The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Mackenzie Reiss

Ralph Nader is likely the only presidential candidate to make his way through Syracuse, N.Y., this election season.

"You will not see in New York state Barack Obama or John McCain," said Nader, an independent presidential candidate, while in Syracuse Friday. "Obama has this state sewn up, so he's not going to waste his time here. McCain has, in effect, given up on this state."

Nader held a press conference at the opening of the local Green Party campaign office. He then moved to the Westcott Theater for a two-hour campaign rally where he addressed approximately 200 people, while collecting donations. The rally was held in conjunction with local Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, who is running for Congress in New York's 25th District.

Nader is vying for president for a fifth time, running with vice presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez, a former San Francisco Board of Supervisors president.

This wasn't Nader's first time in Syracuse. He stopped at Syracuse University in 2000. In October 2004, he spoke at South Presbyterian Church in Syracuse. He delivered an anti-war speech at Hendricks Chapel on April 15, 2005.

During this trip, Nader endorsed Hawkins in the local congressional race against Democrat Dan Maffei and Republican Dale Sweetland. Friday also marked the opening of one of his 35 field offices across the country.

"The more votes (the independents) get, the more heat we're going to put on them," Nader said of the two major parties. "Because once they see a crack in a two-party duopoly, they get very anxious. Politicians get anxious when they see a slight reversal of a trend."

In 2004, Nader was only on 31 ballots. This year, Nader and Gonzalez are on 45 states' ballots, along with the District of Columbia, with the hopes they can induce a three-party system.

Several Syracuse University students attended the rally, including senior Sean Meehan. Meehan, who doesn't support Nader or Hawkins, said that he wanted to hear what Nader had to say.

"I woke up to a text message from my friend saying, 'Nader speaking at Westcott Theater in 30 minutes,'" said Meehan, senior psychology and child and family studies major. "I thought to myself, 'That's exactly what I want to do today.'"

Nader is a long-shot candidate, but said he has an unfair disadvantage because most media outlets have been ignoring him since he has not been invited to participate in the presidential debates.

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