Nader Maintains Strong Campaign Despite Critics
— -- Green Party candidate Ralph Nader was campaigning today in the fiercely contested state of Wisconsin, while Democrats’ calls for him to drop out of the presidential race grow louder.
By Dan HarrisABCNEWS.comNov. 2
— Ignoring mounting criticism that he might cost Al Gore the election, Green Party candidate
Ralph Nader campaigned in the battleground state of Wisconsin today.
His top priority is creating a viable third party for the future.
“Those two parties have sold off our democracy, and they’ve got to be challenged,” Nader says.
At every stop, he talks about universal health care, stronger labor unions and publicly financed campaigns.
“Big business is on a collision course with our democracy and our democracy is losing,” he said today during a rally in Madison.
He’s facing increasing venom from the Democrats, who are calling on Nader to drop out or at least ask his supporters in battleground states to support Gore. To get their message across, Democrats are holding concerts, staging news conferences and circulating letters.
And in Washington, D.C. today, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) said that if Nader throws the election to Bush, it will have real consequences. NARAL is running anti-Nader ads in key states, and they’ve boosted they amount of money they’re spending on advertisements.
Making A Statement
Many Nader supporters say they are immune to the political pressure.
“We’ve got to make a statement, and we may have to lose something to gain something,” says one Nader supporter.
But there are also nervous Nader voters. In order to get federal funding in the next election, Nader must get 5 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Some want the Green Party to get the required 5 percent of votes, but they don’t want to see George W. Bush in the White House.
Several Web sites are offering a possible solution: they’re seeking Nader supporters in contested states who are willing to vote for Gore. In exchange, a Gore supporter will vote for Nader in a state where the race is not competitive.
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