Nader Tells Democrats To Relax

[WilliamPitt]

Analysis: Nader tells Democrats to relax
By Mila S. Koumpilova
UPI correspondent
Published 2/23/2004 3:45 PM

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040223-025226-2135r

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader Monday dismissed allegations that his bid would trip up the Democratic dash for the presidency for the second campaign in a row.

Nader, the 2000 Green Party nominee who announced his 2004 candidacy Sunday, alternately expounded on his anti-corporate-power agenda and warded off charges that his candidacy might help what he cast as a pro-corporation administration stay in power.

"This candidacy will not get many Democratic votes," Nader said in response to concerns that his bid might weaken a newly upbeat Democratic camp. Instead, he predicted his message would draw independents and conservatives disenchanted with President Bush's policies, such as the military budget, the Patriot Act and corporate subsidies.

According to a Gallup poll conducted in Sept. 2003, about 60 percent of rank-and-file Democrats believe that Nader cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000. Nader, however, urged his critics to reexamine 2000 poll results before blaming him for the Democratic loss, which he says was in fact a Gore victory that Bush stole.

Nader's campaign Web site, votenader.org, cites exit polls that break down 2000 Green Party voters as 25 percent Republicans, 38 percent Democrats and the rest people who would not have otherwise voted.

Nader stressed that his campaign would focus on criticizing "the giant corporation masquerading as a human being in the White House -- George W. Bush" rather than attacking the Democratic nominee. He delivered a personal message to the current contenders for this title: "Relax! Rejoice! You have another friend carrying the ancient but unfulfilled aspirations of the Democratic Party." He said he would try to help Democratic nominees for the Senate in swing states.

...more...

[BeatleBoot]

1. Relax?

Hey Ralph, tell that to my kids!

[ulysses]

2. ...a post furthering the idea

that Nader is irrelevant by hanging on his every word.

[molly]

3. If he was really honest about helping us - he wouldn't run

he would HELP!

4. What's your opinion on this Will?

Just curious.
You don't have to answer if you'd rather stay out of it.

Maybe sometime later?

[WilliamPitt]

29. I don't see Nader as much of a threat

People freaking out about him are fighting the last war. Nader has no party to run with, no infrastructure to raise the kind of money he needs, and he still has to get on the ballot in all 50 states via the collection of tens of thousands of signatures.

The best thing Ralph has going for him right now is all the free advertising he is getting via the press and forums like this. It'll pass. He's the flavor of the week.

40. that would be my take also

I know quite a few fairly hard-core leftist who voted for Nader in the past but aren't going to this time, even if they agree with what he's saying.

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. The good we can get out of Ralph right now is

he can attackthe $hrub, and he can praise up Dennis.

[mdmc]

5. No dem I know would vote for Nader

In a contested state, anyway. And I know lefties!

[edzontar]

7. I am in a swing state--PA--and of course will not vote Nader

But his statements seem a little confused--I mean, how canhe "help" Dems by running against them?

It seems a little odd.

[mdmc]

12. Glad you'll be voting Dem

Nader can help us by getting folks that would never, and I mean NEVER, vote, out to vote.

He has a way of bashing the patriotism of the GOP and corporate America in a way that mainstream Dems (not Clark, Dean, Kucinich, Braun, or Sharpton) just cannot do.

If he gets 5 non votes out to the polls, perhaps one of them will vote Dem. See? Its a win - win. :~)

[formernaderite]

20. He helps because these non-voters vote democrat in the other races.

So you might win local and state races.

[demgrrrll]

8. His words are meaningless. Remember that this is the guy who told

John Conyers to relax when he asked him to withdraw. He told
John Conyers to relax because he would be " the head of the
judiciary committee." when the Democrats won in 2000. His words were not true then and they are not true now.

[dpbrown]

6. Twenty-five percent Republican votes

And this time he's not running under the "aura" of a supposedly liberal group, like the Green Party. I think he's right.

Obviously Democrats won't vote for him.

But those disenchanted Republican voters who voted for him in 2000 will, and probably more of them.

