2008 VOTES FOR PRESIDENT

Top 4 Minor Candidates
(updated November 6, 2008: 99% Precincts Reporting Nationwide)

Nader (Independent) - 671,308
Barr (Libertarian Party) - 496,196
Baldwin (Constitution Party) - 178,741
McKinney (Gren Party) - 145,415

Use the above link for Other Presidential Candidates.

Michael H. Drucker
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C-SPAN to Cover Nader-McKinney-Baldwin Debate

UPDATE:
On October 21, a presidential debate for candidates who are on the ballot in states containing a majority of the electoral vote was announced. It will be Thursday evening, October 23, 9 pm thru 10:30 pm, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. It is likely that C-SPAN will cover it, since both Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin have said they will participate.
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C-SPAN will broadcast the October 19 debate between Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, and Chuck Baldwin, although it is not yet known if it will be broadcast live. The debate will be Sunday evening, October 19, at Columbia University in New York city. The moderator will be Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio. It is possible that Pacifica Radio will also broadcast it. The debate is sponsored by Free and Equal Elections.

Bob Barr declined to participate because he is scheduled to speak somewhere else that evening. According to this MSNBC story of October 14, he will be campaigning at colleges in Ohio and Virginia during the period October 14-23.

Free & Equal Elections Coalition (FREE) is a coalition of political parties, independent citizens and civic organizations formed to promote free and equal elections in the United States.

Use the above link to go to the FREE site.

Michael H. Drucker
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Open The Debates

While Obama and McCain squabble about whether to participate in the two party-controlled CPD debate this Friday, the campaign to Let Ralph Debate continues. Since the national media will cover every minor detail of the Obama/McCain squabble, grassroots support is needed to help get out a message of opening up the debates.

If you are interested in Ralph Nader's efforts to open the debates, use the above link.

Michael H. Drucker
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Who's Undecided?

In this election year I always thought the pollsters were missing the third-party/independent vote. Last night a CNN pollster proved my point.

In FL the poll showed Obama & McCain at 46% and 8% Undecided. But when the voters were given a bigger choice the vote was:

Obama - 48%
McCain - 45%
Nader - 4%
Barr - 1%
McKinney - 1%
Undecided - 1%

First it seems McCain is the loser this year to the Third-Party/Independent Candidates in FL. Second the voters are not as Undecided as some think. But I still can not explain why Obama gained.

Some other states - Registered Voters:

COLORADO
Obama - 42%
McCain - 43%
Barr - 3%
McKinney - 2%
Nader - 7%
Undecided - 3%

NEVADA
Obama - 41%
McCain - 41%
Barr - 5%
McKinney - 3%
Nader - 6%
Undecided - 4%

NEW MEXICO
Obama - 50%
McCain - 36%
Nader - 8%
Undecided - 6%

PENNSYLVANIA
Obama - 47%
McCain - 38%
Barr - 1%
Nader - 7%
Undecided - 7%

Do you think I am on to something?

Michael H. Drucker
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Ron Paul urges third-party vote

Texas Congressman Ron Paul is to urge voters to reject Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain and vote for a third-party US candidate instead.

Dr Paul, who dropped his own bid for the Republican nomination earlier this year, has a big internet following. He is backing independent Ralph Nader, Libertarian Bob Barr, Constitution Party contender Chuck Baldwin and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman for Georgia.

"The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two-party system," he will tell a Washington news conference. "This can be accomplished by voting for one of the non-establishment, principled candidates."

According to an advance copy of Dr Paul's remarks, he will say the mainstream parties have no major differences on important issues, such as balancing the budget and civil liberties.

Mr Nader is quoted by the Associated Press as saying the gathering of third-party candidates would "raise the eyebrows" of commentators sceptical about their chances in November's presidential election. "This is the beginning of the realignment of American politics," he told the AP.

There was one empty chair next to the other candidates, set aside for former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia. Barr is the Libertarian Party's candidate, and he decided to hold his own conference immediately after the unity event.

Barr told the audience at his press conference, "I'm not interested in third parties getting the most possible votes. I'm interested in Bob Barr as the nominee for the Libertarian Party getting the most possible votes."

Michael H. Drucker
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Open the 2008 Debates

2008 Presidential candidate Ralph Nader hosted an Open the Debates rally during the Republican National Convention in Minnesota on September 4, 2008. In this highlight reel you can see excerpts of speeches by Ralph Nader, his VP Candidate Matt Gonzalez, and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura talking about open debates and how they impact elections. It also features a musical performance by 98 Degrees' Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons.

Michael H. Drucker
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Reasons to Vote for a Candidate

This is not my endorsement of any candidate. This video is Ashley Sanders endorsing Ralph Nader. The introduction by Ashley gave one of the most eloquent and thought provoking reasons to vote for a candidate.


Michael H. Drucker
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Open the Presidential Debates

Listen to Ralph Nader talk about Open Debates:



Michael H. Drucker
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IPNY Still to Pick Presidential Candidate

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this one:

"The New York Independence Party has a tradition of choosing its presidential nominee at the last possible moment. In 2000, it chose John Hagelin on September 24. In 2004, it chose Ralph Nader on September 26.

State chair Frank MacKay says this tradition will continue this year. The most likely date for the party to choose its presidential candidate is September 21, a Sunday.

New York state is able to cope with late decisions because it uses mechanical voting machines. One advantage of mechanical voting machines is that they can be easily and quickly set up. Elections officials don’t need to print entire ballots; they merely must print up narrow strips of paper which are inserted into the right slots on the face of the machines. However, New York will be giving up its mechanical voting machines after the November 2008 election, since the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) outlawed them."

Michael H. Drucker
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Nader Launches Presidential Bid

Ralph Nader today threw his hat into the 2008 Presidential ring. Nader announced his candidacy on NBC’s Meet the Press with Tim Russert.

I worked on his last campaign. But I think he would be a better advisor for organizing the new youth of the Obama wave in the issues of the 21st Century.

Use the above link for his website.

Michael H. Drucker
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Three Nader Ballot Access Cases from 2004 Are Still Alive

Three constitutional ballot access lawsuits filed by Ralph Nader in 2004 are still pending, in addition to his lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee for conspiring to keep him off as many ballots in 2004 as possible.

Nader’s Hawaii case will have a hearing in U.S. District Court on January 28, 2008. It challenges the practice of requiring an independent presidential candidate to obtain six times as many signatures as an entire new political party. It also challenges a lack of due process when Hawaii checks signatures on petitions.

His Ohio case is pending in the 6th circuit. It is Nader v Blackwell, and argues that past Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell should be held personally liable for permitting initiative petitions to be circulated by any adult, yet at the same time requiring independent candidate petitions to be circulated only by people who had been registered voters in an Ohio precinct for the previous 30 days. At the time, the law had identical requirements for initiative circulators and independent candidate circulators, yet Blackwell relaxed the law for initiatives, and not for Nader. It was obvious at the time that the law was unconstitutional, since in 1999 the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that states cannot force circulators to be registered voters.

Nader’s case against Arizona is pending in the 9th circuit. The oral argument will be in March, 2008, at the earliest. It challenges the early June independent presidential petition deadline (the 2nd earliest in the nation, after Texas’ deadline). It also challenges Arizona’s law that only in-state residents can circulate for an independent presidential candidate.

During this campaign I worked his book signing and fund raising at his Cooper Union speech in NY.

Michael H. Drucker
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