Nader brings Green to I.C.

Local supporters are enthusiastic about the Green Party candidate's IMU appearance Friday.

By Chao Xiong/The Daily Iowan

Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader won't win the Nov. 7 general election. Members of UI Students for Nader know it, but they're optimistic that his visit to the UI Friday will raise students' political consciousness and ignite a revolution of democracy.

Nader will speak in the IMU Main Lounge at 6:30 p.m., further fueling the energy of student supporters who dip into their own pockets to finance Nader's presidential campaign locally, said Adam Sagert, a UI senior and member of Students for Nader. He himself has contributed $75 to Nader's campaign.

The main objective of Nader's visit is to gain support for the Green Party so it can gain ballot status locally and receive federal funding nationally, said UI graduate student Carolyn McConnell.

The party will receive ballot status and gain permission to register in Iowa if it receives
2 percent of the popular vote locally, said Holly Hart, the secretary of the Iowa City and Iowa Green parties. The party will receive federal funding for the 2004 presidential campaign and convention if it gains at least 5 percent of the popular vote nationally, she said.

"The point is to create a movement -- the potential to get a third party," said McConnell, a member of Students for Nader.

She first heard Nader speak on Oct. 18 at a rally protesting his exclusion from the presidential debate in St. Louis.

"(Nader) radiates integrity," she said. "He's a complete breath of fresh air after listening to Bush and Gore."

Nader's speech Friday and the following question-and-answer session will address such issues as a $10 minimum wage, the death penalty, gay and lesbian rights, corporate funding, free college tuition and full medical coverage for all Americans.

Nader will stop in Des Moines for a press conference prior to his appearance at the UI, then continue on to New York the next day. Several rallies are scheduled for the following week, said Stacy Malkan, the assistant press secretary for the Nader 2000 campaign.

"We've had some very large, successful rallies recently where we had 10,000 to 12,000 people come out," Malkan said. "We're going to take that energy to Iowa. Iowa is very important to us because we're going to be very strong there."

DI reporter Chao Xiong can be reached at:

chao-xiong@uiowa.edu