Nader Petitions Indiana, Michigan Voters

(Dearborn, MI) Having decided to run for the presidency, Ralph Nader has begun the prerequisite efforts necessary to be listed on state ballots in November. This past weekend, Nader met with supporters to organize and kick off petition drives to collect sufficient signatures from voters in Indiana and Michigan. More than 100 volunteers gathered at the Al-Ameer Restaurant on Warren in Dearborn to hear Nader and start the drive.

Michigan law requires Nader to collect 31,000 signatures in Michigan by June 15 to make the November ballot. His team wants 40,000 -- a safeguard in case some are tossed out during the validation process.

"Michigan is one of the toughest states to get on the ballot," Nader said.

Nader discussed why he is running for president again and summed it up by stating, "I don't trust the Democrats to be able to win." In 2000, he garnered less than three percent of the vote. Surprisingly, national polls currently rate his popularity among voters between four and six percent, but Nader expresses no confidence that the numbers will hold up until the election. He may be undecided about whether the Democrats will win, but he seems pretty sure he won't.

And, the one thing that remains somewhat constant is his general political platform.

Nader takes no money from corporations. He favors taxing the richest Americans, raising the minimum wage and providing a public program to increase jobs. His central theme, though, is that voters are being misled into supporting an unconstitutional war in Iraq founded on deceit and fabrications.

Since Nader is presenting the same, tired leftist option to the voters that has been consistently defeated in national elections, and since Nader doesn't think he has a chance of winning, it's hard to assess exactly what he's trying to accomplish.