Ralph Nader 2000 presidential campaign
The 2000 presidential campaign of Ralph Nader, political activist, author, lecturer and attorney, began on February 21, 2000. He cited "a crisis of democracy" as motivation to run.[1] He ran in the 2000 United States presidential election as the nominee of the Green Party. He was also nominated by the Vermont Progressive Party[2] and the United Citizens Party of South Carolina.[3] The campaign marked Nader's second presidential bid as the Green nominee, and his third overall, having run as a write-in campaign in 1992 and a passive campaign on the Green ballot line in 1996.
Ralph Nader for President 2000
Lost election
Winona LaDuke
(Running mate)
Nader's vice presidential running mate was Winona LaDuke, an environmental activist and member of the Ojibwe tribe of Minnesota.
Nader appeared on the ballot in 43 states and DC, up from 22 in 1996. He received 2,882,955 votes, or 2.74 percent of the popular vote. His campaign did not attain the 5 percent required to qualify the Green Party for federally distributed public funding in the next election. The percentage did, however, enable the Green Party to achieve ballot status in new states such as Delaware and Maryland.[4]
Some analysts believe that had Nader and the Green Party not participated as a third-party in the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Al Gore would have won.[5][6][7] Even Nader's post-election analysis seems to confirm this theory.[8] However, when asked about this, Nader pointed to other factors and other ways Gore could have won,[9] as did his ally, Jim Hightower.[10]
Nomination process
On July 9, the Vermont Progressive Party nominated Nader, giving him ballot access in the state.[11] On August 12, the United Citizens Party of South Carolina chose Ralph Nader as its presidential nominee, giving him a ballot line in the state.
The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) organized the national nominating convention that took place in Denver, Colorado, in June 2000, at which Greens nominated Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke to be their parties` candidates for President and Vice President, and Nader presented his acceptance speech.[12][13]
Campaign issues
Nader campaigned against the pervasiveness of corporate power and spoke on the need for campaign finance reform. His campaign also addressed problems with the two party system, voter fraud, environmental justice, universal healthcare, affordable housing, free education including college, workers' rights and increasing the minimum wage to a living wage. He also focused on the three-strikes rule, exoneration for prisoners for drug related non-violent crimes, legalization of commercial hemp and marijuana (also known as cannabis),[14] and a shift in tax policies to place the burden more heavily on corporations than on the middle and lower classes. He opposed pollution credits and giveaways of publicly owned assets.[15]
Nader and many of his supporters believed that the Democratic Party had drifted too far to the right. Throughout the campaign, Nader noted he had no worries about taking votes from Al Gore. He stated, "Isn't that what candidates try to do to one another—take votes?"[16] Nader insisted that any failure to defeat Bush would be Gore's responsibility: "Al Gore thinks we're supposed to be helping him get elected. I've got news for Al Gore: If he can't beat the bumbling Texas governor with that terrible record, he ought to go back to Tennessee."[17]