Supporters of independent/Reform Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader converged in Madison Tuesday in an attempt to include him on this year's presidential ballot in Wisconsin. Nader supporters said they have accumulated in excess of 4,000 signatures in support of their presidential candidate, but opposition has until Friday to challenge the validity of the signatures.
Democrats have accused Nader of costing Al Gore the 2000 election by garnering many would-be Democratic votes. With such a close presidential race in 2000, it is argued Gore may have won the election had Nader not been included on the ballot.
\When you look at the margin between Democrats and Republicans, one can assume a lot of the Nader vote would have gone to the Democrats, but more importantly, where Nader appeared [to campaign], the Democratic candidate had to go campaign there as well, when they might have been somewhere else,"" said UW-Madison political science professor Virginia Sapiro.
Although some voters believe Nader should not be on the ballot, many Nader supporters, including Kevin Zeese of the Nader for President 2004 campaign, say they believe Nader is the only logical choice for president.
According to Zeese, Nader is the only candidate actively pushing for withdrawal from Iraq, the only candidate calling for a crackdown on corporate welfare and the only candidate who is challenging corporate control of government.
""Ralph is the candidate for the people, all others are the candidates for the corporations,"" Zeese said.
When asked whether or not he thought Nader drew votes from Gore, Zeese stated, ""It's nonsense...Not every Democrat is going to vote for Kerry, not every Republican is going to vote for Bush, and not every independent is going to vote for Nader.""
Bill Linville, the Wisconsin campaign coordinator for Nader, said he believes they have more than the amount of signatures needed for Nader to be included on the presidential ballot, but is wary of efforts to discredit their success.
""Certain members of the Democratic party are using the law, looking for loopholes [to attempt to keep Nader off the ballot],"" Linville said.
Despite the fact Friday is the deadline for anyone to prove the signatures are invalid, Linville is optimistic.
""These are the things we're worried about, but we don't think they're going to have any basis to challenge us,"" he said.
