Nader-Gonzalez 2008

Interesting move.  Matt Gonzalez almost won the San Francisco mayor's race back in 2003. The current Democratic mayor, Gavin Newsom, was able to win with the crucial support of Republican voters.

Reminder: No Democratic complaints about evil Republican support in that race.

This move shows that Nader may have recognized that his selection of the other prominent Green in California at the time, Peter Camejo, was not available and so he is picking Gonzalez to pull in the Greens, especially California Greens which are a large voting bloc, this time around. Camejo has recently been treated for cancer and was probably not an electoral option as a result.

Matt Gonzalez Joins Ralph Nader's Ticket - SF Chronicle - 29 Feb 08

"Ralph Nader's choice of San Francisco lawyer and activist Matt Gonzalez as his running mate isn't likely to propel the consumer advocate to victory in his fifth presidential campaign since 1992.  But it offers Gonzalez - a former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who narrowly lost his 2003 bid to be the first Green Party mayor of a major U.S. city - a platform to try to influence the debate in the presidential race.

It's a role with some risks. Although the 42-year-old Gonzalez is a hero to the Bay Area left, many local progressives - including several of his closest allies - are backing Democrat Barack Obama for president. If Gonzalez is seen as playing a spoiler role in November, it could tarnish his image."

Nader-Gonzalez 2008

Interesting move.  Matt Gonzalez almost won the San Francisco mayor's race back in 2003. The current Democratic mayor, Gavin Newsom, was able to win with the crucial support of Republican voters.

Reminder: No Democratic complaints about evil Republican support in that race.

This move shows that Nader may have recognized that his selection of the other prominent Green in California at the time, Peter Camejo, was not available and so he is picking Gonzalez to pull in the Greens, especially California Greens which are a large voting bloc, this time around. Camejo has recently been treated for cancer and was probably not an electoral option as a result.

Matt Gonzalez Joins Ralph Nader's Ticket - SF Chronicle - 29 Feb 08

"Ralph Nader's choice of San Francisco lawyer and activist Matt Gonzalez as his running mate isn't likely to propel the consumer advocate to victory in his fifth presidential campaign since 1992.  But it offers Gonzalez - a former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who narrowly lost his 2003 bid to be the first Green Party mayor of a major U.S. city - a platform to try to influence the debate in the presidential race.

It's a role with some risks. Although the 42-year-old Gonzalez is a hero to the Bay Area left, many local progressives - including several of his closest allies - are backing Democrat Barack Obama for president. If Gonzalez is seen as playing a spoiler role in November, it could tarnish his image."