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07/10/2004:
"The Nader/Dean 'Debate'"
by Erin Kelly Burlington (VT) FreePressWASHINGTON -- Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader accused Howard Dean in a debate Friday of going from an "insurgent" Democrat to "the detergent of the dirty laundry of the Democratic Party."
"The old Howard Dean has turned into Howard Dean II," Nader said during the hourlong debate. Nader repeatedly chastised Dean -- former Vermont governor and one-time Democratic presidential front-runner -- for turning from rival to ally of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry.
Dean chuckled at Nader's "detergent comment," but warned that Nader's candidacy could hurt some of the poorest Americans by taking away votes from Kerry and helping President Bush be re-elected.
"This year we're faced with an extraordinary emergency," Dean said, accusing the Bush administration of waging an ill-advised war in Iraq, favoring the rich with its tax policies and dismantling environmental protection laws.
"I am desperate to send George Bush back to Crawford, Texas," Dean said.
The politicians squared off in a debate at the National Press Club sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. It was aired on National Public Radio and televised on C-SPAN.
For Dean, who dropped out of the race in the spring after a string of losses in the primaries, the debate was a chance to help the Kerry campaign by trying to convince progressive voters that a vote for Nader is really a vote for Bush. Dean has formed a group called Democracy for America to raise money for Kerry and Democratic congressional candidates.
Nader tried to turn the debate back on Dean, frequently reading anti-Kerry quotes from speeches that the former governor gave while he was still a presidential hopeful; among them: attacks on Kerry as a "Washington insider" and "a special interest clone."
"We don't want to settle for the lesser of two evils in this country," Nader said, again quoting Dean.
Dean said he has differences with Kerry, but said those differences are nothing compared to those he and most Democrats have with Bush.
"I believe that in the end the people I care about will be better served by a John Kerry presidency than a George Bush presidency," Dean said.
Dean angered Nader by charging that many of the people who are signing Nader's petitions to get on state ballots are Republicans or, in the case of one Oregon group, anti-gay activists whose main goal is to defeat Kerry. Nader accused Dean of trying to "smear him."
At one point, NPR host Margot Adler asked Dean what advice he would give Nader. Dean replied: "Lighten up."
Nader laughed: "That's better than what I thought he would say."
What this story does not report, or any others I have found, was Nader's response to Dean's criticism that right-wingers are contributers to the Nader campaign. His response was that Kerry accepts contributions from corporations that are under Federal indictment. Dean was flustered and said he would talk to Kerry about it. Ha.
Well, any Vermonter who remembers Dean's years as governor was surprised enough that this extremely conservative, corporate-friendly guy emerged as the Democratic front-runner as an anti-war, anti-big business populist maverick. I am sure it was a calculated move to the left on his part, and now his reemergence as 'attack-dog' for Kerry signals a shift to territory which is probably more comfortable for him, as he begs Nader not to upset the apple-cart.
In the interview posted below, Nader describes the Democrats' dirty tricks intended to deny Nader a place on the ballot in many states.
The trouble with the Democrats is that they are simply not as good at dirty tricks as the Republicans. The Republicans are so very good at what they do, and the degree to which Democrats attempt to move to the right to take votes from them is the degree to which they are going to lose this election. In fact, the Democrats have already lost this election. They should save their money and give up now. One captured Osama, one little terrorist attack if things are looking a little dicey, and that will be it.
Dean was supposedly the 'anti-war' candidate last fall and winter, and now he's dispatched by Kerry to attack the anti-war candidate. Kerry might as well be Johnson, and this might as well be 1964. Whoever wins, this global travesty will continue. Only three US Senators who voted for this war based on lies said they would have voted differently had they not been bamboozled by Bush and the CIA. That pretty much says it all. It is ironic that Nader is called 'the spoiler.'
As for Dean, he is simply repugnant. "Hypocrite' does not even begin to cover it. He is a small-minded man of small ideas and an extremely shaky hold on any semblance of integrity. I was pretty horrified that he got as far as he did, but even here in Vermont, people ran to suspend their disbelief for the sake of the 'Anyone But Bush' notion.
This is the season of despair, and there are terrible years ahead.
Nader Calls Kerry a "Puppet" For Israel, Charges Dems With "Mini-Watergate":Democracy Now interview
