Consumer advocate Ralph Nader won the Green Party nomination yesterday at the party’s convention in Denver and pledged to focus on building a “blue-green” coalition encompassing enviros, blue-collar workers, students, inner-city residents, and small farmers and ranchers. He lambasted the Democratic and Republican parties as virtually indistinguishable servants of the corporations that give them massive campaign donations. Nader aims to get at least 5 percent of the vote, which would make the Green Party eligible for federal matching funds in 2004 and raise its profile, helping Green candidates for other offices. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found Nader getting 7 percent support, compared to George W. Bush’s 43 percent and Al Gore’s 39 percent.
