Ralph Nader Makes Florida Ballot

Via the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel:

Ralph Nader is back. The perennial presidential candidate will be on the Florida ballot in November. Nader's name is anathema to many Democrats in Florida becuase they blame him for President Bush's 2000 election. They argue that the votes he siphoned from Gore made Bush the winner in the state. With Florida's electoral votes, Bush became president.

The Nader campaign, and his vice presidential candidate, Matt Gonzalez, were nominated by the Ecology Party of Florida, the campaign said. Here is the Nader campaign's statement:

Gary Hecker, treasurer of the Ecology Party, is thrilled with the choice of candidates. "Nader and Gonzalez are the only candidates that truly put the environment at the forefront. Mr. Nader was instrumental in establishing the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the EPA. Nader/Gonzalez will not sell out to corporate interests. I can't believe that any real environmentalist would support anyone else."

The Nader/Gonzalez campaign has completed its goal of achieving 45 state ballots, and will be a write-in choice in four other states. Mr. Nader and Mr. Gonzalez are pleased to be allying with a party that has initiative, ecological wisdom, and an eye for the future.

In 2000, Nader received 97,426 votes in Florida. Though that was just 1.6 percent of the vote, George W. Bush won the state by just 537 votes. Had he not been on the ballot, many Democrats reason, Gore would have gotten somewhat more than half his votes, and Bush wouldn't have won the state's electoral votes and thus would not have won the presidency in that disputed election.

The Ecology Party? WTF?

Unsafe At Any Speed

Hillary's reaction:

Speaking to reporters on board her campaign plane, Mrs. Clinton expressed surprise at the news that Mr. Nader planned to run. “I don’t know what to say,” she said, when a reporter asked for comment. “Wow, that’s really unfortunate. I remember when he did this before. It’s not good for anybody, especially our country. I didn’t know that he had said that this morning. Obviously it’s not helpful to whoever our Democratic nominee is. But it’s a free country and I don’t know what party he’ll run on. What did he run on last time, does anybody remember?

The Green Party, a reporter replied.

“Well, you know his being on the Green Party prevented Al Gore from being the greenest president we’ve ever had,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And I think that’s really unfortunate.”

For those who don't remember, in 2000 Bush "won" Florida by less than 500 votes after Nader took 97,000 votes.

And here we are in this mess.

Let's not forget that the Republican Leadership Council actually ran pro-Nader ads in states where they thought he could do the most damage to Al Gore.

Spoiler Alert

Ralph Nader will appear on Meet The Press tomorrow (Sunday) morning to announce whether he plans to run for president.

Ralph Nader Sues Dems

Ralph Nader is suing the Democratic Party, claiming party officials conspired to keep him from taking votes away from John Kerry and worked to keep him off the ballot in the 2004 election.

Nader's lawsuit, filed in District of Columbia Superior Court, also named as co-defendants Kerry's campaign, the Service Employees International Union and several so-called 527 organizations such as America Coming Together, which were created to promote voter turnout on behalf of the Democratic ticket.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Democratic National Committee conspired to force Nader off the ballot in several states.

"The Democratic Party is going after anyone who presents a credible challenge to their monopoly over their perceived voters," Nader said in a statement. "This lawsuit was filed to help advance a free and open electoral process for all candidates and voters. Candidate rights and voter rights nourish each other for more voices, choices, and a more open and competitive democracy."

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the DNC tried to bankrupt Nader's campaign by suing to keep him off the ballot in 18 states. It also suggests the DNC sent Kerry supporters to crash a Nader petition drive in Portland, Ore., in June 2004, preventing him from collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot.

The lawsuit seeks "compensatory damages, punitive damages and injunctive relief to enjoin the defendants from ongoing and future violations of the law." It was not clear how much money Nader is seeking.

I'm finding it hard to find sympathy for Nader, considering that Dubya's first term was made possible by him. Still, it will be very interesting to see how this plays out.