Are Democrats running for Bush? Against Nader?
The Democrats war on Nader
August 6, 2004
This all-out effort against Nader stands in stark contrast to the way that state Democrats made sure that George W. Bush was on the ballot. The late date of this year's Republican Party convention meant that Bush would not be able to meet a state deadline requiring that the official nominee be named by August 30.
So Democrats, led by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, helped pass an amendment allowing an exception for Bush. It’s enough to make you wonder who the Democrats are really running harder against: Bush or Nader?
Who’s in bed with the right?
"SPOILED," SELF-IMPORTANT," "a vanity campaign"--all this and more has been said about Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign, often enough by former supporters and sympathizers. But no slur has made the rounds with as much zeal as the charge that Nader--breaking with four decades of liberal activism against corporate abuses and political corruption--has jumped into bed with the right wing of the Republican Party.
Thus, Jeff Cohen, of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and the former communications director of Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign, recently complained about "how readily Nader has accepted the right-wing help"--citing a San Francsico Chronicle report that one in 10 Nader donors giving $1,000 or more had also donated to Bush and the Republicans.
Actually, Republicans have contributed only about $50,000 out of the total $1 million that Nader has raised--in other words, a drop in the bucket. Nader’s liberal attackers won’t tell you that. Nor will they mention the tens of millions of dollars in contributions for the Democratic Party from huge corporations--including those with longstanding ties to the Republicans.
For example, according to the Campaign Finance Institute, 24 "double-giver" companies--including General Electric, CitiGroup, Coca-Cola, DaimlerChrysler, Pfizer and AT&T--contributed both to the New York host committee for the Republican convention and the Boston host committee for the Democrats. Nader, of course, takes no corporate money for his campaign.
As left-wing writer Joshua Frank put it on the CounterPunch Web site, "Clearly, conservative money and support, which is minimal at best, is aiding Nader's efforts to get his name on certain state ballots. But Democrats are also guilty of having their hand in a tainted cookie jar. "The difference being, Nader is unlikely to be persuaded by such support. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for his opposition."
August 6, 2004
This all-out effort against Nader stands in stark contrast to the way that state Democrats made sure that George W. Bush was on the ballot. The late date of this year's Republican Party convention meant that Bush would not be able to meet a state deadline requiring that the official nominee be named by August 30.
So Democrats, led by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, helped pass an amendment allowing an exception for Bush. It’s enough to make you wonder who the Democrats are really running harder against: Bush or Nader?
Who’s in bed with the right?
"SPOILED," SELF-IMPORTANT," "a vanity campaign"--all this and more has been said about Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign, often enough by former supporters and sympathizers. But no slur has made the rounds with as much zeal as the charge that Nader--breaking with four decades of liberal activism against corporate abuses and political corruption--has jumped into bed with the right wing of the Republican Party.
Thus, Jeff Cohen, of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and the former communications director of Dennis Kucinich’s presidential campaign, recently complained about "how readily Nader has accepted the right-wing help"--citing a San Francsico Chronicle report that one in 10 Nader donors giving $1,000 or more had also donated to Bush and the Republicans.
Actually, Republicans have contributed only about $50,000 out of the total $1 million that Nader has raised--in other words, a drop in the bucket. Nader’s liberal attackers won’t tell you that. Nor will they mention the tens of millions of dollars in contributions for the Democratic Party from huge corporations--including those with longstanding ties to the Republicans.
For example, according to the Campaign Finance Institute, 24 "double-giver" companies--including General Electric, CitiGroup, Coca-Cola, DaimlerChrysler, Pfizer and AT&T--contributed both to the New York host committee for the Republican convention and the Boston host committee for the Democrats. Nader, of course, takes no corporate money for his campaign.
As left-wing writer Joshua Frank put it on the CounterPunch Web site, "Clearly, conservative money and support, which is minimal at best, is aiding Nader's efforts to get his name on certain state ballots. But Democrats are also guilty of having their hand in a tainted cookie jar. "The difference being, Nader is unlikely to be persuaded by such support. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for his opposition."
posted by theoneandonly at 12:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home