[Corporations] GREEN RELEASE Greens welcome Nader to the race, will back a Green nominee

[Ben Manski]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release
Sunday, February 22, 2004

Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,
nallen at acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty at greens.org


GREENS WELCOME RALPH NADER TO THE PRESIDENTIAL
RACE, LOOK FORWARD TO NOMINATING A GREEN
CANDIDATE


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Greens welcomed Ralph Nader's
entry into the presidential race today as an
independent, saying that Mr. Nader will take
positions and raise issues of vital urgency in
the 2004 race for the White House.

Greens noted that the Green Party of the United
States and its 43 affiliate state parties are
preparing to back a Green nominee, not an
independent or another party's candidate.

"In running a presidential ticket this year,
we're keeping our eyes on the prize.  Our
mid-term goal is the creation of a multi-party
political system, and the participation of a
strong Green Party in that system," said Ben
Manski, co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States. "To move closer to achieving our goal, we
run and support Green candidates."

The following candidates have confirmed their
participation in the Green primaries with the
national party: Sheila Bilyeau, Peter Camejo,
David Cobb, Paul Glover, Kent Mesplay, Carol
Miller, Lorna Salzman.  More information about
their campaigns, with links to their web sites,
is posted at
<http://www.gp.org/convention/process.html>.

Upcoming forums and debates featuring Green
presidential candidates are posted at
<http://www.gp.org/greensweek/index.html>, the
web page for Greensweek, the party's national
weekly bulletin.  (Scroll down to 'Upcoming
Events.')

Some Greens have launched a 'Redraft Nader'
campaign to persuade Mr. Nader to to reverse his
earlier decision to not seek the Green Party
nomination and instead accept a nomination at the
party's national convention in Milwaukee.  There
is also a campaign among some Green Party members
to urge the party not to run a national candidate
in 2004.

"We wish Ralph well and thank him for working
with us and supporting us all these years," said
Jo Chamberlain, also a co-chair of the national
Green Party.  "Our candidates -- and our eventual
nominee -- are campaigning on a platform similar
to his, so we don't consider ourselves in any
kind of public competition with him."

Greens stressed the importance of participation
by the Green Party's nominee, by Mr. Nader, and
by other 'third party' candidates in the
presidential debates.  The Green Party, Mr.
Nader, and other candidates and parties from
across the political spectrum have filed suit
charging the Federal Election Commission with
failing to act on their complaint seeking to
decertify the Commission on Presidential Debates
(CPD) as sponsor of the presidential debates in
2004 <http://www.gp.org/press/pr_02_11_04.html>.
The plaintiffs allege that the CPD must be
decertified because it is a partisan group that
is controlled by the two major parties and acts
to benefit them exclusively.

"The debates are owned and run by the Democratic
and Republican parties, through the Commission on
Presidential Debates [CPD]," said Jake Schneider,
treasurer of the Green Party of the United
States.  "The CPD has an interest in obstructing
all candidates who are outside of these two
parties, and in narrowing the public debate in
deference to the CPD's corporate sponsors.  This
is profoundly antidemocratic, and limits the
ability of voters to make informed choices.  We
need a nonpartisan debate commission that's free
of corporate influence, the kind of effort
currently being organized by the Citizens' Debate
Commission."

The Green Party of the United States formally
announced its 2004 National Nominating
Convention, to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
from June 23 to 28, 2004.  The convention will
take place at the Midwest Center, Milwaukee
Theater, and the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency.  The
party has posted an online registration page,
with early registration encouraged
<https://secure.gpus.org/convention/.  Media
representatives may register at this site; a
media credentialing web page will be posted
shortly.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party Presidential Nomination Convention &
Candidates
http://www.gp.org/convention/process.html
Media credentialing for the convention
http://www.gp.org/forms/media/

The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Citizens' Debate Commission
http://www.opendebates.org


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