Democrats 'united' against Nader run

Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
By JIM RUTENBERG

Published: February 21, 2004


Some 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.

Ever since Mr. Nader set up a presidential exploratory committee a couple of 
months ago, Democrats have reacted viscerally to the idea. Many contend that 
if he had not run in 2000 Al Gore would be president, and that Mr. Nader could 
get in the way of a Democratic victory this year as well.

In January Mr. Nader said that he would make a run only if he were convinced 
that he had enough money and volunteers to be credible. But close associates 
of Mr. Nader said they feared that despite so much outcry against a run - 
there is even a liberal Web site called RalphDontRun.net - he may just make 
one.

"As I said in 2000, he's one of the most stubborn men in America," said Joan 
Claybrook, a close friend of his and head of Public Citizen, a group that Mr. 
Nader founded. 

Mark Green, the former New York City public advocate and an early disciple of 
Mr. Nader's consumer advocacy, said he was fairly certain that Mr. Nader would 
run. Mr. Green, who remains close to Mr. Nader, was an early supporter of Mr. 
Kerry.

"I'm among the army of Nader friends who have implored him not to run," Mr. 
Green said. "I appreciate, though, that Ralph Nader is uniquely willful, 
brilliant, and independent-minded, and he simply disagrees with so many of his 
friends like me."

Mr. Green said that during several conversations in the past year, Mr. Nader 
told him that he did not have huge problems with Mr. Kerry's record.

But Mr. Green said that Mr. Nader "believes that he'll bring out new voters 
who will help Democrats win the Senate and House and that he can make a case 
against Bush like no one else and pull the Democratic nominee toward a more 
populist position."

Mr. Green said that he, in turn, told Mr. Nader that during a talk Mr. Green 
recently gave about his new critique of Mr. Bush, "The Book on Bush," 93 of 
100 audience members who said they voted for Mr. Nader in 2000 said they would 
not do so again. "I relayed that as a way to say, a) It may hurt Kerry and 
help re-elect Bush and b) It won't help you given how much more you have to 
contribute."

Representative Bernie Sanders, the liberal independent from Vermont, made a 
similar argument in a statement released last night, which said Mr. 
Nader "should not help re-elect George Bush by splitting the vote with the 
Democratic candidate."

Despite their statement, aides to Mr. Kerry sought to downplay fears about Mr. 
Nader last night, arguing that Mr. Nader would likely not be able to draw as 
much support in 2004 as he did in 2000 - when he drew 2.8 percent of the 
popular vote. Because Democrats are so focused on defeating Mr. Bush, they 
said, liberal voters would be less likely to file protest votes.

Mr. Kerry's rival, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, used the 
speculation as an opportunity to get in a dig at his opponent, saying "If we 
have candidates at the top of the ticket who would appeal to the kind of 
independents who would vote for Nader, we'll be fine."

Mr. Nader declined to put all of this to rest last night. A spokeswoman for 
Mr. Nader, Linda Schade, said everybody would have to wait until he appears 
Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" In the meantime, she added, "this is pure 
speculation."
_______________________________________________
heads mailing list
[email protected]
http://ballistichelmet.org/mailman/listinfo/heads/
http://ballistichelmet.org/donate/