Nader: White House pressured Democrats not to challenge Obama

[LoZoccolo]

Last edited Mon Jan 9, 2012, 12:52 AM - Edit history (1)

The consumer activist and former presidential candidate, who had been searching for a prominent Democrat to challenge President Obama, told The Hill he has given up his effort.

“I hate to say but it’s over,” Nader told The Hill.

Last year, Nader said there was an almost 100 percent chance Obama would face a primary challenge.

Obama’s reelection campaign strongly denied it discouraged potential primary candidates. In response to the campaign’s comments, Nader said that it wasn’t necessarily an official effort, but certainly came from people with close ties to the White House and Obama’s bid for second term.

Well, I don't know if they did, but did he expect them to say "it's OK, go ahead"? We're dealing with something that could damage the election, and Ralph Nader seemed to think that he could run someone more "progressive" than Obama, which doesn't make sense as a primary challenge because the presidential approval ratings get higher for liberals, with moderates next, and conservatives last.

[Bicoastal]

1. What I don't understand...

...is why Nader had any interest in pitting a Democrat against Obama in the primaries. Last time I checked, Ralph IS NOT A DEMOCRAT. So why does he care about who represents our party in the General Election?

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Nader simply wants to hamstring the Democratic party every 4 years, no matter what the cost to the nation as a whole.

[Old and In the Way]

9. I'm curious as to why Nader doesn't focus his time on getting a progressive Republican to run in the

in the Republican primary. Never seems to have anything to say about them. Maybe he only gets exposure when he's pounding on Democrats, though.


Funny, you never here or see him devote any time or energy in getting the Neanderthal Party to get more progressive and enlightened. The only problem for Nader appears to be the Democratic Party. I wonder if all of those cashed checks from Republican donors to finance his campaign against Democrats might be a root cause?

[Wait Wut]

2. You just reminded me...

...I meant to pick up some Fruit Loops at the store.

[BootinUp]

5. good one!

lol.

[UpInArms]

3. gee, Ralph - since when do you consider yourself

anything but a disruptor?

[AtomicKitten]

4. Nader is ACCUSING the White House ...

link: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/202877-nader-white-house-pressured-dems-not-to-challenge-obama-in-primary

"Ralph Nader is accusing the White House blah, blah, blah ..."

[ProSense]

7. Hmmm?

“The retaliation is incredible,” Nader said.

For example, he said if former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) had opted to run against Obama, his future in the Democratic Party would be finished.

Feingold, who considered running for the White House in 2008, has repeatedly said he will not challenge Obama and supports the president’s reelection efforts.

Fuck Ralph Nader

[karynnj]

45. That is pretty strange

Not only the highlighted "if" is hypothetical, the conclusion that "his future in the Democratic party would be finished" is one too. The fact is that Feingold lost his Senate seat and turned down overtures to run for both the open Senate seat and the Governorship.

That he is already out of the Senate may end up meaning that his public service career is over - partly through his own choice not to run. There is NO evidence that he even considered challenging Obama - before or after he left the Senate. More, the suggestion he and others - Dean etc - do so is coming completely from the grass roots - and not them.

But to play out the hypotheticals, assuming that Feingold, who hates raising campaign money and who did find the water sufficiently warm in 2004 or 2008, when there was no sitting Democratic President, did challenge Obama. Whether he could regain a Senate seat or run for Governor or some other state office will depend completely on whether the voters in his state want him.

Nader likely forgets that Reagan challenged a sitting Republican President - and it was not a career ender. For the Democrats, Ted Kennedy's career was not hurt at all by challenging Carter, he went on to become the most influential Senator.

Here, Nader is just using Feingold's good namd and reputation.

[graywarrior]

6. Nader is a snooze fest.

He needs meds.

[Wait Wut]

8. Or, less meds.

"...almost 100 percent chance Obama would face a primary challenge..."

He's gotta be high.

[graywarrior]

10. LOL!

I stand corrected.

[TransitJohn]

11. How could more ideas and candidates 'damage the election'?

I don't get that comment?

