Barry Commoner, a pioneer in the ecology movement and Citizens Party candidate for president, earned a spot on the Oregon ballot in 1980 with a speech before an enthusiastic crowd of 1,100 cheering supporters in Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.
The crowd, which included a visible contingent of Gray Panthers, the senior citizens advocacy group founded by Philadelphia activist Maggie Kuhn in 1970, fulfilled the state’s requirement for a nominating convention of 1,000 delegates needed under Oregon law to qualify a presidential candidate for the November ballot.… Read more ...