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Nader faces uphill struggle in bid for Minnesota supporters
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
February 23, 2004

Ralph Nader announces his candidacy for president on Feb. 23, 2004. (CPAN)

Ralph Nader's entrance into the presidential race is sparking debate in Minnesota political circles. The consumer advocate will run as an independent, not on the Green Party ticket as he did in 2000. Members of the Independence and Green parties appear to be divided about Nader's candidacy. Many Democrats are upset about Nader's decision, worried he'll pull votes from the Democratic nominee, while some Republicans are happy to see Nader in the race.

St. Paul, Minn. — Ralph Nader got slightly more than 5 percent of the vote in Minnesota in 2000, which earned the Green Party major party status in the state. Now he says he'll run as an independent. He'll need to collect 2,000 signatures to get on the Minnesota ballot, a much lower threshold than in most other states. Or he could seek the Independence Party endorsement to get on the ballot, although the party's vice chairman, Jack Uldrich, says it would be an uphill battle.

"The Independence Party tends to be much more centrist in nature, and a lot of his positions on trade and economic policy tend to be quite progressive and even to the left of the DFL Party," he said.

At the same time, Uldrich says Nader's views on campaign finance reform and his support for instant runoff voting resonate with many Independence Party members.

Green Party members seem equally conflicted about Nader's candidacy. Party chair Nick Raleigh says some members want the party to move beyond a high-profile celebrity candidate, while others want the chance to vote for Nader again.

"I think there is probably a group of Greens that is disappointed that Nader chose not to seek the endorsement, and there may be a group of Greens even that doesn't really care how he approaches the campaign as long as he runs," according to Raleigh.

Raleigh says a committee is forming at the national level to try to draft Nader as a Green Party candidate, although he doesn't know of any Minnesotans involved in the effort.

Nader's running mate in 2000, Minnesotan Winona LaDuke, is supporting Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

One Nader supporter who says he's still standing by Nader -- whether he runs as a Green or independent -- is Ken Friberg, a St. Paul graphic designer. Friberg credits Nader with getting him to care about politics. Friberg says Nader is the only candidate who has worked to get big money out of the political system.

"He has the most integrity, he believes most in what my values are, I think he actually would be an effective leader, and I don't see that coming out of the Democratic Party," Friberg says.

Other Minnesotans who voted for Nader in 2000 say they won't vote for him this year. Several callers to Minnesota Public Radio's Midday program said they'll vote for the Democratic nominee in November.

"I voted for Nader last time around and felt great about that. I think this time around, I will not do so, but will vote for the Democratic alternative, not to take a vote away from Nader, but to try and advance a change in the White House," one said.

Many Democrats consider Nader a spoiler who took votes away from Democrat Al Gore in 2000, resulting in Republican George W. Bush's narrow victory. Some Republicans relish the thought of that happening again.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, one of the Minnesota co-chairs of Bush's re-election campaign, was pleased to hear about Nader's candidacy.

"I love it," he said. "And I don't say that because I agree with Ralph Nader's politics; I just think it's tremendous to give people more options and more choices, but also it tends to at least peel off a little bit of support that would otherwise go to Democrats, and I think Republicans candidly are probably pretty happy about that."

Nader has said he thinks he'll draw more independents and Republicans who would otherwise have voted for Bush than he'll pull from the Democratic candidate. Pawlenty says he doesn't know any Republicans who would vote for Nader.

Minneapolis adman Bill Hillsman, who developed Nader's advertising campaign in 2000, says he told Nader a couple of weeks ago that his campaign wouldn't work as an independent.

"It's this unholy coalition of progressives, some liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans and self-identified independents that he's talking about. That's fantasy land. I mean, you cannot get, you cannot create a coalition among that group of people. Because if you get some of those people, they're natural enemies of the other people in that coalition," he said.

Hillsman says Nader will have a tougher time raising money and getting on the ballot than he did four years ago. Hillsman says he tried to give Nader a reality check when they last spoke - but says Nader clearly didn't take his advice.

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