[LoZoccolo]

12. If they are fake-ass ideas like "Obama is a Republican" they could.

Also, third parties allow well-disciplined minorities to win.

[TransitJohn]

15. So 'damaging the election' is anything lessenning the chance of your guy winning. Got it. eom

n/t

[DevonRex]

17. Don't you mean our guy?

[TransitJohn]

20. I dearly wish Obama were my guy

But, sadly, he's chosen to actively work against the Party's platform. I'll probably vote for him (it's either him or write myself in), but wish we had more Democratic voices in the public discourse. So, 'our guy,' probably.

[RBInMaine]

35. More fringe purist hyperbole. Give it a rest already.

[TransitJohn]

37. I've consistently had the same positions here for 7 years.

Give what a rest already. Nice callout. DU sucks nowadays.

Calling me fringe and purist? Is that kind of nastiness necessary?

[Kolesar]

38. Nobody is forcing poor you to participate in this forum that "sucks anyway"

You certainly could find better use of your time than to needle people who post here.

[TransitJohn]

39. Right, because I started the needling.

[Kolesar]

41. Get Mom

The kids are fighting

[TransitJohn]

42. That doesn't even make any sense, you jumped down here in the muck with us. eom

n/t

[frylock]

47. that fringe purist bullshit comes from someone who can't even get dems elected in their own state..

so grain of salt and whutnot.

[Ikonoklast]

14. SEE: Current Republican Traveling Circus Of Insanity.

Do you think that slow-motion disaster is helping the Republican Party in any way?

[JDPriestly]

13. Regardless of the polls, we all would have benefitted from a challenge to Obama.

He has swung far to the right of us traditional Democrats.

[onenote]

18. And what qualifies you to be spokesperson for "us traditional Democrats"?

[Tarheel_Dem]

25. Excellent question. Last time I checked, "traditional" democrats gave him his highest ratings.

[JDPriestly]

33. Having known I was a Democrat since 1952.

And having been raised in a family of staunch FDR Democrats.

[onenote]

43. I'm sure there are plenty of others that have similar histories

and don't think you speak for them. My own history is of someone whose political identity as a Democrat dates back to 1960 and whose family were not only staunch FDR Democrats, but include my father who nearly had his career derailed because of then Congressman Richard Nixon's witch hunt against "leftists" who had belonged to the Lawyers Guild.

I know you don't speak for me or the members of my family.

[Leopolds Ghost]

49. So onenote, its one thing to support Obama in all this. It's another to claim he hasn't veered right

So?

[SunsetDreams]

50. and it's another to claim onenote said anything like that

onenote: "I'm sure there are plenty of others that have similar histories

and don't think you speak for them. My own history is of someone whose political identity as a Democrat dates back to 1960 and whose family were not only staunch FDR Democrats, but include my father who nearly had his career derailed because of then Congressman Richard Nixon's witch hunt against "leftists" who had belonged to the Lawyers Guild.

I know you don't speak for me or the members of my family."

[Tx4obama]

16. Well, look at it this way ....

IF there was someone that had wanted to run and they didn't because the White House said "don't do it" then that person whoever it could have been, in my opinion, would be a huge wimp without a spine - and therefore shouldn't be running for the position in the first place

[Number23]

19. Anybody that didn't see this coming, let me know

I gotta bridge to sell you -- cheap.

Nader puts the word out about challenging a man with an 80+% approval rating among Dems combined with 90% approval rating among blacks and of course no one answers.

But it can't possibly be that people see right through his laughably absurd attempts to weaken the president or don't have any suicidal tendencies of becoming an international laughingstock and the butt of jokes for decades to come. Oh no, no one stepped up because Obama TOLD THEM NOT TO.

Thanks, Ralph. Yeah, you run with that.

[beyurslf]

21. Nader has NO SAY in who represents my party for president.

he is not a Democrat. Go run in your has been party and leave us alone.

