Republicans among Nader petition signees
Friday, Aug 20, 2004
http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/08/20/News/276555.html

By Dennis A. Byrd
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - Republican signatures on petitions to get third-party candidate Ralph Nader on the presidential ballot in Arkansas shows that the Bush re-election campaign is worried about Bush's prospects in the election, state Democratic Party chairman Ron Oliver said Thursday.

A news release from the Democratic Party of Arkansas said at least two dozen state Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller's chief of staff, had signed the petitions to get Nader included on the state ballot. The state requires 1,000 signatures on petitions and a party affiliation to qualify for the ballot. Nader is listed as the Better Life Party nominee.

"This is a clear sign that Republicans recognize how vulnerable President Bush is in Arkansas and, contrary to their public statements, know that Arkansas is a key battleground state ...," the Democratic Party's news release states. Bush faces Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in the Nov. 2 election.

Former state Sen. Doyle Webb, R-Benton, who is Rockefeller's chief of staff, refused to comment regarding his signature on the petition.

The regional press representative for the Bush-Cheney campaign, Reed Dickens, said the race in Arkansas is more about Kerry's values being out of touch with Arkansans than whether or not Nader is on the ballot.

"We believe the president will carry Arkansas with Ralph Nader on the ballot or without Ralph Nader on the ballot," Dickens said.

The Republican Party of Arkansas issued a statement late Thursday.

"Signing a petition is the right of every individual," the statement said. "We at the Republican Party of Arkansas neither supported nor opposed this petition. We are confident that President George W. Bush will win Arkansas again because he reflects the views and values of everyday Arkansans."

Conventional political wisdom is that Nader will take votes from the Democratic nominee.

"We are taking a hard look at these signatures," Oliver said. "Nader supporters and their Republican allies have used questionable tactics to gather signatures in other states. It's important that Nader play by the same rules as everyone else and meet every legal requirement to get a place on the ballot."

Oliver said that in Michigan, another battleground state, Nader volunteers gathered only 5,000 of the 30,000 signatures needed for a place on the ballot, so the Michigan Republican Party gathered 43,000 signatures on petitions.

The Arkansas petitions were peppered with the names of well-known Republicans, including Martha McCaskill of Little Rock, chairwoman of the Pulaski County Republican Party; state Rep. Michael Lamoureaux of Russellville; and five employees of the Republican Party of Arkansas coordinated campaign - Pasha Moore of Little Rock, Kerry Baldwin of Cabot, Jon Gilmore of Roland, Adriel Domenech of Little Rock, and Allison Johnson of Little Rock.