Nader Tries to Crash Debate

B O S T O N, Oct. 4, 2000 -- Green Party presidential candidate nominee Ralph Nader, who was excluded from the first debate, was turned away at the door as he tried to enter the first face-off of the two major party candidates.

Nader, who took the subway to the debate site, had received a ticket to watch the debate at the University of Massachusetts-Boston as a gift from Todd Tavares, a 21-year-old Northeastern University student.

Upon arrival at the debate site, Nader was greeted by a debate commission official and three police officers.

“It’s already been decided that whether or not you have a ticket you are not welcome in the debate,” John Bezeris, a representative of the debate commission, told Nader. The commission had excluded all but Democratic and Republican candidates.

“I didn’t expect they would be so crude and so stupid,” Nader said after being turned away. “This is the kind of creeping tyranny that has turned away so many voters from the electoral process.”

Unlikely Voters

Former talk show host and current Nader supporter Phil Donahue told Good Morning America this morning that the polls establishing eligibility for the debates are skewed against Nader’s supporters. Political polls usually survey “likely voters.”

“You have to have 15 percent in about five polls in order to be entered into the debate according to the commission,” he said. “We know our base would be significantly within the vast community of nonvoters. They’re not being questioned by the polls.”

With Nader at between three and six percent according to polls of likely voters, Donahue said his candidate will provide a surprise on election day, even if he may not make it to the debates by the official polls.

“This campaign is in for a big surprise. Ralph is on the move up,” he said.

Nader May Sue

Appearing on FOX News Channel after the debate, Nader hinted that he might file suit for being kept out.

“Well, we’re going to pursue our legal remedies. They had no right whatsoever and no grounds to expel me when I had a ticket to go in, in a peaceful manner and sit with others and watch by remote television these presidential debates,” Nader said. “But it shows you the arrogance of Al Gore and George W. Bush’s little company that we misname the Debate Commission.”

Hours before Gore and Bush took to the stage, protestors took to the streets. Thousands gathered outside the debate hall to draw attention to a variety of causes.

Some protested the exclusion of Nader and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan. Others were attracted by the massive media presence with hopes to draw attention to their cause. Others were just rallying behind their candidates. The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Sen. Edward Kennedy spoke at a rally of union members before heading into the hall as part of Gore’s cheering squad.

The View from Outside

Appearing on MSNBC following the debate, Nader said that the two candidates were “wrestling over something that is not a problem” on Social Security. Nader said the two candidates were misleading the voters with a “phony crisis.”

Appearing on FOX News Channel, Buchanan said Gore won the debate and called his performance “flawless.”

“I think the problem tonight was the Republican Party sent a boy to do a man’s job. I regret that Mr. Gore won the debate, in my judgment.”

With recent polls showing Buchanan at 1 percent, he is taking every opportunity to cut into Bush’s support from the right. Buchanan chided Bush’s stand on the RU-486 abortion pill and said the Texas governor should have “stepped up” criticism of the Clinton-Gore administration.

— ABCNEWS’ Rebecca Bershadker contributed to this report.