Thursday, July 1. 2004
From the NYTimes: Odd Alliances Form in Efforts to Place Nader on the Ballot WASHINGTON, June 30 — In his search for access to the ballot, Ralph Nader can sometimes seem as if he has never met a third party he did not like.
After all, Mr. Nader, the left-leaning consumer advocate, and Patrick J. Buchanan, the right-leaning commentator, hardly seem like political soul mates. But four years after Mr. Buchanan won the endorsement of the Reform Party, Mr. Nader has succeeded him as the party's standard-bearer.
His alignment with the Reform Party is but one example of how Mr. Nader is facing such daunting forces to get his name on statewide ballots this year that he is seeking support from groups that do not necessarily share his long-held liberal beliefs.
Mr. Nader's efforts have only intensified given that last weekend he was spurned by the Green Party, which endorsed him for president in 1996 and 2000.
He is also getting helping from other unexpected quarters. Democrats have sued to keep Mr. Nader off the ballot in Arizona and Illinois and may be planning a similar challenge in Texas, but Republicans and some conservative groups in Oregon, Arizona and Wisconsin are feverishly, if not cynically, mobilizing to get him on ballots in those states in a drive to siphon votes from the likely Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry.
Mr. Nader said in an interview on Wednesday that "there's no quid pro quo" with the Reform Party or any other that would require him to alter his views.
But political analysts say that by turning to parties that may not be consistent with his ideology and reaping benefits from Republican operatives, Mr. Nader risks tarnishing his longtime reputation as a champion for consumer causes.
"He's grasping at straws," Ross K. Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University, said of Mr. Nader's alliance with the Reform Party, which drew most of its votes in the last three presidential elections from disaffected Republicans. "It suggests that this is somebody acting with a degree of desperation. He has a drive to run that propels him, irrespective of the consequences. He risks appearing to be a figure of ridicule."
...Shawn O'Hara, national chairman of the Reform Party, which was founded by Ross Perot, sought to play down differences with Mr. Nader. He insisted that Mr. Nader's views were not entirely out of synch with the party..."We've moved to the center," Mr. O'Hara said, while conceding that he once favored the execution of doctors and nurses who performed abortions but now embraced abortion rights as provided by federal law, as Mr. Nader does. Umm...that's rather a large leap, not just a 'move'. This is who you want to be doing business with, Ralph? You're THAT desperate? I admire wanting to get your message out, but what message are you really sending? And continuing to claim that this will not give the election to Dubya in those states is hubris of epic proportions. Why else would his party be helping you out?! The goodness of their hearts? Very badly played.
[emphasis mine]
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