http://www.ralphnadir.com/
A Special Announcement from Ralph Nader:
I am suspending my campaign for the presidency in battleground states.
Thank you very much for visiting my website. And many, many thanks to the dozens of wonderful people who have supported my candidacy for the office of president in 2004. You've done fantastic work, and I'm very proud of you and of your association with my campaign.
In 2000, I posited that there was not a dime's difference between the two major party candidates, and I took a lot of heat for that. I've also gotten a lot of criticism for injecting myself into the campaign of 2004. There are those who say that if George W. Bush is reelected, and the votes I receive match his margin of victory, then I'm responsible for permanent damage done to our environment, our security, and our democracy. Up to now, I've resisted this argument vociferously, as have my supporters.
Well, folks, the scales have fallen from my eyes, as they say, I understand what so many of you have been passionately saying to me for months now, and I now realize that any complicity I may have in reelecting the Worst President in History will forever tarnish my name and my achievements - not to mention cause horrible consequences for the world and for the country we all cherish so much.
To the hundred of thousands of you who have sent emails, letters and voicemails urging me not to run, not to do this horrible deed, and to old friends like Michael Moore and Bill Maher, who literally begged me on bended knee to give it up, I say thank you. And I also say the four sweetest words in the English language: you're right; I'm wrong.
Today I am ceasing all campaign activity in battleground states, and I am urging my supporters in those states to vote for John Kerry, and to do anything and everything they can to encourage their friends and family to do the same. The issues are too important, and the health of our nation is too precarious, for us to waste our time and waste our votes on a marginal vanity candidate. We must and will support John Kerry for president.
Because the campaign apparatus is so slow, my local campaign offices may not be aware of my epiphany and my change in campaign strategy, so please direct any inquiries directly to me via this website, and not through my staff or office, especially in non-contested states, where we will continue to work to earn your votes.
UPDATE: 10-23-04
As many of you have noted, stories about my candidacy are still coming out in the media. This is happening for two reasons. First is the essential corruption of process caused by the corporate media. These entities exist only to sell advertising, not to serve the public's need to know, so they are extremely slow to absorb and disseminate new information. For proof of this check Iraq. It took the corporate media roughly 12 months to catch up with reality and go from their "Iraqis love beings free" story to the "Iraq is a hopeless mess" motif. This comes not only from laziness but from the profit motive; once the story has been written, it's both cheaper and easier to run with that rather than rewrite it to reflect the truth. Second, after spending most of the last five years proving that I can be just as stubborn as George W. Bush, I also have developed what you might call a case of institutional inertia, both with my staff and in my own activities. I'm so used to spouting my theme about Bush and Kerry being the same, that I can hardly stop myself sometimes, and I keep slinging this inane crap, even though, as I've said, the difference between the two major political parties is now as clear to me as the difference between one thousand dead American soldiers and one thousand live ones. So if you do read about me out campaigning in a battleground state, or stating the same-old-same-old about Bush and Kerry, please keep in mind the source. Either the corporate media is reporting it wrong, or my left brain has been popping off again without checking for clearance from my right brain.
Again, thanks very much for your support, your hard work, you understanding, and your love for your country. Now get out there and help President Kerry!
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