Ralph Nader

PROFILE

**Ralph Nader of Washington, DC**.
Current	Consumer advocate. Heads the Center for the Study of Responsive Law > and other groups. Writes the weekly column "In the Public Interest."
Career	In 1996, as the Green Party presidential nominee, obtained 685,128 votes (0.71 percent of the popular vote), finishing fourth. Ran a write-in "None of the Above" campaign for president in the 1992 New Hampshire primary. Founder of numerous groups including the Center for Auto Safety (1970) >; the Project on Corporate Responsibility; the Public Interest Research Group; the Aviation Consumer Action Project (1971) >; Public Citizen (1971) >; Essential Information (1982) >--publishes Multinational Monitor; the Taxpayer Assets Project (1988) >; the Congressional Accountability Project >; the Government Purchasing Project >; the Consumer Project on Technology >; the Institute for Civic Renewal (Oil City, Pennsylvania) >; the Oaks Project (California) >. Founded Center for the Study of Responsive Law in 1969. Moved to Washington, DC and worked on Unsafe at Any Speed, published in 1965. Lawyer in Hartford, Connecticut. Freelance writer.
Activities	Author, co-author or editor of a number of books including Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile (1965); with Wesley J. Smith, No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America (Random House, 1996).
Education	Princeton University, AB, 1955. Harvard Law School, LLB, 1958.
Age	Born Feb. 27, 1934 in Winsted, Connecticut, to Lebanese immigrants.

. . .

Winona LaDuke of the White Earth Reservation, MN.
Current	Mother of three children. Board co-chair for the Indigenous Women's Network. Program director for the Honor the Earth Fund. > Founding director (1989) of the White Earth Land Recovery Project. >
Career	In 1996 was the Green Party vice presidential nominee on the Nader ticket.
Activities	Author of All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life (South End Press, 1999) and Last Standing Woman (1997).
Education	Graduate of Harvard University, 1982.
Age	Born in Los Angeles, Calif. and grew up in Ashland, Oregon.

Readings
Ruth Conniff. "On the Road with Ralph Nader." The Nation, July 17, 2000. >

Michah L. Sifry. "Public Citizen No. 1." The Nation, Dec. 20, 1999. >

Kevin Graham. June 2000. RALPH NADER: BATTLING FOR DEMOCRACY. Denver, CO: Windom Publishing Company.

Linda Martin. June 2000. DRIVING MR. NADER: THE GREENS GROW UP. Raymond, ME: Leopold Press. >

Support-Organizations
Citizens for Strategic Voting Newspaper Ad (11/00)
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) (8/30/00)
AFSCME Local 1108 (8/00)
California Nurses Association (6/14/00)

Newspaper Endorsements (Alphabetical by State)

San Francisco Bay Guardian
L.A. Weekly (conditional) --10/27-11/2/00
Colorado Daily
Colorado Springs Independent --10/26/00
Aspen Times
Winsted Journal (CT)
Hartford Advocate (CT)
Westchester County Weekly (CT)
Lancaster Times (MA)
Clinton Courier (MA)
Worcester Magazine (MA) Detroit Metro Times --10/26/00
Michigan Citizen
Village Voice (NY) --11/1-11/7/00
Metroland (NY)
CITY (NY)
Cleveland Free Times --11/1-11/7/00
City Beat (OH, KY)
In Pittsburgh
Amery Free Press (WI)
Split Gore-Nader
The Austin Chronicle --11/3/00

Opposition

In the closing weeks of the campaign, a variety of progressives concerned that Nader might tip the election to Bush, urged people not to vote for Nader:
Gloria Steinem's "Top Ten Reasons Why I'm Not Voting for Nader (Any One of Which Would Be Enough)" - Oct. 2000
Concerned Scholars, Writers, Artists and Activists 2000 - late Oct. 2000
Nader's Raiders for Gore
"NARAL AD "Think" - Oct. 25, 2000
Letter by Seattle City Councilmembers Richard Conlin and Judy Nicastro - late Oct. 2000

Vote Trading

In October 2000, as concerns grew that Nader might tip the balance to Bush, several vote-trading websites were launched. These aimed to link up Nader supporters in swing states with friends and family in safe Bush states, so that Nader could achieve his 5 percent goal and at . One site, www.nadertrader.org, claimed 750,000 hits by Election Day, Nov. 7. Vote-trading made an interesting news story, but it is debatable whether it affected more than a small number of votes.

Campaign Finance

The Nader committee's year-end report showed total receipts of $8,724,928, including individual contributions of $7,139,166. Total disbursements were $8,528,274.
Darci Andresen, Nader 2000 fundraiser, provided a rough guess-timation of how the money was raised:
36% direct mail, 21% web, 10% super rallies, and 33% high donor fundraisers, personal calls from Nader, state-based fundraising (house parties, etc.), and other means. Perfect Pitch in New York did the campaign's direct mail. A total of 1,720,862 pieces of fundraising mail were dropped in mailings on June 19, July 28, Aug. 7, Sept. 13, Sept. 27, Oct. 15 and Oct. 18.

More

Between his candidacy announcement on Feb. 21 and the Greens' nominating convention June 24-25 Nader visited all 50 states.

Speeches
Election Night, National Press Club, Washington, DC   Nov. 7, 2000
Madison Square Garden Super-Rally, New York City   Oct. 13, 2000
ASGP Nomination Acceptance, Denver, CO   June 25, 2000
Announcement, Washington, DC    Feb. 21, 2000