Nader chooses longtime Green Party activist as his running mate

WASHINGTON – Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader selected longtime Green Party activist Peter Camejo as his running mate Monday, a move sure to boost his chances of winning the Green Party’s endorsement this week and its access to ballots in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

“He is a man who has put his principles in practice, who has fought the struggles of the civil rights movement, the labor rights movement in the ‘60s and ‘70s, who has in many ways been an exemplar of the combination of the mind, the word and the deed,” Nader said in introducing Camejo, 64.

Camejo, an investment adviser from Folsom, Calif., had been one of two leading contenders for the Green Party’s presidential nomination.

“I think the central issue of this campaign is the war in Iraq,” Camejo said. “All of you know (Democrat John) Kerry is complaining about how (President) Bush has carried out the invasion and the occupation but not what he keeps doing.”

Nader’s announcement came before the Green Party convention beginning Wednesday in Milwaukee. Nader, the Green Party’s candidate in 2000, is not seeking the party’s nomination but is pursuing an endorsement from the third party.