[powergirl]

22. Picture of Ralph Nader and Ron Paul - they have so much in common

In a 2011 interview on Freedom Watch, libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) and progressive Ralph Nader displayed a remarkable agreement on a number of issues. While he was quick to point out that he could not speak for all progressives, Ralph Nader spoke of libertarians:

“To the extent they are genuine libertarian conservatives and not corporatists…they are great allies with many liberals and progressives: to challenge the bloated and wasteful military budgets; to challenge undeclared wars overseas; to challenge hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare, handouts, giveaways and bailouts; to challenge invasiveness of our civil liberties and civil rights by the notorious Patriot Act..”

http://www.electcollett.com/tag/ralph-nader/

[woo me with science]

24. Nader was interviewed this morning on C-Span.

Good interview, actually. He talked about the issues he and Paul are aligned on (e.g., wars, the increasing police/surveillance state), but also drew sharp distinctions between them, particularly on Social Security and Medicare.

Asked if he would ever consider being Paul's running mate, he said that no, he would never do that.

[Kolesar]

40. Did Ralph bother to get a haircut before he went on TV?

His hair usually looks like a used Brillo* pad.

*Brillo, trademark

[frazzled]

23. Where is there even a shred of evidence in this?

The best it seems he can come up with is "For example, he said if former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) had opted to run against Obama, his future in the Democratic Party would be finished." Wha? Russ Feingold, on his own, lost his Senate seat in 2010. What standing would he have to challenge the president (which, as the article states, he had no intention of doing: "Feingold, who considered running for the White House in 2008, has repeatedly said he will not challenge Obama and supports the president’s reelection efforts.&quot . How could the WH threaten to finish his future in the Democratic Party when he had already suffered a defeat and lost his seat?

This is nothing but a bunch of unsubstantiated ooga-booga: "'The retaliation is incredible,' Nader said." That's it? I can't believe The Hill printed these completely unsubstantiated charges.

(PS: I do hope Russ Feingold has a future in the Democratic Party, but it will not have anything to do with Ralph Nader.)

[Tarheel_Dem]

26. My guess is that Russ Feingold wouldn't want his name linked to Nader's, in any way. Ever!

[MFrohike]

27. How is this news?

If true, this would hardly be the first president to do it. As long as we're not talking about illegal activity or punishing constituents, it's not really an issue at all.

[Tarheel_Dem]

28. Every 4 years, they let this asshole out of his crypt, only to challenge the Democratic Party.

His criticisms are always of the Democratic Party. Why is that?

[opihimoimoi]

29. If they did, I would say its the Smartest thing to do...a no brainer...why give Nader an op to fuck

things?

[MilesColtrane]

30. Has anybody asked Nader lately why he didn't register as a Democrat and run against Obama?

[Motown_Johnny]

31. from nearly a 100% chance to no chance at all

Maybe the guy is just freaking delusional and can't grasp it.

People should stop encouraging him, it isn't helping.

[joshcryer]

32. So, rather than admit he was wrong and that his view of the Democratic Party...

...was skewed by internal biases, and that he felt that Obama was going to be primaries for those reasons, he pulls the "political corruption" card.

If I were Nader and there were people who wouldn't run I would out them, I would call them out, I would back up such an extremely strong allegation.

[RBInMaine]

34. Nader is a joke.

[WI_DEM]

44. Nader with his hate of the democratic party is losing grip on reality

he now has to fabricate the reasons why nobody in the party took him up on his offer to help them challenge President Obama. If he was serious he would be out there helping Darcy Richardson--isn't he undermining his challenge to Obama by saying 'it's over'--apparently Darcy, who has supported and helped Nader in the past, isn't good enough for Ralphie boy.

[Bluenorthwest]

46. Ralph is not a Democrat, and on electoral politics, he's out to lunch. For a few cycles

now. Well known fact among most of us.
Noel Gallagher was good on the Norton Show. The song was excellent, and he was funny in the chat part. I'd take more interest in his take on our elections than Nader's.

[Skidmore]

48. Amazing how ole Ralph never flings poo at the Rs.