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Nader Files Lawsuit in Maine; Democrats Targeted for Campaign Tactics
AUGUSTA, Maine - The 2004 presidential election may seem like ancient political history to many by now.
But if former candidate Ralph Nader has his way, some of the nasty, behind-the-scenes campaign tactics in the 2004 race for the White House will be re-aired later this year in, of all places, a courthouse in rural Washington County, Maine.
Nader has filed a lawsuit in Washington County against the Democratic National Committee and its former leaders, the Maine Democratic Party, the Kerry-Edwards campaign and others alleging the defendants used illegal and malicious tactics to attempt to keep Nader off the ballot in Maine and more than a dozen other states.
The court filing in late November - more than five years after the 2004 election - begs two important questions.
First, why now?
Second, why Maine? And more specifically, why Washington County, the easternmost county in the U.S. and also one of the most sparsely populated in the Northeast?
Nader attorneys said the answers to those two questions are actually related.
The longtime consumer advocate and political crusader first filed in a Washington, D.C., court in 2007, but the case was dismissed because the three-year statute of limitations had expired. The court indicated that the case could have merits, according to attorney Oliver Hall.
The legal window to file complaints in Maine is 6 years. And Maine was one of the places where Nader alleges Democratic party officials actively worked to keep his name off the ballot.
Nader appears to have chosen Washington County Superior Court for a venue because two of his electors in the state - Nancy Oden and J. Noble Snowdeal, both of Jonesboro - are county residents. A third plaintiff, Rosemary Whittaker, lives in South Portland.
Asked about the delay, Hall said it simply took time to put together a case involving so many people working against Nader in at least 17 states plus the District of Columbia. The Maine case is the first filed in a state court, although others could follow, he said.
"No candidate has ever faced the type of coordinated, nationwide effort to prevent him from running for political office as Ralph Nader did in 2004," Hall said.
Arden Manning, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, scoffed at the allegations of a nationwide, anti-Nader conspiracy. He also pointed out that while the lawsuit was filed in Maine, other states are featured much more prominently in the complaint.
Manning said it is legal in Maine and elsewhere to challenge petition signatures to get a candidate or an issue on the ballot.
"To argue that there was a vast conspiracy against Ralph Nader is laughable," said Manning, who did not work for the Maine Dems in 2004. "The truth is Ralph Nader lacked the support to qualify for the ballot" by substantial margins.
A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee said they had not yet received the lawsuit and could not comment.
In their complaint, Nader's attorneys allege that Democratic Party leaders "agreed and conspired to launch a nationwide assault of litigation that was unfounded and abusive, which would drain the candidate's campaign of time, money and other resources, in a deliberate attempt to use the sheer burden of litigation itself as a means to prevent the candidate from running for public office."
Twenty-four complaints were filed in state venues challenging Nader's paperwork to qualify for the ballot while five were filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The complaint alleges that the Democratic operatives were still bitter about Nader's role in Al Gore's hair-splitting loss to the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000. Although Nader received less than 3 percent of the vote in 2000, many Democrats believe those votes would likely have otherwise gone to Gore had Nader not run on the Green Party ticket.
Democrats' legal maneuverings to block Nader were ultimately unsuccessful in most states, including Maine. But they succeeded in draining the Nader campaign of the time and money needed to gain ballot access in several states.
The complaint also charges that the defendants harmed Nader's professional reputation by falsely accusing him of fraud and damaged the structure under which third-party or independent candidates can run for president. The defendants are also accused of harassing or causing financial harm to Nader supporters, including those in Maine.
Although the lawsuit was filed with Washington County Superior Court in late November, the subpoenas have just been delivered to defendants in recent days because earlier copies were apparently lost in the mail, Hall said. Manning read the complaint for the first time on Wednesday.
27 Comments so far
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Before we hear from all those who say Nader cost Gore the 2000 election - Gore didn't even carry his own state of Tennessee. Nuff said.
