Ralph Nader Sues Debate Commission

Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader followed through on his Oct. 5 threat to sue the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), filing a claim in federal court yesterday.

The CPD had not met any of the demands Nader made after the commission barred him from the debate hall Oct. 3 in Boston, said Stacy Malkan, a Nader campaign spokesperson.

She also said the CPD did not apologize to the candidate or promise that he would not be shut out of future events, and it did not donate $25,000 to the Appleseed Center for Electoral Reform (ACER) at Harvard Law School, a not-for-profit group Nader helped to found.

According to the Nader campaign and the CPD, the commission did send Nader a letter in response to his demands.

The letter, Malkan said, did not apologize to Nader in any way--and it did not address the issue of a possible donation to ACER.

"Obviously, they are not interested in efforts to build democracy or electoral fairness," said Malkan of the commission's refusal to donate to ACER.

A CPD official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the organization "hasn't had the opportunity to respond" to Nader's latest move.

The CPD has not ruled out anything, including the possibility of making a donation to ACER, the CPD official said.

"We don't know what can or can't be done with these demands," the official said. "Hopefully there will be some resolution that's beneficial to all sides."

The Nader campaign has been less optimistic about the possibility of compromise, maintaining that the CPD has frequently and unashamedly abused its power.

"Every other person who showed up with a transferable ticket was allowed in," Malkan said, arguing that Nader was excluded because of his political opposition to the CPD and his affiliation with the Green Party--an exclusion that Nader believes violates Massachusetts civil rights law.

Nader and his supporters are also currently suing the Federal Election Commission for the right to appear in the presidential debates as a candidate.