You’d think that illegally using a non-profit organization’s offices for his campaign would offer Ralph Nader a little extra money. It’s not; this is a campaign with some serious financial troubles.
In Pennsylvania, for example, Nader’s campaign hired dozens of petition circulators, many of them homeless, to help try and get their guy on the ballot. But when it came time to pay these signature gatherers, the campaign balked. Now Nader is being sued over the mess.
Hopefully, Nader won’t be looking to his new friends at the Reform Party — which agreed earlier this year to allow Nader to run on their ballot slot in at least seven states — for financial assistance. It turns out, the Reform Party is flat broke.
The treasurer of the national Reform Party, which is supporting Ralph Nader for president, has told federal election officials that the party has $18.18 in the bank and should be terminated.
William D. Chapman said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he sent the Federal Election Commission a “request for termination based on guidelines the FEC had established for the Reform Party.”
I knew the Reform Party was a shell of its former self, but 18 bucks in the bank? Ouch.