Good old "Ralphy Baby!." I knew there was something about Nader that I liked. Should I contribute? Hmmm.
Invader Nader?
By KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Saturday, February 21st, 2004
WASHINGTON - To Democrats, he really may be Darth Nader.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader will make another run for President this year, even though the Green Party isn't backing him, sources said yesterday.
That news had Democrats in a panic, begging him not to and scurrying to find some way to talk the quixotic candidate out of another national bid that they fear could hurt their nominee.
Many Democrats already blame Nader for costing Al Gore the presidency in 2000 by siphoning off crucial liberal votes in states like Florida and New Hampshire when he ran on the Green ticket.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe urged people to call Nader to ask him to help the Democratic nominee.
"We can't afford to have Ralph Nader in the race . . . So I'm urging everybody to talk to Ralph Nader. I'd love him to take a role with our party to energize people and to get out there and to get the message out," McAuliffe told CNN.
But it didn't appear likely yesterday that anyone was going to talk him out of it.
"He's running. There's no doubt about it," said a high-level aide in Nader's 2000 campaign.
Internal E-mails viewed by the Daily News showed Nader aides were drumming up support. Nader already has formed an exploratory committee. He was expected to announce his candidacy tomorrow on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Nader made the decision not to run as a Green candidate because of squabbles over fund-raising lists and organizational differences, and because many Greens were also outright urging him to stay out of the contest, two party sources confirmed.
"At this point, if he doesn't run it means somebody got to him in the last 48 hours," the source said.
In an interesting twist, Greens had reached out to Democrats to run for the Green nomination, including Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and ex-Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
Nader's newly hired spokeswoman, Linda Schade, declined to confirm that Nader would get in the race as an independent, leaving the official announcement for tomorrow.
Because Nader already has opted out of the Green Party's primaries, it's nearly impossible for even a "Draft Nader" effort to succeed at the Greens' convention in June. David Cobb, a California attorney, is the current front-runner for the Green nomination, party officials said.
"It's a divided party . . . but that means the Green Party has matured to the point where there's competition now," said party spokesman Scott McLarty. |
