Bush Has Already Won, Ralph Nader Declares

Might as well vote your conscience and vote NADER!

Bush Has Already Won the 2004 Contest, Ralph Nader Declares

BY MILES BENSON
c.2004 Newhouse News Service

WASHINGTON -- Democrat John Kerry has already lost the 2004 presidential race and the country should get ready for another four years of Republican George W. Bush's leadership, Ralph Nader said Thursday.

"Bush is mocking him, he's taunting him," Nader said. "There's no strategy by the Democrats."

Nader, battling to get on ballots as an independent presidential candidate, predicted Bush would win by a margin so large that his own candidacy would not be seen as a factor in the outcome. Democratic leaders blamed Nader for former Vice President Al Gore's loss to Bush in 2000.

"The telltale sign" of looming defeat is the Democrats' failure to register 9 million black voters, Nader told reporters.

"They're going to lose it because John Kerry has surrounded himself with corporate consultants who represent some of the seediest and most craven companies and industries, and they are not letting him think for himself," said Nader, whose fight against corporate influence over government and politics is his own rationale for running.

Kerry "blew it," Nader said, by neglecting the Democratic Party's historic roots.

"The biggest winning strategy for the Kerry campaign is the living wage. One of every three workers doesn't make a living wage. That is what the Democratic party used to stand for."

With just under eight weeks remaining before Election Day, Nader said Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., have "lost the clarity of being an alternative to Bush and Cheney, even though this is the most vulnerable administration in many years."

The Kerry campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Political analysts, however, believe the contest is far from over.

"My guess is that this is Ralph Nader seeking revenge against Democrats for their attacks on him and keeping him off the ballot in a number of states," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

"It's also Nader's attempt to get more Kerry people to cast protest votes for him," Sabato said, calling this "a self-serving analysis." If Nader convinces Kerry supporters that their candidate can't win, "they can vote for Nader without guilt."

Right now, things look grim for Kerry, Sabato acknowledged. "But in early August," he added, "most analysts thought Bush was done for. So we've got 54 days to go and a lot could happen and probably will. This is a wild year. I wouldn't bet a nickel on the election results right now."

But Kerry and the Democrats have indeed failed to make a strong effort to register black voters, said Ron Walters, a black political activist and University of Maryland political scientist.

"Nader is absolutely right about this," Walters said. "It's one of those subterranean stories nobody wants to talk about because Kerry could lose."

While Democrats have raised enormous amounts of money in this campaign, Walters said, funds are only "trickling in" to traditional black voter registration groups.

The independent political organizations known as 527s raised $150 million, he said, "but they have not used it very effectively -- they have tried to substitute people with Palm Pilots and Blackberries for the success we had over the years."

Walters said the problem was a hot topic of behind-the-scenes discussion Thursday at a Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall Meeting, part of a three-day legislative conference that he said drew 35,000 attendees.

Overall, however, Thomas Mann, an analyst at the Brookings Institution, called Nader's comments "utterly foolish." He suggested that Nader "team up with Sen. Zell Miller," the Georgia Democrat who delivered the strongest attack on Kerry at the Republican National Convention.

"The election remains intensely competitive with Kerry benefitting from the war in Iraq and the economy, and Bush, thus far, the better campaign. It's too close to call," Mann said.

Mann nonetheless said that he "leans toward" a Kerry victory.

Georgetown University political scientist Stephen Wayne took issue with Nader's remarks.
"I don't think the election has been decided yet," Wayne said in a telephone interview, although he believes Bush holds the advantage at the moment. "Kerry does have his work cut out for him and I wouldn't bet a lot of money on him, but I don't think he'll lose big, if he loses."

http://www.newhouse.com/archive/benson091004.html

Wow. A largely irrelevant attention whore (Nader, that is) says something to get attention. In the words of Garfield, big fat hairy deal.

ralph nader is a toal choad.

nader is the coolest

dude i havnt heard choad in a minute

man considering the damage that idiot did in his first four years i dread to see what he can destroy in another four.

"newhouse news service"?

Where do you dig this garbage up, stock? It's laughable.

I love that you had to qualify that...I mean, who else could wear such a label?

