Perennial independent
presidential candidate
Ralph Nader is coming to Maine tomorrow, as part of a
three-day swing through New England.
He'll start the day
with a rally at Walkers Point in Kennebunkport, calling for President Bush to resign, and
for Congress to impeach him.
Then there will be a
fund-raiser at the nearby farm of Laurie Dobson (tickets start at $100). How
much support he'll get is anyone's guess — Dobson was trying to run as an
independent candidate for the US Senate, but couldn't get the 4000 signatures
required to be approved for a spot on the November ballot by the Maine
Secretary of State, according to this list (PDF), which her name is not on. (Independent Herb Hoffman did qualify.)
Nader will swing up to
Portland next, for a news conference at 7 pm at the First Parish Church, 425
Congress Street., followed by a rally for his campaign — tickets will be $10
for that.
On Friday, he'll be
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, followed by appearances in Rhode Island and
Connecticut on Saturday.
Nader and his running
mate, San Francisco activist Matt Gonzalez, say they are addressing issues the
"corporate" candidates — including George Bush III (er, that's John
McCain) and PAC-money-refusing Barack Obama — won't take on:
-Total military and
corporate withdrawal from Iraq;
-A single-payer
"Canadian-style" health care system with private companies providing
care paid for out of the public purse;
-Requiring employers
to pay a "living wage;"
-Repeal of the
1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which restricts political and publicity-seeking actions by
labor unions;
-Rejection of nuclear
power, instead basing our energy policy on solar energy;
-Instituting a carbon
tax;
-Repealing the USA
PATRIOT Act;
-The vague but
sweeping demand for "an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime
that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered
tax dollars;" and
-The even more vague
and even more sweeping insistence on a "more direct democracy."
Should be an interesting trip.
