The following story seems to have been ignored by many of the
newspapers I just checked (on the Web). While it was not exactly a
slow news day, the event certainly felt important enough to be
reported. 

NYC.IndyMedia.org reports: 
NADER SELLS OUT MADISON GARDEN
by Mike Burke 
11:04pm Fri Oct 13 

'00 Green Party Candidate Ralph Nader sold out Madison Square Garden 
here in New York at the largest Nader "super rally" to date. Just two 
weeks after the Ralph Nader campaign secured the historic Madison Square 
Garden, thousands and thousands of supporters spent $20 each in what Nader
described as the largest political event in the country. While two
of his presidential opponents, Al Gore and George W. Bush have been
struggling to keep the public interested in their lackluster
campaigns (to find out why check out clips from their gentlemanly
"debates" where viewers had to struggle mightily to spot their
differences), Nader has seen a new surge of support capped off with
a historic stop in New York Friday night. He will continue
campaigning in New York City Saturday afternoon when he will speak
at Riverside Church (on Riverside Drive, between 120 and 122
Streets in Harlem). He is one several speakers at the "Stop the
Poisoning: Learn the Truth About Pesticides." The event is free and
will go from 2:30 to 6 p.m. On Friday he lashed out at corporate
America and the two parties that big businesse subsidizes, the
Republicans and Democrats. Urging supporters to seek inspiration
from great radicals of the American past including abolitionists
and working farmers, Nader called for renewed civic duty and a
stronger democracy - not corporate globalization but civic
globalization. 

Nader shared the spotlight with a host of all-star
musical stars including Patti Smith, Ani DiFranco, Eddie Vedder and
Ben Harper as well as a couple surprise musical selections from Bob
Roberts (aka Tim Robbins) including his mocking pro-drug war/
pro-death penalty tune "Drugs Stink." In addition former talk show
host Phil Donahue, film maker Michael Moore and actor Bill Murray
backed Nader's candidacy. After Nader's speech that touched upon
more real issues than Bush and Gore have covered together in the
past year on their gold-plated campaing trails, Patti Smith with
help from Vedder, Harper and others ended the evening with an
inspirational version of her tune "People Had the Power." And on
Friday the power was with the thousands of Nader and Green Party
supporters who have been marginalized by the mainstream media and
the Commission on Presidential Debates which excluded Nader from
participating. It is sad statement of our times that Nader has to
rent out Madison Square Garden (and sell it out) in order to get
attention. But when Eddie Vedder sang Friday night in his moving
version of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changing" supporters
could feel the politcal climate changing, warming up to Nader.

After hosting similar super rallies in Portland, Minneapolis and
Boston, Nader's campaign has gained the popular momentum where it
can only get stronger in the next month. This will help create a
wave of support for true progressive, democratic reform, if not in
the White House, then on the city streets and country roads where
Nader has reminded hundreds of thousands of supporters who has the
real power. And its not the corporations.
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