Ralph Nader's running mate in two past presidential elections said she plans to cast her ballot in November for Democrat John Kerry.
"I'm voting my conscience on November 2 -- I'm voting for John Kerry," Native American activist Winona LaDuke wrote in comments published this past week in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"John Kerry provides promise for Native America and for America," said LaDuke, who lives on White Earth Reservation in the northern prairie state of Minnesota.
"His policy proposals involve vision -- like alternative energy, more accessible health care, and funding all those children who have been left behind by the (George W.) Bush administration."
http://breaking-news.news.designerz.com/nader-ex-running-mate-endorses-kerry.html
"I am voting for John Kerry this November. I love this land, and I know that we need to make drastic changes in Washington if we are going to protect our land and our communities."
"I'm voting my conscience on Nov. 2; I'm voting for John Kerry."
"He wants to move federal policies to support Native communities, whether Native farmers, businesspeople or tribal governments. We are on his radar; this is a beginning. Kerry offers other reasons for hope. He opposes converting Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste dump."
"By Nov. 2, 2004, John Kerry will have earned my vote."
NADER IS AS FRAUDULENT AS THE REPUBLICANS WHO FUND HIM:
Judge Called Nader Petitions "Deceitful and Fraudulent"
"President Judge James Gardner Colins said that only 18,818 of the 51,273 voter signatures that Nader submitted to get
on the ballot were valid - and that his petition was ‘the most deceitful and fraudulent exercise ever perpetrated on this court.'" [Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/14/04]
"Judge Colins said the conduct of the Nader campaign 'shocks the conscience of the court.' He said, 'In reviewing signatures, it became
apparent that in addition to signing names such as Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone, John Kerry and the ubiquitous Ralph Nader, there were
thousands of names that were created at random and then randomly assigned either existent or nonexistent addresses by the circulators.'" [New York Times, 10/14//04]
Mickey Mouse and Fred Flintstone Signatures Appeared on Nader Petitions
"A state court knocked Ralph Nader off Pennsylvania's presidential ballot on Wednesday, citing thousands of fraudulent signatures including
‘Mickey Mouse' and ‘Fred Flintstone.' [Times Leader, 10/14/04]
http://www.democrats.org/news/200410140006.html
NADER 2000 COMMITTEE FOR KERRY:
We, the undersigned, were selected by Ralph Nader to be members of his 113-person national "Nader 2000 Citizens Committee." This year, we urge support for Kerry/Edwards in all swing states, even while we disagree with Kerry's policies on Iraq and other issues. For people seeking progressive social change in the United States, removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority in the 2004 presidential election. Progressive votes for John Kerry in swing states may prove decisive in attaining this vital goal.
David Barsamian, Author, Radio Interviewer
Juliette Beck, California Citizens for Fair Trade
Herbert Bernstein, Professor of Physics at Hampshire College
Thomas Berry, Author, Dream of the Earth
Wendell Berry, Farmer and Writer
Norman Birnbaum, Author and Educator
Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Activist and Writer
Blase Bonpane, Office of the Americas
Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas
Eric Brakken, Former Staffer, United Students Against Sweatshops
Ira Byock, Palliative Care Physician, Author of Dying Well
Edgar Cahn, Founder of Time Banking
John Cavanagh, Director of Institute for Policy Studies
Noam Chomsky, Author and Professor at MIT
Steve Cobble, Strategist, Jackson '88, Nader '00, Kucinich '04
Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry's
Peter Coyote, Actor and Writer
Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association
Herman Daly, Professor at University of Maryland
Iris DeMent, Musician/Songwriter
Phil Donahue, Former Talk Show Host
Mark Dowie, Journalist, Former Editor/Publisher of Mother Jones
Barbara Dudley, Former President, Greenpeace and National Lawyers Guild
Ronnie Dugger, Co-founder of Alliance for Democracy
Troy Duster, Professor at New York University
Barbara Ehrenreich, Political Essayist and Social Critic
Richard Falk, Center of International Studies, Princeton University
Jim Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer
Rebecca Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer
Doris (Granny D) Haddock, Senate Candidate, Reform Activist
Paul Hawken, Author, Economist
Randy Hayes, Founder, Rainforest Action Network and Director of Sustainability, City of Oakland
Jim Hightower, Author and Commentator
Wes Jackson, The Land Institute
David Kairys, Law Professor at Temple University and Author
Ynestra King, Ecofeminist Writer/Activist
John Kinsman, Family Farm Defenders
Philip M. Klasky, Co-director, Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition
David Korten, Author of When Corporations Rule the World
Frances Korten, Director of Positive Futures Network
Saul Landau, California State Polytechnic University
Rabbi Michael Lerner, The Tikkun Community
Theodore Lowi, Political Scientist, Author
Howard Lyman, Former Rancher, Vegetarian Activist
Joanna Macy, Author and Scholar
Jerry Mander, President of International Forum on Globalization
Manning Marable, Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia
