{news} Nader, CT Greens in Stamford Times

[David Bedell]

This was in the Norwalk Hour and the Stamford Times.  Remy Chevalier, quoted in the article, is campaign manager for Richard Duffee for Congress (http://www.richardduffee.com ).

http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/stamford_templates/stamford_story/298454881238041.php

State Greens hope to get Nader back

By JARED NEWMAN
jnewman@ thestamfordtimes.com

Following Ralph Nader's announcement that he will run for president in 2008, two Green Party leaders from Connecticut are hoping he will return to the party this year.

"Go Ralph, go," said Mike DeRosa, co-chairman of the Connecticut Green party. He believes that Nader will seek the party's nomination.

"I assume that he's going to come to the convention and I assume he's going to vie for our votes," DeRosa said.

Nader ran for president with the Green Party in 1996 and 2000. Democrats have blamed him for drawing votes away from Vice President Al Gore, leading to a narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000.

The accusation caused a rift in the Green Party, leading to the nomination of a different candidate, Texas attorney David Cobb, in 2004. Nader ran as an independent.

This time around, some Green Party members are looking to get Nader back. A group called the Draft Nader Committee put together an online petition to encourage Nader to align with the party. DeRosa, who lives in Wethersfield, is among those who signed it.

"We're looking forward to raising questions about the war and the economy, and fundamental questions about the future of our country ... and I think Ralph is probably the best person to present those issues," DeRosa said.

Clifford Thornton, a national and state party co-chairman, would also like Nader to join the Green Party, though he's not as optimistic as DeRosa.

"I think it's good that (Nader is) doing this, and I'd like to see him run on the Green Party ticket, but I don't think he will," Thornton said.

Ideally, Thornton hopes Nader and Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman and current Green Party front-runner among those who are actively seeking the nomination, will run on the same ticket. He said they appeal to different bases — McKinney to young people and minorities and Nader to those who remember his early bids for the presidency.

"That will make the Green Party bid much stronger," Thornton said.

Connecticut does not allow minor parties to participate in the primaries, so the state's 1,800 registered Green Party members will receive nomination ballots in late March, DeRosa said. While some states chose not to include Nader on the ballot because he is only a draft candidate, DeRosa said party members in Connecticut will be able to vote for Nader.

In California, where Green party members were allowed to chose their candidate on primary day, Nader defeated McKinney 61 percent to 26 percent.

The Connecticut Green Party will divvy up delegates on April 26, DeRosa said. The national party convention will be held in Chicago on July 6.

Remy Chevalier, a Green Party member from Weston, hoped Nader would return to scrutinizing the automotive industry, as he did in the 1960s, this time advocating alternative fuel sources. It should be a platform in Nader's campaign, Chevalier said.

"What I want to see Nader do is to get back to the automotive industry," he said, "and right now it's where he might actually be the most useful to everyone."
_________________________________________________________________
Climb to the top of the charts! Play the word scramble challenge with star power.
http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_jan