Democrats United in Pleading That Nader Not Enter Race

NY Times via Jayson Blair ^ | Feb 21, 2004 | JIM RUTENBERG

[nwrep]

ome of Ralph Nader's best friends are desperately trying to persuade him not to run for president this year.

The left-leaning Nation magazine has pleaded in an open letter, "Don't Run." And yesterday Senator John Kerry's campaign delivered a not-so-subtle statement: "It is important that we remain united in November and rally behind the Democratic nominee, whoever that may be."

The Kerry campaign's appeal was just one in another frenzy of calls yesterday for Mr. Nader to sit this one out, prompted by the announcement by a Nader aide that he would reveal his intentions Sunday.

Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he had met with Mr. Nader several times to ask him not to run. "I'm urging everybody to talk to Ralph Nader," he said in a television interview Friday on CNN.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Not the windfall we think. The media will focus on two candidates bashing Bush 24/7. The 2% of the vote Nadar takes may actually cost W a little more.

[GeronL]

hahahahahaha

[the Real fifi]

What makes you think he won't bash Kerry? Or Terry? The most devastating charge against the Dems' argument in 2000 that Roe v. Wade would be upset if the Reps were elected, came from Ralph...

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

I'm very pessimistic on this one & probably should not have posted...Ralphy will get even less of the vote in 2004 then he did in Y2K...why the hell is he running?

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Of course I hope he gives the Deaniacs a home & keeps their false sense of self importance high. It all depends on the type of coverage and level of relevance he gets!

[MarkM]

It would be great if Nader ran. Nader will split the liberal vote. He'll probably get a few more liberals to the polls though, so he might hurt the GOP in Senate and House races but he would probably help Bush.

[the Real fifi]

The latest Fox poll before any announcement showed him getting 4%--in a tight race that's not peanuts.

[Doc-Joe]

"via Jayson Blair"? Wasn't he canned?

[Timesink]

Nader will not be bashing Bush 24/7. He hates the Democrats even more than he hates the Republicans. Besides, he won't get that much press coverage since he's a fringe candidate, but a very large number of liberals will instinctively vote for him anyway. He's an absolute boon to the Bush campaign.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Perhaps Kerry will find it necessary to focus a "little" of his negative attention on Nader to keep Nader from cutting into his votes, (because we sure as heck know Nader won't cut into Bush's). Doing that might irritate the deaniacs who are presently planning on voting Kerry.

Although, personally, I think Bush will pull this off and we won't need Nader, and (being very redundant here) there might be, as many have said, Nader voters participating who might otherwise stay home, and that would hurt us.

[no dems]

Why is he running? Two reasons: #1) He sees no difference in the GOP and the Dem-o-rats #2) Since Howard Dean is out, he's counting on getting the money and votes of the Deaniacs.

[Southack]

To get the endorsement from the unions, Kerry told Hoffa Jr. that he was all for drilling as many oil wells as possible in Alaska.

Did anyone really think that message would play well with a green like Nader?

[no dems]

FOR REAL? Kerry really told Hoffa that or is this a joke?

[the Real fifi]

No, but Kerry will have to defend himself from Ralph's attacks on him. Kerry will not attack Nader, but will focus his attention on Bush if he has even a little bity brain---all his work against Nader will be under the radar.

[KnutCase]

That's the first thing I noticed. Yes, he's the one. I wonder if any of the networks or cable channels will notice and ask.

[Southack]

"FOR REAL? Kerry really told Hoffa that or is this a joke?"

Kerry stated he will drill ANWR! "We‘re going to be drilling all over the United States."

[azcap]

Nader, bless his heart, is a principled man. He won't let Kerry, Terry and the Rats get away with just paying lip service to the environment and other far-left causes. He is a true believer and the Deaniacs who still bother to vote will be drawn to him. Everyone knew that 2000 was going to be a tight race and despite the pleadings of Rat leaders the Greens still voted with their hearts and not their brains. You could say that Bush's ultra-narrow win taught them a lesson - but when has the obvious failure of a liberal's policy ever kept him from repeating it?

[goldstategop]

I love the sound of the Left eating their own instead of focusing their fire on President Bush. Is that the whiff of Democratic desperation out there that I hear? <grin

[goldstategop]

Ralph Nader will never win precisely cause he has always been an honest liberal. Which is exactly why the Democrats would never nominate him - he's too principled to win the White House.