Gateway Green Alliance/Green Party of St. Louis
The letter below was in the today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch (p. B6, letters@postnet.com).
A lot of people tell me that they would like to help with the Nader campaign but they need something they can do from home and have limited time. One of the best things to do is write a Letter to the Editor to a local paper. They are very widely read and offer one of the best ways to get our message out for the lowest cost.
August 24, 2000
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Third-party candidates want fair treatment
The celebration over the fact that Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke will be on the ballot in Missouri was marred by the announcement that the names of two other Green Party candidates will not be there.
Secretary of State Bekki Cook (a Democrat) refused to certify Mary Ann McGivern of the Green Party as a candidate for attorney general on the basis that she is not a lawyer. But there is no statute in Missouri requiring the attorney general to be a lawyer. Many people who oversee the work of lawyers are not themselves lawyers. It is an abuse of power for a Democratic politician to tell Missouri voters that they should not have the right to choose a Green Party candidate because of a nonexistent rule.
Continuing to grasp at the straws of exclusion, Cook disqualified Green Party candidate Frank Eller from running for the Missouri House in the 87th District on the basis that his declaration of candidacy did not specify his district number. However, his certification of candidacy accompanying the declaration did specify his district number.
Meanwhile the Democratic members of the presidential debate committee are doing everything they can to keep Ralph Nader out of the debates. Clearly, the Democratic Party is terrified that Nader could do at the national level what participation in debates did for Jesse Ventura at the Minnesota level.
Perhaps it's time for the Democratic Party to get a dictionary and look up the word "democratic."
Don Fitz
Eastern Missouri Coordinator
Nader for President Campaign
St. Louis
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