Nader Supporters Respond to Democrat Attacks (Print Article)

November 2, 2000
Humboldt County Courthouse, California

Electoral politics as usual erupted at noon on Thursday here in the traditionally lumber-fishing-and-tourism based town of Eureka. Or so it looked to the passing log trucks, minivans, pick'em'ups, SUV's and many, many dilapidated "around-town-only" sedans and other dubious rigs. Except this time, residents and travelers were surprised to see instead of the same ole faces of elephants and jackasses, a militant new kid on
the block out in force. Indignant citizens, including young mothers, health care workers, educators, peaceniks, even the odd lawyer and financial services worker, grandmothers, EF!ers and seasoned Fair Trade Activists, (who remembered their musical instruments) came out of the closet as Green Party supporters. About 40 people gathered (yes, 40 people are nearly a mob here, in the nation's second-smallest and sparsely populated broadcast area.) and a short press conference was held. People in attendance showed impatience with local "progressive" Democrat bigwigs who are circulating a letter from their stance as "mature" leaders, asking people to all email Ralph Nader and ask him to
step down.

Instead, the general opinion was that neither Corporate-sponsored party was fit to run a campaign free of indirect but still corrupting influence of money, and that instead Democrats should be demanding that Gore, who brought us NAFTA, GATT and nearly the MAI, step down and ask his supporters to go with Nader, who helped defeat the MAI and Fast Track.

Along with the standard party rhetoric, "Vote your hopes, not your fears" and the like, the crowd was treated to some nice, singable ballads. People then rallied together and marched down US Highway 101, aka Fifth Street, a once-thriving miracle mile, with supporting honks from vehicles of most local culture groups, even a log truck driver. On the way to the local democratic office, the chanting ("Bush and Gore, are Corporate Whores") demonstrators passed boarded up local shopfronts sucked dry by the industrial-strength fangs of General Growth, the world's largest mall company, which owns the local temple of commerce.

At the Democratic office, protestors engaged in respectful dialog with a friendly member of the local central labor committee who came out to take a snapshot. Scared business-leaning ex-radicals in the area are getting testy, but you can see why they're nervous: Humboldt County has one of the highest percentages of Green Party members in the state, with one town, Arcata, having had a majority of Green councilmembers, and
more registered Greens than Republicans. One Humboldt precinct, a rural hotbed of Forest activism, Mattole, was actually carried by Green Party candidate Ralph Nader back in 1996, way before teamsters and turtles started talking.