Actually, Newhouse is a legitimate news service, though (I think, though I could be wrong) less widely circulated than the AP and Reuters. They're right of center, which might explain them pairing this headline with text that doesn't really support anything Nader says. It's pretty clear it's just sour grapes.

Oh, and I love how he drags out an argument about the living wage and black voters when his campaign has never had any support to speak of from either African Americans or the working poor.

I agree

And their founder has a Staten Island Ferry Named after him. They're actually a major, if not exactly glamorous conglomerate. They own a couple of dozen newspapers, mostly in mid sized cities have a wire and a pretty significant columnist syndicate.

Nader, on the other hand, needs to have a house dropped on him post haste.

This would be S.I.Newhouse, yes?

Reuters, he ain't.

What, mudslinging? the GOP has always done that. Christ, look at Bill Clinton, don't think they weren't calling him "Slick Willy" for no reason, that's what they do... Nader needs to get a clue. He runs for office, and it's as if he's missed out on years and years of politics.

I think it was LBJ who (and this is true), claimed an opponent of his was having sexual relations w/ get this, a PIG... "Make them Deny It", that's how they work. That is why they don't care... We're Evil, and "Go Fuck Yourself".

It's no better than the crap Nader has to say. Nader has to run to keep his name out there so he can cash in on speaking fees and book deals

you have to give nader some respect the guys done a-lot of good for the country, calling him a total choad is a little f'd up... but lately it does seem hes turned a bit bitter and is just reacching for any sort of media attention.

Yeah, he was the patron saint of the Republican Party in 2000.

Nader's a hypocritical egomaniac whose major contributions to society were a long, long time ago.

Nader's points are very valid. Hate him all you want, but take a look at what he's saying. Kerry will NOT win. Which means, of course, I'm going to have to move to Australia. Seriously, read what he has to say. I don't think his critique of the Kerry campaign, or its hubris, is off-base.

Nader's critique of the Democratic party begins and ends with the fact that will not embrace a completely untenable, far left position. Nader doesn't have to worry about persuading people to support his agenda, implementing it, or paying for it, so he can say whatever he wants. When he comes up with a way to destroy corporate America without crippling the global economy, then he'll have something to say. until then he's just a narcissistic spoiler with no answers to a complex and largely intractable series of problems.

Don't you have anything better to do than rip on "irrelevant" "narcissistic spoilers"?

Like maybe finding a candidate worth voting for, so that even a small fraction of the 50 to 100 million non-voters in this country would feel motivated to show up to the polls and support your guy? Shit. If your boy had any real support this election would be a cakewalk.

Your guy is being beaten by "none of the above"-- a candidate that spends no money, has no platform, runs no tv commercials, has no yard signs, and isn't even on the ballot in any of the 50 states. When are you Republicrats going to understand that what you're doing is actually doing more damage to democracy than any third party candidate could ever hope to-- no matter how narcissistic he might be?

[Edited on Sep 11, 2004 by ichimunki]

I cant take much more of this nonsense.. Republican or Democratic..
I think I may be getting the hell out of here too.. We'll all be killed eventually...

Got news for you pal the dems already have. That was the basis for Zell Miller's book. I was a moderate Democrat. Pro defense, mostly for organized labor. Against abortion on demand. There isn't a place for me. The only people that can win the nomination now are Hippie/Yankee Liberals. The DLC has been marginalized. I didn't leave the democrats. The democrats left me. the leadership of the party has done more to help Bush than he could have done himself. Lieberman staked out a centrist postion and couldn't get traction to save his life.

Edited to add:

I do wish Nader would shut the hell up.


[Edited on Sep 11, 2004 by FermatsEnigma]

Makes me want to hire somebody to rear-end me while I'm driving a Pinto in protest.

(That has to be just about the worst sentence I've ever formulated.)

No. . sorry. . . my point was far from clear. I meant to say that his critique of how they are running the Kerry campaign has some merit. Kerry's campaign managers don't have the touch or the intelligence to match the diabolical genius of Rove.

that's because i'm bringing it back, baby. get on the wagon while it's fresh.

me type pretty one day.

[Edited on Sep 11, 2004 by jewcy]