Letter from Ralph Nader to the Green Party of the United States.

AuthorNader, Ralph
PositionThinking Politically

[This letter was addressed to the Steering Committee of the US Green Party and the Presidential Exploratory Committee of the Green Party.]

I am writing to withdraw my name from consideration as a potential nominee for the Green Party presidential ticket in 2004.

I write this with regret because of my support for your platform and civic activities, because of our shared political history and because of the numerous efforts I have made, over the years since 1996, to help grassroots Greens build the Party. Since running as your nominee in 2000 through all 50 states--from the disenfranchised Anacostia in Washington, DC, to corporate-dominated Alaska, from downtown Hartford to the pilot industrial hemp field of Hawaii (not to mention those states where we had to help build the party from scratch)--I have met with Greens from around the country and the world, scheduled and completed more than 45 fundraisers in some 30 states, assisted in starting the Campus Greens and supported more than a few state and local Green candidates.

I remain a registered Independent. But my efforts to build the Green Party and my public contributions on issues of importance to Greens can be compared favorably with those who wear their Green Party registrations as some badge of bona fides. More recently, as part of my exploratory effort, I have met or spoken with Greens from all over the country in extensive conversations, heard from even more through sign-on letters, Kucinich supporters, Greens for Dean, state and local Green groups, newspaper and magazine accounts, including the Green Pages and Green Horizon, etc., all of which illustrate how the reaction to George W. Bush has fractured more than galvanized the Greens as a Party. Most individuals have the best intentions, and there are people who have now dedicated years to helping build the Greens.

However, many of the communications I have received express volumes about the maturity of the Greens as a political party. Although its growth has been slower than many of us would like, the Green Party at least remains poised to respond to the voters' desire for a third party. The failure of the two major parties both to engage 100 million nonvoters and to provide existing voters with choices over a broad range of important issues has been a continual reality for Greens. With this in mind, uncertainty expressed by the Party's leadership regarding the conditions under which the Party may or may not field presidential and...

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