Contact Jeff Cohen 

 John Stauber 

As Ralph Nader campaigns in swing state after swing state, a large group of prominent endorsers from Nader 2000 is calling for support for Kerry in those states in order to oust Bush. 

Four years ago this month, Nader convened news conferences in several cities to unveil his personally-selected "Nader 2000 Citizens Committee" of leading supporters.  Today (Sept. 14), more than 70 members of Nader's 2000 committee joined in issuing a statement that urges "support for Kerry/Edwards in all swing states" because "removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority in the 2004 presidential election."  

Signers of the statement include Noam Chomsky, Ben Cohen, Phil Donahue, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jim Hightower, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Cornel West and Howard Zinn.  The statement and a current list of signers can be viewed at: www.vote2stopbush.com/

The statement and list will be widely circulated, especially via the Internet, to reach as many progressive or disaffected voters in swing states as possible between now and Election Day.  This effort is not coordinated in any way with the Kerry Campaign or the Democratic Party.

The statement reads as follows:

Nader 2000 Leaders United To Defeat Bush

We, the undersigned, were selected by Ralph Nader to be members of his 113-person national "Nader 2000 Citizens Committee." This year, we urge support for Kerry/Edwards in all "swing states," even while we strongly disagree with Kerry's policies on Iraq and other issues.  For people seeking progressive social change in the United States, removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority in the 2004 presidential election.  Progressive votes for John Kerry in swing states may prove decisive in attaining this vital goal.  

David Barsamian, Author, Radio Interviewer

Juliette Beck, California Citizens for Fair Trade

Herbert Bernstein, Professor of Physics at Hampshire College

Thomas Berry, Author, "Dream of the Earth"

Wendell Berry, Farmer and Writer

Norman Birnbaum, Author and Educator

Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Activist and Writer

Blase Bonpane, Office of the Americas

Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas

Eric Brakken, Former Staffer United Students Against Sweatshops

Ira Byock, Palliative Care Physician, Author of "Dying Well"

Edgar Cahn, Founder of Time Banking

John Cavanagh, Director of Institute for Policy Studies

Noam Chomsky, Author and Professor at MIT

Steve Cobble, Strategist, Jackson '88, Nader '00, Kucinich '04

Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry's

Peter Coyote, Actor and Writer

Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association

Herman Daly, Professor at University of Maryland

Iris DeMent, Musician/Songwriter

Phil Donahue,  Former Talk Show Host

Mark Dowie, Journalist, Former Editor/Publisher of Mother Jones

Barbara Dudley, Former President, Greenpeace and National Lawyers Guild

Troy Duster, Professor at New York University

Ronnie Dugger, Co-founder of Alliance for Democracy

Barbara Ehrenreich, Political Essayist and Social Critic

Richard Falk, Center of International Studies, Princeton University

Jim Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer

Rebecca Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer

Doris (Granny D) Haddock, Senate Candidate, Reform Activist

Paul Hawken, Author, Economist

Randy Hayes, Founder, Rainforest Action Network and Director of Sustainability, City of Oakland

Jim Hightower, Author and Commentator

Wes Jackson, The Land Institute

David Kairys, Law Professor at Temple University and Author

Ynestra King, Ecofeminist Writer/Activist

John Kinsman, Family Farm Defenders

Philip M. Klasky, Co-director, Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition

David Korten, Author of "When Corporations Rule the World"

Frances Korten, Director of Positive Futures Network

Saul Landau, California State Polytechnic University

Rabbi Michael Lerner, The Tikkun Community

Theodore Lowi, Political Scientist, Author

Howard Lyman, Former Rancher, Vegetarian Activist

Joanna Macy, Author and Scholar

Jerry Mander, President of International Forum on Globalization

Manning Marable, Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia

Redwood Mary, Plight of the Redwoods Campaign

Robert McChesney, Professor University of Illinois

Carolyn Merchant, UC Berkeley Professor of Environmental History

Peter Montague, Environmental Research Foundation

Gus Newport, Former Mayor of Berkeley, California

Ruth Ozeki, Novelist

Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York

Bonnie Raitt, Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter

Sheldon Rampton, Co-author of "Banana Republicans"

Marcus Raskin, Author

Tim Robbins

Vicki Robin, New Road Map Foundation

Susan Sarandon, Actor and Activist

John Schaeffer, Founder of Real Goods Trading Company

Michelle Shocked, Musician

John Stauber, Co-author of "Banana Republicans"

Andrew Strauss, Professor at Widener University School of Law

Charlotte Talberth, Max and Anna Levinson Foundation

Meredith Tax, Writer and Human Rights Activist

Studs Terkel, Author, Oral Historian

Tom Tomorrow, Cartoonist

Sarah van Gelder, Editor of YES! Magazine

Eddie Vedder, Musician, Pearl Jam

Harvey Wasserman, Author of "Harvey Wasserman's History of the US"

Cornel West, Professor, Author of "Democracy Matters"

Sheldon Wolin, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University

Howard Zinn, Historian and Author

--Signers endorse this statement as individuals, not as representatives of any group.  A frequently updated list of swing states is posted at www.swing04.com.