Nader vows to be at presidential debate

From staff and wire reports

BOSTON, Massachusetts -- Like any politician, Ralph Nader, the Green Party presidential candidate, made promises concerning all sorts of things to his 10,000-plus supporters in Boston's Fleet Center on Sunday.

But the vow that seemed to matter most to them was, "We'll see you down at the debates."

Just how Nader plans to take part in Tuesday night's first presidential debate between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore is not clear, since he has not been invited to the occasion.

Nader lambasted his opponents, saying it was unethical of the two major political parties to bar him from the debates, which he described as the most important avenue of access to the voters who will decide the election.

"The keys to the gate to those tens of millions of Americans are held by the very two parties that small parties are trying to challenge," Nader told a cheering audience at the Fleet Center. "Never again should we allow this to happen. The choice for the American people should not be between the bad Democrats and worse Republicans."

Former talk show host Phil Donahue added his voice to the call. "This is not what the founders intended," he said. "We want a real campaign."

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CNN's Bill Delaney has more details about the rally in Boston, Massachusetts Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

The Commission on Presidential Debates, set up by Democrats and Republicans to manage the debate process, excluded Nader and other third-party candidates last Tuesday.

It said earlier that to qualify, they would have to be on the ballot in enough states to have a theoretical chance of winning the election and show around 15 percent support in national public opinion surveys.

At 5 percent in most polls at the moment, Nader lagged well behind the mark needed to qualify. But he has routinely been outdrawing both Bush and Gore, says his campaign, with audiences in excess of 10,000 here in Boston and, recently, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Seattle, Washington, and in Portland, Oregon.

Nader, labeled an extremist by some, denounced that label and tried to turn it back on his accusers.

"Extremism is when corporate interests corrupt, buy and sell our political representatives and destroy our democracy," he said.

"It is not extremism to fight to stop this sort of destruction and hijacking of our government."

Nader said both Bush and Gore were tainted by so-called soft-money contributions. He called Bush "a corporation running for president disguised as a person" and accused Gore of having "an atrocious record" on environmental issues.

"Everywhere you follow the tracks of Al Gore, there is betrayal," he said.

Donahue: "We want a real campaign"

Despite getting a host of supporters in Boston, Nader's campaign faces other, more sober numbers. The price of entry to his rally was $10, suggesting a take of around $100,000 for the campaign.

But the cost to rent the Fleet Center for a day is $80,000.

Protests about the upcoming debate were also voiced in Atlanta, Georgia, where a group of about 100 demonstrators marched in front of the CNN Center on Sunday and called on the network to host open debates among several third-party presidential candidates.

"You can get public money to help your campaign, but you can't get access to the public airwaves in a debate," said a Libertarian Party supporter.

The protesters represented the Green Party, the Natural Law Party, the Reform Party and the International Socialist Organization, among other groups. One member of the ISO said demonstrators had collected 85,000 signatures on a petition they hoped to deliver to CNN.

"The Democrats and Republicans are both sponsored by large corporate entities," said Dr. Dori Rector, of Georgia's Natural Law Party.

"We need a debate between other candidates besides Bush and Gore so people can hear different viewpoints."

Protesters in Atlanta demanded open debates for third-party presidential candidates

Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, who was with Nader on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday, said he, too, should be in Tuesday's debate.

"I should be included in the presidential debate because I'm the representative of a recognized party, one of three -- Republicans, Democrats and Reform," Buchanan said. "And the other two parties are engaged in a conspiracy basically to deny me access to the debate that's going on to decide the election and the presidency of the United States."

Buchanan and Nader will appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Monday evening.

CNN Boston Bureau Chief Bill Delaney and Reuters contributed to this report.