The Command Post
2004 US Presidential Election
« al Jazeera to Cover Conventions | Main | Scare at Kerry Headquarters »
July 22, 2004
Nader | Nader sues to get on ballot in Texas

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Nader sues to get on ballot in Texas

Ralph Nader’s independent presidential campaign went to federal court Thursday in a fight to get the consumer activist on the Texas ballot for the November general election.

Nader’s campaign says Texas ballot access requirements for independent candidates are the toughest in the nation and unconstitutional, noting they are more stringent than those faced by third-party candidates.

“This involves First Amendment rights and fundamental freedoms,” attorney James C. Linger told U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel. The judge did not immediately rule on the case and suggested it would be a matter of days.

Nader was scheduled to be in Alaska and did not attend the hearing.



Posted by Laurence Simon at July 22, 2004 03:49 PM | TrackBack
Comments

And if Nader had been able to get on the ballot in TX, would he still have sued to get the rules changed?

That’s what I thought.

Posted by: gus3 [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 04:27 PM

Nader’s issue here is time. It takes years to get all this stuff handled in fifty different states. by entering late he’s struggling to meet some of the requirements. Since he can’t meet them, well they must be wrong.

The sad part is that some of them probably are wrong. There might just well be some de facto discrimination against “third party” candidates going on. but Nader isn’t championing that issue, as gus points out, he’s simply trying to do with lawyers what he neglected to do with a grass roots organization.

Posted by: skip [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 04:41 PM

skip: Yeah, kinda. My central thesis is that he knew the rules ahead of time, or at least should have after his 2000 campaign. Deciding the rules are wrong now, only shows his desperation. Just like Gore 2000.

Posted by: gus3 [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 05:14 PM

Well, I can’t stand the guy, but good for him for challenging these things. I can’t imagine why it’s so hard to get onto the ballot. It shouldn’t be.

But you’d think he knew the process. This is not the first time.

Maybe he’s just upset now because everyone’s ignoring him?

Posted by: Bostonian [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 05:17 PM

Wouldn’t you know, the one state I don’t care if he is on the ballot.

Posted by: rdelephant [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 05:54 PM

Lament for Ralphie — with acknowledgements to one of my favorite TX-ans, Don Meredith:

“Turn out the lights,
The party’s over….”

Save for the Republicans who are bravely seeking to keep him on the ballot, that is.

Posted by: Don [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 07:10 PM

Don: For once, I agree with you. Both sides tried it in 2000, the Dems with Pat Buchanan, the Elephants with Ralph Nader. IIRC, the Dems were more successful in pulling votes away from Bush.

Still, my original comment stands, but that pertains only to Nader himself.

He’s gotta understand that he’s at least partly a pawn for the Republicans against the Democrats. What goes through his head when that thought flashes by?

Posted by: gus3 [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 22, 2004 09:39 PM

I once had the personal displeasure of sitting across from Ralphie at dinner for several hours while he held forth on his world view.

A less interesting person I’ve Never met. And I’ve spent time with Spiro Agnew!

Ralph is not plagued with Self Doubt — ever.

So the problem never crosses his threshold.

Posted by: Don [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 23, 2004 01:15 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (Click here should you choose to sign out.)

As you post your comment, please mind our simple comment policy: we welcome all perspectives, but require that comments be both civil and respectful. We also ask that you avoid the extensive use of profanity, racist terms (neither of which we consider civil or respectful), and other boorish language.

We reserve the right to delete any comment, and to prohibit you from commenting on this site, if we feel you have broached this policy. As a courtesy, we will first send you an email noting a violation so you understand the boundaries. This will occur only once, however, and should we ban you from our comment forums we expect that ban to be permanent.

We also will frown upon those who suggest that we ban other individuals for voicing unpopular opinions, should those opinions be voiced in a civil and respectful manner. The point of our comment threads is to provide a forum for spirited though civil and respectful discourse … it is not to provide a forum in which everyone will agree with your point of view.

If you can live by these rules, welcome aboard. If not, then we’re sorry it didn’t work out, and thanks for visiting The Command Post.


Remember me?

(You may use HTML tags for style)