Ralph
A great Nader quote regarding the Michigan story I detailed a few days ago,
"What we saw in Michigan yesterday is that Ralph Nader is indeed willing to sell his very integrity and soul to the extreme right-wing and the Bush White House," said Chris Kofinis, strategist for TheNaderFactor.com, "What is so amazing is that Nader would work with the same Republicans that have tried to destroy every progressive cause he has ever stood for. This is a tragic moment in the legacy of Nader and sad day for those who once respected what Nader stood for."
posted by ian @ 5:50 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Remember that other 3rd party candidate, Ross Perot?
I don't remember Democrats complaining about him so much. Maybe that's because he handed the White House to Bill Clinton in 1992.
Oh, those pesky 3rd party spoilers!
-BB
I don't remember Democrats actively campaigning for Ross Perot, ensuring he get the signature's needed to be on a ballot in a state. Do you???
Bill, lets put this in perspective.
Ralph Nader needed 30,000 signatures from Michigan to be on the ballot. His campaign collected a mere 6,000, and gave up over a month ago.
Distraught at the notion of a Kerry v. Bush head to head match up, Republicans in Michigan scrambled and submitted over 40,000 signatures for Nader.
Hence you have a Nader V. Kerry V. Bush matchup.
Common Bozin...this is gutter politics, and I would condemn it all the same if it was the Democrats playing dirty.
So, Republicans are trying to get a guy ON A BALLOT and they're the one's involved in gutter politics here??
Saturday, July 3, 2004
Nader says 'dirty tricks' keep him off Arizona ballot
By Nick Anderson / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader conceded Friday he would not qualify for the Arizona ballot, and complained of “dirty tricks” by Democrats aimed at thwarting his campaign. Arizona is the second state, following Indiana, where Nader has failed to make the ballot. But the Arizona setback is more politically significant because the state is much more competitive in the presidential race.
President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, have spent at least $3 million each on television commercials in the Phoenix and Tucson markets in quest of the state’s 10 electoral votes.
Democrats, fearing most of Nader’s support would come at Kerry’s expense, filed a lawsuit last month seeking to invalidate the consumer advocate’s Arizona ballot petition. An examination of more than 22,000 signatures that Nader submitted to state authorities found that thousands were invalid.
The Nader campaign, in a statement Friday, acknowledged that it had fallen about 550 signatures short of the 14,694 required to qualify. The campaign withdrew its petition, and a state judge ordered Nader’s name be kept off the ballot.
The Nader campaign’s statement lashed out at “deep-pocket Democrats” and law firms they hired to challenge his Arizona petition.
Similar ballot-access battles are unfolding in Oregon, Illinois and Florida -- all pitting local Democrats against Nader organizers.
In Oregon, the Nader campaign has alleged that Democrats sought to infiltrate and stymie a meeting the independent convened last weekend to try to advance his ballot drive. To such charges, unapologetic Democrats reply that conservative groups have been helping Nader.
At a Washington news conference, Nader said the Democrats Party had “stepped up its obstruction tendencies” in trying to derail his candidacy. “We have to get a clarification if they’re going to engage in dirty tricks,” he said.
-BB
I know! Maybe instead of focusing so much time on keeping Ralph Nader off the ballot, Democrats could insteaad think of creative ways to encourage people to support their own candidate for president...
-BB
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bill, ARE YOU TAKING CRAZY PILLS???
You mean to tell me that Democrats challenging falsified signatures is gutter politics. THE VERY ARTICLE YOU QUOTED stated that, “An examination of more than 22,000 signatures that Nader submitted to state authorities found that thousands were invalid.”
THOUSANDS INVALID!!!! MEANING THEY SHOULD NOT BE COUNTED!!!
“The Nader campaign, in a statement Friday, acknowledged that it had fallen about 550 signatures short of the 14,694 required to qualify.”
Are you kidding me?? Democrats can’t challenge duplicate signatures or falsified signatures and hold Nader accoutable??? What is this BIZZARO America?
Bill, I encourage democrats to be vigilant and watchful of the signatures that Nader collects to ensure they are all in fact vaild. This is no way shape or form resembles gutter politics.
But here’s a tip for Republicans, maybe they should stop spending so much time collecting signatures for a candidate they have no intention of voting for and instead think of creative ways to encourage people to support their own candidate for president...
Bill,
Did you read this article before you responded?
Hardly suprising that the Republicans would need to do what they did for Nader given how thier man is doing in the polls etc, but whats MORE pathetic is that Nader obviously cares so little for his own platform that he would accept their signatures to get on the ballot.
There is plenty of room for third parties on the ballot and fourth parties....etc!! The common thinking that third parties are 'spoilers' is horsesh-t. I bet Ross Perot would actually have made a descent president if he hadn't pulled out. So I would welcome Nader to the ballot if he got there on his own steam and actually had the capacity to be considered for the presidency. In this case he has become litte more than a side-show and is letting himself be used by the Republican party as a political tool so he can get his 15 seconds of fame and proove to everybody that third party candidates should get equal consideration (as if that were the burning issue of our time) and has thus perverted the political process.
The only people to be pissed at here are those Americans who will still consider voting for Nader after he has prostituted himself by a party that goes against almost everything he claims to stand for just to get on the ballot. Who are these people voting for Nader if not a group of uniformed under-read miscreants who consider political DISOBEDIENCE the solution to the problemsn of our time. Thank god for the electoral college.
--Nutz
Wow, this really gets you guys worked up...
Obviously both parties are doing what is in their best interest... but it's absurd to accuse the GOP of gutter politics for trying to get a guy on a ballot, while the Democrats work just as hard to keep him off, and in your words their actions "no way resemble gutter politics."
You are, after all, the one who brought 'gutter politics' into the discussion... I was simply comparing the Democrats efforts to enlist lawyers to keep Nader off the ballot with Republicans efforts to put him on it. Frankly, I don't think either is gutter politics, really, as long as they're following the law. I just love to seem Democrats whine about Nader! I love it!
-BB
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Great work!
[url=http://fsrdudds.com/dtyh/akld.html]My homepage[/url] | [url=http://bqczttkb.com/cgor/poqf.html]Cool site[/url]
Well done!
My homepage | Please visit
Thank you!
http://fsrdudds.com/dtyh/akld.html | http://klpxmbpx.com/zosi/wwey.html
Post a Comment
<< Home