Nice post.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

[hippiegranny]

19. ya think?

do you suppose all the people here who have been oo-ing and ahh-ing over nader are republicans?

he is gonna hurt us a whole lot worse than he'll hurt bush. matter of fact, i'll bet he is being funded by those very republicans he's claiming to hurt.

[Piperay]

23. Those disenchanted repugs should vote

for the Democratic nominee NOT for nader, we need them voting with us! :argh:

[fishnfla]

9. He's a delusional liar

Relax, Gore would have invaded Iraq too! And then all Dems would vote for me now.

[sangh0]

10. "I'm just amazed that people think I should be concerned about this stuff"

Nader is a real "What me worry" kind of guy:

"I'm just amazed that people think I should be concerned about this stuff. It's absolutely amazing. Not a minute's sleep do I lose, about something like this - because I feel sorry for them. It's just so foolish, the way they have been behaving. Why should I worry?" -- Common Dreams 4-03-2001

In a recent Time magazine interview, when asked if he felt any regret about the 2000 election, Nader responded, "No, because it could have been worse. You could have had a Republican Congress with Gore and Lieberman." -- Time magazine, 8-05-02

Nader contended that Bush would not damage the Earth and generally remain popular, but he has pushed arctic drilling and other anti-environment policies. "If they continue to pursue a scorched-earth policy, they’ll be defeated in the next election, and the environmental rules will come out stronger as a result. There’s no way they’re going to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)."

Nader said that a Gore presidency "wouldn't have been any different in terms of military and foreign policy, soft on corporate crime. It wouldn't have been any different in ignoring the need to transfer our country to renewable energy and organic agriculture and protecting the small farmer. And it wouldn't have been any different on GATT and NAFTA and the increasing trade deficits and exporting American jobs." -- Green Party USA 1-14/02

"Let's see what really happens. Ashcroft is going to be a prisoner of bureaucracy." -- Common Dreams 4-03-2001

http://www.damnedbigdifference.org/quotes

[trumad]

13. sangh0

Great post

[Blue_Roses]

11. That's interesting.

"...the initial expectation is that Nader will score lower this year than the 2.6 percent he got in 2000. "Generally speaking, candidates do worse the second time around..."

Hmm...guess well see, but still, I just don't get it. Why run? Seems like alot of work to get less than 2.6% of the vote. My "pollyanna" view says this may help us, however, my realistic view says otherwise.

Time will tell, but one thing is for sure...this guy has a serious ego problem and he definitely needs to find someone to iron those damn shirts. He looks like he's on a 3 day drunk.

[sangh0]

17. You didn't get the memo?

Nader, with 2.6% couldn't affect politics in a positive way, but this year, with just a fraction of that 2.6%, Nader is going to create a liberal utopia.

[mmonk]

14. Yeah

conservatives and independents are standing in line. The moon is made of green cheese. The earth is flat. Get the idea?

[Cigarskunk]

15. Yeah right - just like in 2000

Like we're supposed to believe him after him and Michael Moore stoled Florida and gave it to King George Jr in 2000.

[newyawker99]

38. Hi Cigarskunk!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[lams712]

16. I agee, the Democrats who are bashing him at every turn...

...need to CHILL OUT. Let's see how the general election shapes up first. Nader might be completely irrelevant by then, or if he is a factor, it might be a cause for some soul-searching by the Democrats.

How big of a factor Ralph Nader is in the 2004 election is ENTIRELY UP TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. If they keep up their momentum of the current primary season, they won't have any problems. But if they start taking cues out of the DLC-playbook, they could be in for some trouble.

Last time I checked this was still a free country, where someone could run for President if they wanted and where people could vote for who they wanted. So please stop with the Nader bashing.

[The Magistrate]

18. Arithmetic Is So Essential To Politics, Mr. Pitt

Assuming the breakdown provided by the Greens of their voters is correct, there is a thirteen percent differential between votes drawn from Republicans and from Democrats, and thus, in Florida, by their own figures, the efforts of Wrecker Nader depressed the Democratic total by nearly thirteen thousand votes. In other words, these figures demonstrate beyond any sensible argument that without Wrecker Nader on the ballot in the last election, Vice-President Gore would have carried Florida by a margin no skullduggery by the criminals of the '00 Coup could have erased. This matter ought to be considered closed with the evidence provided by Wrecker Nader himself that his efforts in the last election did indeed provide the margin of success for the criminals of the '00 Coup.

