Posted at Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude
New Yorkers Urge Gov. Paterson to Appoint Ralph Nader to US SenateA group of concerned New York citizens announced today that they are launching a campaign to have Governor David A. Paterson appoint long-time consumer advocate Ralph Nader to the US Senate. There are no real residency requirements for US Senate (must be a resident of the state as of the date of the election). New York has a long tradition of sending individuals to the US Senate who only established NY residency for the purpose of serving in the Senate. This includes the departing incumbent, Hillary Clinton, who moved here from Arkansas to run, and former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, whose niece Caroline is one of the front runners for the position. Nader in contrast grew up just a few miles east of the Hudson Valley in the Winsted Connecticut and still maintains his legal voting residency there. Supporters have offered Nader the use of their spare bedrooms if he wants to move in to establish residency.
“In this moment of crisis on Main Street and Wall Street, American needs someone like Ralph Nader to protect their interests. Who better than Nader to help resolve the crisis facing the American automobile industry? Who better than Nader to insure that real consumer protections are put into place to regulate the financial industry? Who better than Nader to stand up to the insurance industry, drug companies, and other special interests to ensure that we finally make health care a right in America? Who better than Nader to lead the fight to reverse climate change and make the transition to a green economy and clean, renewable energy?†asked Matt Funiciello, CEO of Rockhill Bakehouse.
Nader’s supporters noted that while President elect Obama has made a big point of naming many of his former Presidential opponents to Cabinet positions, he has not yet offered a position to Nader, who finished third in the general election. Obama’s first public interest job, which he credits for training him as an organizer, was with a group that Nader helped established, the New York Public Interest Research Group. One of Nader’s former student interns, Eliot Spitzer, chose present Governor David A. Paterson as his running mate.
now i know some greens don’t care for ralph and to them i would say: come up with some 1 to push.
i have no idea why 3rd parties – and not just in new york – are going along with this notion that democrats HAVE TO BE appointed. they can be and, yes,they probably will be. however, if a green or independent person was appointed, it could really start something. all it would take would be 1.
and i think cases could be made for delaware, new york and colorado. i’m not sure about other states; however, i am comfortable with those 3. even if you disagree, i think you would agree that a real campaign in just 1 of those states would raise issues and awareness.
i know that a lot of my friends (die-hard dems) are not feeling very comfortable about some of the crap tossed at ralph nader this year. and in 2004, they would have (and often were) throwing crap at nader. it’s an awareness and fairness issue. and serious campaigns – like ralph just got done running – raise awareness.
for those who think, let’s use new york, ‘oh, it won’t make any difference, the governor will appoint a democrat!’ maybe. but look at some of the losers who are supposed locks for those positions. if terry jones, new york green candidate, gets awareness in the next few weeks, is not appointed by paterson and the person appointed screws up makes a huge mistake, you’ve got the campaign right there.
remember how a lot of us felt al gore should have run in 2004? it would be like that. you’d have a screw up senator and the green would be able to argue, ‘if i’d been picked, it wouldn’t have happen.’ and the green could also make this case: ‘aren’t you sick of the little insider deals that guarantee so many of us are always left out?’
7 responses so far ↓
1 Ross Levin // Dec 28, 2008 at 12:14 pm
It might be a wasted effort.
2 paulie cannoli // Dec 28, 2008 at 12:19 pm
If it’s done every time there is a vacancy, eventually it might not be.
3 Libertarian Joseph // Dec 28, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Why should they? Their beliefs are identical to that of the democratic party platform.
4 Steven R Linnabary // Dec 28, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Opposition parties HAVE TO send out news releases that are relevant.
And the new US Senate appointee IS the topic du jour in New York, as well as Delaware and Illinois.
Any well written news release that keeps the Green (and Libertarian or Constitution) Party in the news is a victory.
PEACE
5 HumbleTravis // Dec 29, 2008 at 7:28 am
Many Democrats still believe that Nader was partly responsible for the 2000 election results. I doubt very much that any Democrat would appoint Nader to dog catcher, especially after the “racial” comments.
6 paulie cannoli // Dec 29, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I think the point is more in the way of alternative parties using a tactic to gain publicity, and perhaps eventually an appointment somewhere, rather than Mr. Nader himself, as even the author makes clear.
7 Matt Funiciello // Jan 24, 2009 at 12:55 pm
HumbleTravis,
It was GORE who behaved in a racist manner when he stood before the Senate in 2000 and refused to fight for the 57,000 disenfranchised black Florida voters whose elected officials were demanding a revote (or some other type of justice).
It was also GORE who lost in 2000 because a huge majority of Americans did NOT see him as being better than an inexperienced moron whose father was also a boring coat-tail riding vice president.
We independent voters would never have voted for Gore just because Nader didn’t run. I, personally, have written in “piece of excrement” on my ballot rather than vote for a war party candidate in many races. The argument that Ralph is a spoiler is only for mathematically-challenged 2nd graders, not adults.
For every Green or independent who voted for Ralph in 2000, there were 10 Democrats who voted for Bush. You’re aware of that, right? If even a tiny percentage of these DEMOCRATS had voted for their spineless boring idiot of a candidate, he would have won and the Democratic Party would not have had to spend the last 8 years vilifying a truly great American who has done more for the working people of this country than anyone in recent history.
Gore and his whiny little loser party are just warmonger lite and President Obama is proving this as I type.
As for Ralph being a racist, he merely said that Obama now needed to decide ‘whether or not he will be an Uncle Tom’. He never CALLED him an ‘Uncle Tom’. He was asking if Obama would stand up to the rhetoric he has thrown out there and actually represent social justice and the working people of this country or would he capitulate to the corporate powers that put him inn office. Its a good question but its also rhetorical. Obama has already answered it by turning his back on Single Payer Health Care by leaving a huge military presence in Iraq, by promising to kill more shepherds and children in Afghanistan, by bailing out rich Wall Street speculators …. Obama is already an Uncle Tom just days after taking office!
The only people offended by these remarks are those who do not read and can not understand that Obama has already betrayed their fake movement and is going to continue the basic policies of all American administrations (kill unarmed brown people, steal their resource, cut funding for the poor and give big handouts to the rich).
What people don’t seem to understand is that these policies are not Republican, they are AMERICAN! Wake up! Stop watching Fox TV and reading the NY Times and read a history book (that way we’ll all know what’s about to happen next; more of the same).
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