Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader named Matt Gonzalez, a former San Francisco Board of Supervisors president and 2003 mayoral contender, as his running mate today.The consumer activist introduced Gonzalez as his vice-presidential candidate at a news conference in Washington, D.C. "I have no illusions about what's happening here today," Gonzalez said at the news conference at the National Press Club, referring to the long-shot nature of their independent candidacy. But he added, "I've never entered a political contest with the idea that it couldn't be won."
He also said he also believed he had moved debates leftward in previous runs for office, including his 2003 mayoral campaign.
Nader said he got to know Gonzalez during a 2005 anti-Iraq war campaign in which they traveled up and down California. Gonzalez, an attorney, also worked on ballot access issues for Nader's 2004 presidential bid, when the candidate was listed in just 34 states. "He has a great, steadfast commitment to justice," Nader told The Chronicle after the press conference. "He's shown it in his work on the Board of Supervisors, he's shown it in his work on criminal justice issues, electoral reform and his work in urban politics and problems."