Redwood Mary, Plight of the Redwoods Campaign
Robert McChesney, Professor, University of Illinois
Carolyn Merchant, Professor of Environmental History, University of California-Berkeley
Peter Montague, Environmental Research Foundation
Gus Newport, Former Mayor of Berkeley, California
Ruth Ozeki, Novelist
Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York
Bonnie Raitt, Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
Sheldon Rampton, Co-author of Banana Republicans
Marcus Raskin, Author
Tim Robbins
Vicki Robin, New Road Map Foundation
Susan Sarandon, Actor and Activist
John Schaeffer, Founder of Real Goods Trading Company
Michelle Shocked, Musician
John Stauber, Co-author of Banana Republicans
Andrew Strauss, Professor at Widener University School of Law
Charlotte Talberth, Max and Anna Levinson Foundation
Meredith Tax, Writer and Human Rights Activist
Studs Terkel, Author, Oral Historian
Tom Tomorrow, Cartoonist
Sarah van Gelder, Editor of YES! Magazine
Eddie Vedder, Musician, Pearl Jam
Harvey Wasserman, Author of Harvey Wasserman's History of the US
Cornel West, Professor, Author of Democracy Matters
Sheldon Wolin, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
Howard Zinn, Historian and Author
Other prominent Nader 2000 supporters endorsing this statement:
Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
Jackson Browne
Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry's Co-founder
Bob Harris, Author
Hazel Henderson, Economist and Author
Norman Solomon, Columnist
http://vote2stopbush.org
QUOTES:
NOAM CHOMSKY
"...there are differences (between Kerry and Bush). In a system of immense power, small differences can translate into large outcomes."
- 2004
"Anyone who says 'I don't care if Bush gets elected' is basically telling poor and working people in the country, 'I don't care if your lives are destroyed. I don't care whether you are going to have a little money to help your disabled mother. I just don't care, because from my elevated point of view I don't see much difference between them.' That's a way of saying, 'Pay no attention to me, because I don't care about you.' Apart from its being wrong, it's a recipe for disaster if you're hoping to ever develop a popular movement and a political alternative."
- June 11, 2004
NORMAN SOLOMON
"A 2004 strategy that focuses on voting Bush out should not mean the left folds into the Democratic Party. Progressives ought to be clear about what's wrong with the party's nominee and platform while acting on the dire need to rid the world of President Bush."
- activist, syndicated columnist, author, "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You"
"Like it or not, in 2004 the only candidate who can serve as an electoral tool for ousting Bush from the White House will be the Democratic nominee. The imperative of dislodging him requires that we build a broad coalition to vote Bush out."
- January 2004, Tompaine.com
MICHAEL PARENTI
"I believe we are at a pivotal point...and there are times when you have to pursue coalition politics against the forces like the kind we're facing in the White House today."
- Democracy Now! February 23, 2004, Professor, Author, Democracy for the Few
"These guys (Bush administration) are playing for keeps. They're breaking every rule in the book. They carry out role call votes where they'll hold a vote open for 15 hours to shift it over to their way. They're redoing census and gerrymandering in states at any time they want. They're stealing elections. So, we're really facing a...very dangerous enemy. And I think Ralph's presence...is not what we need right now."
- Democracy Now! February 23, 2004
JIM HIGHTOWER
"But all of that aside, now we face the reality of an Administration that is absolutely nutty. There's that old country song, "It felt so good when it stopped hurting." So we've got to stop the pain. But in doing so, we should not fool ourselves that we have gained some progressive victory. What we will have done is to get us back to a ground level where we can build again for a progressive victory that is several years down the road."
- November, 2003
BARBARA LEE
"As a progressive, I have frequently agreed with Ralph Nader's agenda. But all Americans, and especially communities of color, stand to lose too much under four more years of the right wing Bush administration..."
- House of Representatives (D-Calif.)
MICHAEL MOORE
"There are times to vote to make a statement, there are times to vote for the underdog and there are times to vote to save the country from catastrophe. This time we can and must do all three."
- filmmaker, author
GREEN PARTY LEADERS
DAVID COBB "(I will) honestly tell the American people that George W. Bush is even more dangerous than John Kerry."
- Green Party candidate for President
MEDEA BENJAMIN "I love and appreciate him [Ralph Nader], but I definitely want to get Bush out of office, so I won't vote for him, which would be a first for me."
- former Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, 2000
TED GLICK
"By running this kind of campaign in the 25-35 or so almost-certain 'safe states,' the Greens cannot be accused, at least accused in good faith, of just being spoilers out to deny the Democrats the Presidency. Indeed, by running such a campaign, the Greens and their Presidential candidate are saying in no uncertain terms that although both the Republicans and Democrats are problematic, the Bushites represent such a particular danger right now that we have modified our campaign accordingly."
