the time and attention they are giving to McCain or Obama—neither of whom are above 50% in the polls. That means they really need to ramp up their Nader coverage! Here are some addresses for contacting them: letters@msnbc.com Nightly@NBC.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html...foxnewsonline@foxnews.com http://www.cnn.com/feedback/hdlns/ Larry King has an address where they accept suggestions for guests. Tell them to invite Ralph Nader! The address is: larrykingguests@cnn.com Note the article in the NY Times by Kate Zernike (linked below). A number of veterans groups called the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium are organizing a town hall meeting and inviting the presidential candidates. McCain has accepted but so far Obama has not. According to the article, “CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.” This would be a great event for Nader and Barr to participate in—irrespective of whether Obama participates. Below is the list of organizers along with their respective websites. I encourage you to contact all of them, in addition to CBS, and to encourage them to invite Nader and Barr to participate in the town hall meeting, too. I have received very receptive replies from some of the organizers. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/us/politics/12o... American Veterans: http://www.amvets.org/ Disabled American Veterans: http://www.dav.org/ Military Order of the Purple Heart: http://www.purpleheart.org/ Veterans for Common Sense: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ Military Spouse Corporate Career Network: http://www.msccn.org/ On August 16, Obama and McCain will share the stage at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Compassion and Leadership in Lake Forest, California. The event is being held at Saddleback Church and moderated by Pastor Rick Warren, author of A Purpose Drive Life. It is also being co-organized by Faith in Public Life. I am sending emails to the following addresses to encourage them to invite Ralph Nader and Bob Barr to participate in this forum as well. admin@faithinpubliclife.org support@faithinpubliclife.org info@saddleback.com info@purposedrivenlife.com

http://www.votenader.org/ : Get Autographed Unreasonable Man DVD Now -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:16:55 +0000

Any updates on this? I'd like to make a PayPal donation during the new fundraising drive if possible.

http://www.votenader.org/ : The AT

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:46:15 +0000

Here is a contact link for the House Judiciary Committee. I am writing them to encourage them to invite Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney to testify at the impeachment hearing this Friday. http://judiciary.house.gov/about/contact.html

http://www.votenader.org/ : The AT

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:57:14 +0000

After writing my previous response, I checked with my brother who is a lawyer. He confirmed that The Lemon Test is the correct criterion to apply in this case. The crucial issues are: Whether McCain and Obama are acting for the state. He wasn't sure, but thinks probably in this case they *are* state actors. Maybe because they are both acting Senators? I wasn't clear whether he meant to say that issue was relevant. So I wonder if Barr and Nader might *not* be considered to be acting for the state in this situation, even if Obama and McCain are. Whether the primary purpose of the event is secular. Arguably it is. I meant to suggest this via my argument that the audience won't be just the people present at the event, but the whole country. Whether the event supports religion or entangles the government with religion. This is where the debate seems most unclear to me. So I guess my view is this: if it is legitimate for Obama and McCain to participate in this forum, then I want Nader and Barr to be invited. If it is not legitimate for Obama and McCain to participate, then it still might be legitimate for Nader and Barr to participate; but in that case, Obama and McCain must not participate and should be challenged seriously if they plan to participate. I'm guessing, though, that if the Obama and McCain camps have already agreed to participate they (their lawyers on staff) have already concluded that the event passes The Lemon Test.

http://www.votenader.org/ : The AT

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:18:52 +0000

I'm strongly in favor of keeping government secular. And I agree with the need to guard against "sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity." But I am not convinced that presidential candidates participating in a forum in front of a largely religious audience infringes those principles (though perhaps I could be convinced by further argument). None of the candidates for president currently *is* the president--so certainly not "the sovereign." There are all sorts of people--people with every variety of values, interests, concerns, (non-)religious beliefs, etc.--who will be voting for president. Groups with shared values, interests, beliefs, etc. will organize and some of those groups will have the "gravity" to attract the direct attention of the presidential candidates. The Saddleback group--a religious group, as it happens--has attracted the attention of Obama and McCain so that these two candidates are going to go talk to them (the Saddleback group) and answer their questions. The questions that the moderator plans to ask will, to some extent, reflect the particular values and interests of his group. Some of those values I share, some of them I don't; at any rate, I'm interested to hear how the candidates respond to the questions. On need not share all the interests and values of the audience the candidates are addressing to find the answers the candidates give interesting and significant--either because one agrees or disagrees with those answers. If the nature of the forum becomes inappropriate with respect to the proper relations between "church and state," then how the candidates react to *that* is also interesting and significant. For example, I found it significant that Obama failed to stand up to AIPAC; the fact that he did not advocate for Palestinians in Gaza matters a great deal to me. I'm sure that the forum will be televised nationally--the audience present at the event won't be the only audience of what the candidates say. So the whole nation will have the chance to see how McCain and Obama respond and react in the setting of this forum. I want the whole nation to see and hear how Ralph Nader (and Bob Barr, too) would respond and react.

