Presidential candidate picks Green running mate
Ralph Nader, who announced this week he will run again for President, has chosen former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez as his running mate.
Texas-born Gonzalez ran for mayor of San Francisco in 2003 as a Green Party candidate, but lost to Gavin Newsom.
“I want someone who shares my sense of justice and opposition to corporate state control over our society,” Nader said of Gonzalez in a press conference on Thursday.
Nader stated that Gonzalez is “unwavering in his principles and committed to his politics with clear eloquence and humane logic.”
“He’s demonstrated, through his legal, civic, and political career, his steadfast commitment to the values and directions that have characterised my work and hopes for our country and its role in the world,” Nader said.
“He’s a beautiful writer, he’s an artist, he’s a man for all seasons and he’s got a great political future.”
Gonzalez, a former public defender, served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2000 to 2005; the first Green Party candidate elected to the board.
He had previously ran for district attorney in 1999 and lost.
Gonzalez also ran in the mayoral race in San Francisco in 2003, but was beaten by Gavin Newsom in that race 53 percent to 47 percent, according to CBSNews.com.
In accepting the position as Nader’s Vice Presidential running mate, Gonzalez said:
“I have no illusions about what is happening here today. I understand what stands before us.
“But let me also say, I have never run in a political contest with the idea that it couldn’t be won.”
“There are those that are going to say that what we doing is going to take votes from other candidates,” Gonzalez added.
“There is nothing that we can do that can force anybody to vote for us but we very much want the opposite not to be true.
“That anybody who wants to vote for us should not be forced to vote for other candidates.”
“Ralph Nader is going to run whether I join him or not,” Gonzalez said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“But if I’m his running mate, then I can put at the forefront election issues, election reforms that I worked on in San Francisco.
“I think that can have an impact on the race.”
Nader and Gonzalez will speak together at George Washington University this evening.
Although both have previously run for office under the umbrella of the Green Party, Nader formally announced they will not be seeking the Green Party nomination in the 2008 Presidential race.
The Green Party currently already has four announced candidates.
Nader and Gonzalez will most likely run as pure Independents, unassociated with any particular party.
Ann Turner © 2008 GayWired.com; All Rights Reserved.
