Posted on 12/17/2004 6:49:11 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Ralph Nader is charging the Democratic Party establishment with using "dirty tricks" and "political bigotry" to keep him off the ballot in important battleground states in last month's presidential election.
"They did all the things that are described by the phrase 'dirty tricks,' and succeeded in getting us off some very important ballots," the perennial presidential wannabe tells Counterpunch magazine.
Nader complained that state party leaders filed "21 phony lawsuits" that his team had to defend against. "We won most of the state Supreme Court decisions, but they harassed and intimidated our signature gatherers," he said.
Among the states that bounced Nader: Pennsylvania and Ohio, two of the most hotly contested. Other Nader-free zones engineered by the Democrats included Oregon, Arizona, Massachusetts and Texas.
"That's what we call political bigotry, constitutional crimes, violation of our civil liberties," he told Counterpunch. "We have it all documented."
Nader said Dems went so far as to employ Ken Starr's old law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, which was paid "millions of dollars . . . to unleash a huge assault on our ballot access rights."
He warned that the Democratic Party has now been taken over by the Democratic Leadership Council, whose guiding principal, he said, is: "Don't upset business at all.
"Be very friendly to business. Turn your back on the corporate crime wave that's looted tens of trillions of dollars from pension holders, small investors, and workers Enron-style. Keep raising money from them, and keep talking about education, and generalities."
Holy moly, I agree with Ralph Nader. "Honey, get the camera!!"
go ralph go.... bump
Check the temperature in hell, must be below 32*F.
All of the recounting occurring in Ohio does not reflect the fact that the liberals took Nader out in that state's elections. Imagine us going to court to remove Perot!
I tried to help him get on the ballot in Oregon and the DumbAsCrap Secretary of State pulled a fast one by closing a vote that was by law was to be open for signatures all day long.
Hey folks, it's time to file a lawsuit to throw the elections in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania because there's clear evidence of voter suppression against Ralph Nader. Kerry is guilty of 'high-tech vote stealing'. Since it could have made a difference let's say that Kerry lost both states and give the victory to somebody else. The suppression, as Nader points out, is well documented.
Quit whining Ralph. You got just what you have been giving for 40 years. How's it feel?
Notice that no one is blaming Ralph Nader for Kerry's loss in this election! Kerry lost by too much to blame it on Nader and I think he has only himself to blame.
Massachusetts and Texas? As for PA, it's interesting how in 2000 Gore won the state by around 5 points with Nader getting 2% of the vote, but this time around, even with Nader off the ballot, Kerry did much worse than Gore and only beat Bush by 2 points. And in OH, where Bush won by about 3.5 points and Nader got almost 3% (rounded off) of the vote last time, Kerry still lost by a substantial 2%!
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