Ralph Nader Suing Democrats For Undermining 2004 Race
By Gordon Bishop (12/28/07)
Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader, a 2004 independent presidential candidate, has sued the Democrat Party, contending officials conspired to keep him from taking votes away from nominee John Kerry, who lost his bid for presidency to President George W. Bush.
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 Democrat ticket.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Democrat National Committee conspired to force Nader off the ballot in several states.
“The Democrat Party is going after anyone who presents a credible challenge to their monopoly over their perceived voters,” Nader said in a media statement. “This lawsuit was filed to help advance a free and open electoral process for candidates and voters. Candidate rights and voter rights nourish each other for more voices, choices and a more open and competitive democracy.”
For the record, Ralph, America is not a “democracy.” The United States was founded as a Constitutional Republic. You cannot find the word “democracy” in the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence or any other founding documents.
Our founders had read the famed Greek Philosopher Plato, who warned that “democracy leads to anarchy” – which is “”mob rule.
Among other things, Nader’s lawsuit alleges that the Democrat National Committee (DNC) tried to bankrupt Nader’s campaign by suing to keep him off the ballot in 18 states.
The suit also suggests the DNC sent Kerry supporters to crash a Nader petition drive in Portland, Oregon, 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.”
Nader’s attorney, Bruce Afran, argued that the DNC would be terrified of having the case come to trial. He said he hoped the committee would choose to settle the case and apologize.
“This is a case designed to make sure other independent and third party candidates will not be subject to the same kind of conspiracy in the future,” Afran said.
Nader received 463,653 votes in the election, or 0.38 percent of all votes cast.
DNC spokesman Luis Miranda declined comment on the suit, citing a policy on pending litigation.
I know Ralph Nader, as I have written articles about him as far back as 1969 when I worked as a reporter/columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest daily newspaper.
I was a real fan of Ralph because he wasn’t afraid to take on the “Big Guys” in America, such as General Motors and other giants whom he felt were not being fair to consumers.
Nader’s first book, “Unsafe At Any Speed,” was about a GM vehicle, the Covair, which Nader exposed as a poorly built vehicle. He took on GM – and won. The rest is history. Nader became a household word.
Young journalist like me and others in the 1960s loved writing about this indefatigable graduate of Princeton University who founded the then popular Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).
I helped promote PIRG’s mission in the late 1960s and ‘70s. That was before I became a fiscal conservative independent in the 1990s. I and others like me would say, “The only thing that’s constant is change.” So as we got older, we changed.
I remember picking up Nader at Newark Airport in late 1969 or early 1970 to drive him to a New Jersey university to deliver a speech on the environment. I was driving a blue 2-door Beetle Volkswagen. I tooted the horn and Nader came over to my car. I opened the window and said, “I’m Gordon Bishop, Hop in. I’ll drive you to The Star-Ledger.”
Holding his leather shoulder bag, he leaned over and said, “No thanks. I’ll take a taxi.”
Nader would not get into any car he believed was not safe.
His speech on the environment was about the impact of fossil fuels on the environment needed to generate electricity. Air and water pollution in the 1960s and ‘70s were a major issue, and still are today.
Needless to say, I gave Nader a big article in the paper that he could put into his energy-environment file for future reference.
I kept in touch with Nader for a few years and went on to other challenges, such as writing history books about New Jersey and Urban Life in Newark, NJ.
I’m still doing it. My 13th book came out in September about two young brothers ages 11 and 12 and life along the Hackensack River in North Jersey, where I grew up in the ‘40s and ‘50s with my year-older brother.
It’s been a great life so far.
Gordon Bishop
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