http://www.votenader.org/ : The AT

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:18:56 +0000

The media is reporting today that on August 16, Obama and McCain will share the stage for the first time this election season at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Compassion and Leadership in Lake Forest, California. The event is being held at Saddleback Church and moderated by Pastor Rick Warren, author of A Purpose Drive Life. It is also be co-organized by Faith in Public Life. I am sending emails to the following addresses to encourage them to invite Ralph Nader and Bob Barr to participate in this forum as well. admin@faithinpubliclife.org support@faithinpubliclife.org info@saddleback.com info@purposedrivenlife.com

http://www.votenader.org/ : The AT

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:24:41 +0000

I wonder if there is any chance that Dennis Kucinich would endorse Ralph Nader. This would be a good opportunity to lobby for it: http://kucinich.us/july26.html With Ralph campaigning in the South this week, he obviously couldn't attend himself. Maybe Matt Gonzalez could? At the very least, it would be nice for someone from the Nader/Gonzalez campaign to attend to show solidarity and support Kucinich's drive for impeachment. In the meantime, I encourage all Nader supporters to contact the cable news outlets and to ask them to give the candidates proportional representation. With Nader at around 5% in national polls, they should be giving him about 1/8 the time/attention they are giving to McCain or Obama. That means they really need to ramp up their Nader coverage! (If they give Obama 8 hours per day, they should be giving Nader 1 hour per day.) Here are some addresses for contacting them: letters@msnbc.com Nightly@NBC.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html...foxnewsonline@foxnews.com http://www.cnn.com/feedback/hdlns/ Someone else pointed out on one of the other blog pages that Larry King has an address where they accept suggestions for guests. Tell them to invite Ralph Nader! The address is: larrykingguests@cnn.com And keep lobbying the Google / YouTube debate organizers to include Nader. Go to: www.neworleansdebate.org Click on their "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page.

http://www.votenader.org/ : 15 state ballots by tomorrow midnight. -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:42:19 +0000

While Obama and McCain are each around 45% in national polls, Ralph Nader and Bob Barr are each around 5% in national polls. To give candidates air time in proportion to the amount of support they enjoy, they would have to increase their coverage of the Nader and Barr campaigns dramatically. Let's all ask them to be unbiased and to report on the various campaigns in proportion to their support/level of interest. Here is a list of contact pages and addresses for the cable networks: letters@msnbc.com Nightly@NBC.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html...foxnewsonline@foxnews.com http://www.cnn.com/feedback/hdlns/ Ask them to give their viewers what they want--more coverage of Ralph Nader!

http://www.votenader.org/ : 15 state ballots by tomorrow midnight. -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:30:09 +0000

I'm very excited that the campaign made its goal of raising $60K before the end of today. And I am very excited about the $411K in FEC matching funds that the campaign qualified for this week. I want to make a couple of suggestions, both for supporters and for the campaign. First, I encourage all supporters to go to www.neworleansdebate.org and click on their "Contact Us" link to ask them to include Ralph Nader (along with Bob Barr) in the debate they are organizing on September 18. I also encourage all Nader supporters to write to media outlets such as CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and also MySpace to ask them to include Ralph Nader (as well as Bob Barr) on their election pages as prominently as they include Obama and McCain. You can also write to the various political opinion/news shows and ask them to invite Nader on as a guest/interviewee. I encourage the campaign to add immigration to the issues page. I would also like to hear the campaign speaking out on humanitarian issues elsewhere in the world--particularly the genocide in Darfur. Advocating for the people in Gaza seemed to bring in many donations yesterday. I suspect that advocating for the people in Darfur would do likewise. Obama used to speak openly and often about the crisis in Darfur. But as with his support for the people in Gaza (not to mention black Americans in urban ghettos), he has taken to censoring himself and appealing to the powerful rather than advocating for the poor and vulnerable. Finally, I strongly recommend that the campaign try to get both Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez on both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report before the Google / YouTube debate in September. These would be great venues for getting support for debate access.

http://www.votenader.org/ : Two Dollars for Peace in the Middle East -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:50:45 +0000

The donations today have been greater than on any other day of this fund drive except for maybe the first day. I wonder whether the topic of today's blog/email is the reason or whether asking for a smaller donation of $2 from a large number of people (8000) motivated people to donate. At any rate, I hope it happens again and again and again. FEC matching funds stop after the primary season ends (officially on September 3--the time of the Republican convention). So donations made between now and then may be doubled! I plan to make my donation total at least $250 (the maximum matched amount) by September 1.

http://www.votenader.org/ : Two Dollars for Peace in the Middle East -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:10:32 +0000

As I understand it, Nader's position on Israel and Palestine is that they should get what they both want--most Israelis and most Palestinians want a two state arrangement. That's not imposing upon them externally something that they don't want! Iran's position, as I understand it, is that they will accept any arrangement that the Palestinians in Gaza are willing to accept.