"Kill one, warn one hundred."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Maddy McCall]

21. Same old 2000 song and dance with a new 2004 twist...

same old song and dance, except he believes that disaffected Republicans will now be a part of his base.

Um hmmm, but weren't we Dems counting on those same disaffected voters.

Regardless, I hardly perceive Republicans bypassing the Democratic candidate for Nader.

[kiahzero]

22. Didn't he say this last time?

Didn't he break his pledge last time?

[sangh0]

25. He broke his pledge already this time

"He said he would try to help Democratic nominees for the Senate in swing states."

I guess Nader's saying that Al Gore would have invaded Iraq if Gore had won the election was just Nader's way of helping the Dems in the swing states

[eyesroll]

24. Oh, oh, wee-ell now!

[mzmolly]

26. He seems to have changed his rhetoric slightly?

He claimed today to be targeting RW voters turned off by * co... :crazy:

[maddezmom]

27. relax, ok I'm relaxed

but I think he's a phoney and in this race, because of an inflated ego.

[polmaven]

28. With all his money

Wouldn't you think he could buy a clue????

his message would draw independents and conservatives disenchanted with President Bush's policies, such as the military budget, the Patriot Act and corporate subsidies.

Knock , knock....Ralph...Anyone home???? If those folks are disenchanted with Bush, THOSE ARE THE ONES WHO WILL SEAL THE DEAL FOR THE DEMOCRATS!!!!!

[Blue_Roses]

35. LOL

Excellent point!

[West Coast Democrat]

30. Ralphie say, "Relax!"

I reply to him..."Don't do it."

:-)

[kher-heb]

31. "ancient but unfulfilled aspirations of the Democratic Party"

I couldn't have said it better than that.

[Woodstock]

32. Woodstock tells Nader to go to hell

[MoonRiver]

33. And I tell Ralph

to go f&%$ himself.

[Woodstock]

34. I was too timid

but that's what I wanted to say :)

[PVnRT]

36. Wait, you mean he's NOT Satan?

Wait, I'm confused, I thought that Nader was the worst thing to happen to humanity since pain. I thought he was single-handedly going to work to destroy the party and make sure Bush gets re-elected.

You mean to say that he's mostly irrelevant this time around? NOooo!!!!

[Lefty48197]

37. Should we have relaxed for the last three years Ralph?

Relaxed while Team Bush loots the American treasury, forever stealing from our children, the right to financially secure Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid systems? Relax while the corporate America rapes the landscape by drilling in the last of our virgin winderness areas? While they pollute our air? Our water? Our roads will suffer, our hospitals will suffer, and our schools will suffer, all because George Bush was allowed to hold the door open, while his rich friends stole America's wealth.
Relax Ralph? No thanks buddy, we've got a war to win. First one to relax loses.

[sangh0]

41. Asked and answered

"In a recent Time magazine interview, when asked if he felt any regret about the 2000 election, Nader responded, "No, because it could have been worse. You could have had a Republican Congress with Gore and Lieberman." -- Time magazine, 8-05-02"

[arwalden]

39. "Relax"... Wasn't That A Song About Anal Sex?

So Ralphie wants to fuck us up the ass?

NO THANKS!

-- Allen

[HuskerDem]

43. Democrats tell Nader to shove it up his ass n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

44. HAve to add that he CAN get on the ballot via the Greens

state-by-state. We don't all have to nominate the same candidate apparently, and it sounds like my state of Maine is still up in the air over whether or not to choose him.

[Zech Marquis]

45. I just don't know

having been burnt last time, I'm not exactly eager to trust Nader. I WILL say that his stump speech could have (and probably was) taken right from Edwards or Kerry
Second, Nader calling the current residents in the WH as corporate cronies is right--I just don't see how he can call Democrats being on the same level :eyes: at least Big Dog wasn't THAT bad!

It's still far too early to panic over Nader this time. People are angry about the past 4 years, nothappy and content like they were in 2000. Do I want any going to nder? Hell no! But we should keep an eye on him nonetheless...