Peace and Freedom Party picks Peltier for President
Delegates to the Peace and Freedom Party
convention, July 31, selected Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier
as their presidential candidate for 2004.
The delegates, meeting in Los Angeles,
rejected an impassioned plea from Ralph Nader supporters for his nomination.
Nader appeared at the convention a few hours before the vote but was unable to
sway a majority of the delegates, many of whom were already committed to
Peltier.
Nader did finish second in
the voting ahead of Walt Brown, who has been nominated by the Socialist Party
USA as their presidential
candidate.
The Peace and Freedom Party
apparently was the last hope of Nader to get on the California ballot unless a
petition drive is successful in qualifying him as an "independent" candidate.
Democrats have been challenging his efforts to get on the ballot, particularly
in certain key “swing”
states.
Many believe Leonard Peltier
was framed for the killing of two FBI agents at Wounded Knee in 1975. A
worldwide effort to free Peltier has been endorsed by Bishop Desmond Tutu,
Mikail Gorbachov, Madonna, Dustin Hoffman, Bono, the European Parliament and
more than 300 other world leaders and celebrities. He has been nominated for
this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Peltier’s running mate is Janice
Jordan, a community and Native American rights activist in San
Diego.
Peltier will join the following
presidential candidates on the California ballot on Nov. 2: Michael Badnarik
(Libertarian), George W. Bush (Republican), David Cobb (Green), John Kerry
(Democrat), and Michael A. Peroutka (American Independent).
Posted: Wed - September 1, 2004 at 03:50 PM