Nader rally draws local musicians

by Yvette Thomas
THE POST

Two local bands, The Royales and J.D. Hutchison, provided entertainment for Friday night's Green Party fundraiser in the Ohio University's Baker Center Ballroom. Ohio University Campus Greens and Southeast Ohio Citizens to Elect Nader sponsored the event.

"The Green Party is an excellent political movement and we wanted to support it," said Roman Warmke, bass player for The Royales. He said it is unfortunate that someone as honest as Nader does not have a good chance of being elected.

For the fundraiser the band added six extra performers to their usual four-piece ensemble, including horns, a guitar and keyboard player. After The Royales began their set, a few people moved chairs aside and began dancing.

J.D. Hutchison played after The Royales. Hutchison usually plays with a five-member band, the Realbilly Jive, but for political reasons only one member from the band played at the benefit.

Hutchison said he thought both Democrats and Republicans are at the behest of money. "I'm not a political animal, but I think only Ralph Nader of all the people in the last quarter century (is one) you could call a public advocate."

In addition to entertainment, there were also campaign videos shown and literature and bumper stickers sold.

Ohio University freshman Rosie Lukanc said she will vote for Nader. "I want to vote for Ralph Nader because he's the only presidential candidate bringing anything to the table," she said. "He's not a career politician, he's a career humanitarian."

One of the benefit's sponsors, the Southeast Ohio Citizens to Elect Nader has its roots in the 1996 Clinton/Dole election, said Bob Sheak, a SEOCEN member.

In order to get Nader on the ballot in Ohio, 5,000 valid signatures had to be collected. There were 7,300 signatures collected for the 1996 election, but only 4,700 were counted as valid for various reasons, including illegibility and invalid addresses, he said.

For this election 12,000 signatures were collected. In Athens 1,100 were collected, and 80 percent of those were valid, Sheak said.

"He's been an ideal citizen for 37 years," he said. "He's an amazing person."

Athens resident Stacy Hall agrees. "I think he's a serious person, I think he's an extremely brilliant person who knows more than any other candidate about the economic and corporate powers that shape this economy and culture," she said.