Nader Speaks

"When I talked to Kerry, I cautioned him that if he did not order a stop to the dirty tricks of his Democratic underlings and allies, he may face a mini-Watergate type of scandal. For Democrats and Republicans who care about civil liberties, free speech and an equal right to run for elective office, this festering situation should invite their very focused demands to cease and desist."

So goes an article by Ralph Nader in the Washington Post (dt. 9/5/2004, registration required). He was writing about the dirty tricks Democrats were waging, including threatening an elderly lady who was collecting ballot signatures on his behalf in Oregon.

If this is true, Kerry needs to call off the dogs, and apologize publicly. In any case, he should address Nader's charge. No use crying foul over Bush's dirty tricks (admittedly on a much grander scale than anything the Democrats have probably thought up) when engaged in similar behavior yourself. But perhaps I am being overly optimistic. Kerry's call to be optimists, not opponents, urging a positive campaign, is probably limited to his encounters with Bush, in his mind.

Nader continues:

"Watching their bullying maneuvers and harassing lawsuits around the country, I marvel at the absence of condemnation by Sen. John F. Kerry or Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chairman."

"Sen. Kerry told us that he would look into this situation seven weeks ago but we have not heard back from him yet. Around the same time, McAuliffe told me in a phone conversation that he actively approved of these organized efforts, one of which is ironically called the Ballot Project. He urged me to run only in the 31 states considered to be locked up by one of the two candidates."