- fomer Green Party candidate for Senate, New Jersey, Author,Future Hope: A Winning Strategy for a Just Society
ABE GUTMANN
"Many Democrats strive for the same issues we do: environmental responsibility through conversion to non-polluting alternative fuels, a living wage, universal healthcare, and fair trade. They, like us, aren't satisfied with mushy policies designed to appease a small swing vote demographic. Therefore, our goals are beating Bush, growing the Green Party, and creating a progressive agenda and unified movement to implement it once he's out and Kerry's in."
- former State Chairman and US Senate Candidate, New Mexico Green Party
ROBERT MCCHESNEY
"Running a presidential candidate in 2004 for the Greens is probably a quantum leap off a cliff. It is the Greens' Jonestown."
- co-editor of the Monthly Review and president of professors' council of the US Campus Greens
JOEL KOVEL
"To the extent that Nader succeeds, so does Bush. And in any case, the left will emerge weaker and more divided from this Quixotic escapade. Once again the left has become its own worst enemy."
"Tens of millions of people, including a lot of radicals, believe that Bush's men are moving to rip up the Constitution and fundamentally restructure the American republic to destroy the slim chance of democratic renewal upon which green electoral politics, along with much else, rests."
- former Senate candidate, Green Party
DAVID SEGAL
"As an elected official in an urban center, I feel an obligation to ensure Bush's defeat because his domestic agenda is so terribly destructive. I owe that to my constituents."
- City Council member; Providence, Rhode Island
OTHER PROGRESSIVE LEADERS
JEFF COHEN
"Kerry vs. Bush is not Coke vs. Pepsi. It's more like Coke vs. Arsenic. The Bush/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft regime is more dangerous than the regimes of Nixon/Kissinger/Mitchell or Reagan/Weinberger/Meese. Despite dissatisfaction with some of Kerry's rhetoric and platform, progressives should mobilize to defeat Bush in '04 and stay mobilized in '05 and after to ensure that our agenda is heard and addressed by the Kerry administration that we help elect."
- author/commentator, April 2004
CHALMERS JOHNSON
"I intend to vote for Kerry because I believe he is the only electable politician in America who might, like Zapatero in Spain, pay attention to public opinion. If we can demonstrate that a majority of the American people want peace, I believe that John Kerry will heed the call."
"For those even slightly interested in human rights, a Kerry victory is indispensable."
- author, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire
DENNIS J. KUCINICH
"The time has come to unite in a common effort for change which is essential not only for America but for the world. " - July 22, 2004
"I will let them [Kerry-Edwards] know that the time has come to unite in a common effort for change which is essential not only for America but for the world." "Unity is essential to bring change in November. Unity is essential to repair America. Unity is essential to set America on a new path." - July 22, 2004
"If there is room for me in the party and the Kerry-Edwards campaign, there is certainly room for Ralph and for his supporters. Let's unite to create a new government, a new direction, a new opportunity, and new progress."
- Congressman, Ohio - 10th Congressional District (D); chairman - Congressional Progressive Caucus
LAWRENCE LESSING
"This is obviously depressing to folks like me who, while admirers of the good that Nader did in the world, and admirers of more of his policies than the other candidates in the race, believe the consequence of his being in this race will simple be to increase the probability that President Bush will have a second term."
- professor, Stanford Law School
EDWARD HERMAN
"The view that we should purposely allow Bush to win so that the coming disaster will fall on his head is not defensible. The disaster is not inevitable if he is ousted, but a nasty one is pretty well assured with four more years of the cabal. Some of them really want what we would consider a disaster (including a de facto termination of constitutional government in this country)."
- Professor Emeritus at the Wharton School, Author
BERNIE SANDERS
"But at this particular moment, a moderate Democrat is a far better alternative than an extreme right-wing Bush administration."
- U.S. Congress (VT - Independent)
JOHN SCHAEFFER
"Bush is so bad. The political landscape has changed. It's just not the same game anymore."
- renewable energy entrepreneur, founder, Real Goods Trading Co.
DOUG HENWOOD
"After 1,200 days of the George W. Bush presidency, it's difficult to say there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties."
- Left Business Observer
MICHAEL LEON
"I voted for a socialist for president in 1992 and for Ralph Nader in 1996 and 2000. But Bush simply needs to be gone."
- writer, OpEdNews.com
AMANDA GRISCOM
"Rifle through the archives of the League of Conservation Voters, and you'll find he gets an A+ - literally. Kerry has a 96-percent lifetime voting record, outscoring all of the other candidates. Despite concerns that Kerry is a limousine liberal, there seem to be few contradictions between his environmental image and his track record."
- Grist Magazine
DEB CALLAHAN
"John Kerry is the candidate to defeat President Bush, who has compiled the worst environmental record in the history of our nation."
- President of the League of Conservation Voters
http://changein04.com/kerryRecord/qOnKerry.php
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