Politics

Nader: I'll Sue Debate Commission

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 5, 2000 / 8:31 AM EDT / CBS

It’s not an enviable position to be in, but the Commission on Presidential debates could soon find itself on the business end of a Ralph Nader lawsuit.

Speaking in New London, Conn., Wednesday night, the Green Party presidential candidate demanded an apology from the commission. He said he wants the group to donate $25,000 to the Harvard Law School's clinic for electoral reform “or I'll pursue my legal remedies in court.”

Nader, who has enjoyed a bounce in some polls this week, repeated the threat to sue while speaking before a crowd of about 1,200 people at Yale University in New Haven Wednesday night.

Nader Polls Better

A Reuters/Zogby survey, released Thursday, showed what pollster John Zogby called a "surge" of support for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, which could affect the neck-and-neck presidential race in battleground states.

Nader, the third party candidate who was excluded from the presidential debate in Boston, rose two points to 7 percent in the new survey. Nader was up to 17 percent among independents and 18 percent among progressives.

”Gore holds on to his lead, but Nader has picked up significant support, especially after the debate,” Zogby said. ”If he continues the same trend, he will have an impact on several of the battleground states.” (Reuters)

That crowd chanted “Let Ralph Debate!” and held out signs reading, “Don't waste your vote on the corporate candidates!” Hundreds of others were turned away for lack of room.

“This is the last debate that the debate commission is going to choke off part of America,” Nader vowed to a standing ovation.

At a rally earlier Wednesday with 600 people at the University of Hartford, the Green Party presidential candidate blasted “the winner take all, two-party duopoly." He also spoke harshly about Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman, calling him a “political sorcerer.”

Speaking to the media, Nader showed off the ticket he obtained for the debate Tuesday night in Boston. But an official from the debate commission stopped him from entering the debate hall, telling Nader he was an uninvited guest.

Why Not Ralph?
As Bush and Gore bore, Nader inches up the polls and threatens to play spoiler.

“This is a political exclusion. They dismissed me for political reasons, not because I was disruptive. I'm never disruptive,” he said.

Nader was barred from joining the 90-minute debate between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore because he failed to meet the criteria for inclusion. He also was not allowed to watch the debate on television in a nearby room.

“That's got to be the worst mistake the debate commission ever made,” Nader said.

So far, the debate commission has not had a public response to Nader’s verbal lambasting, which has grown in intensity all week.

Meanwhile, in Boston, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, scheduled a hearing Thursday before a three-judge panel on Nader's challenge to corporate sponsorship of the debates. The court agreed to an expedited review of his lawsuit, which a lower court rejected last month.

Nader was expected to spend Thursday in his home town of Winsted, Conn.