Secondly, many who have criticized Nader because his runs allegedly hurt the Democratic party are now much more understanding of why he ran in the first place - most dems are not that much different than repubs - at least at the national level. Would love to see a complete list of politicos of both parties who belong to the C Street Gang of political evangelicals out to rule the world . .
I never blamed Nader. I blame James Baker, the fixer, Daddy's friend.
Also don't forget that Nader stated that in the 2000 election in Florida that for every Democrat that voted for Nader there were 12 Democrats that voted for Bush.
I hope he is able to show the country the undemocratic Democrats for what they really are.
Clinton cost Gore the 2000 election. If Clinton had admitted that he got the BJ, the Monica story would have died instantly (the Republicans were counting on Clinton fibbing to give the story "legs")and Gore would have won in 2000, even with GI Joe Lieberman in the VP slot.
Who gives a shit about the BJ? Clinton was just like Obama, a puppet of the top 1%. They sold us Billie and Barney. And Bush never won an election for President. The Democrats just handed it over to him. Nader was a big threat for speaking truth to the people of this nation. Such a weird event for us. We are so full of the lies that we not only believe them but speak them ourselves as if they were true.
Please try and get this. The Democrats and the Republicans are fronts for the same bunch of rich boys in those secret organizations. Who the hell is running this nation? It sure ain't us. No way can this mess be called a democracy. We still have a slight chance of changing things. Don't vote for the corrupt that are in Congress and voing against the people. Kick out the corrupt!! If they voted for the bankster bailout, for the expansion of the wars and did not support Single Payer Medicare for all they are not worth your vote.
Don't fall for the PR that will be telling you lies on lies before the next election. Can't you learn when you see that Obama is just the same (but a little paler) than Bush? Democrat = Republican Republican = Democrat. They are the same corporate beast.
Remember when Kerry lost because of Ohio. Only 1 out of 4 Democratic voters who went to vote actually had their votes counted for one reason or another.
His response was extremely tepid. That shows you that these Dems know that it's not really all that important to win because their lives (and ours) won't change that much.
If it had been you or I that had won we would have been screaming from the rooftops that the election had been stolen and demanding an investigation or there would be no business done in DC until it the investigation was complete.
Look at the investigation by the newspaper consortium which printed on 09/10/2002 that said the 2000 Florida election should have gone to Gore. Did the Dems even mention it?
Inside the Beltway the "villagers" take care of each other, not us.
But Gore did win in Florida and thus the presidency - but caved in to those Brooks Brothers rioters. Even if Gore hadn't had the election stolen by the black-robed golpistas, he would have turned out just like Obama is turning our to be.
in 2004, down here in Pennsylvania, several Democrat state house members conspired to deliver over a million in state-paid bonuses to state employed staffers, who were illegally put to work scouring Nader (And Green Party Senate candidate Carl Romanelli's) ballot petition signatures for the tiniest errors. They succeeded and both were thrown off the 2004 ballot (except the absentee ballots).
The republicans then had a field day with this - calling it "Bonusgate". The Democrats then retaliated against the Republicans by suing _Nader_ for the money spent examining the petitions, which they had to pay back to the state.
I'm not making this up!
Democrats are vile, but there is a special place in hell for Pennsylvania Democrats.
Litigate them until they cry. Drain their resources. Expose them for the dirty underhanded cheats and liars that they are.
Never be fooled by that corrupt party again.
Ask yourself;
Why do you suppose they feared Ralph?
"Ask yourself;
Why do you suppose they feared Ralph?"
Because Ralph Nader called it like it is. He spoke the truth.
Nothing better exposes the moral bankrupcy of the Democratic Party. Rather than spending efforts to reach out to the tens of millions of Americans who are turned off by the political system, the Democrats spent millions to deny Americans even a minimal choice.
Americans have dozens of choices for beer and potato chips, but virtually no choice in the voting booth.
too bad gore did not win. i really think he would have prevented 9/11, because he would have read the briefing book about usama that bush failed to digest. he was on vacation chopping brush, when he should have been warning the airlines. for all gore's faults, lack of diligence is not one of them. i know he's not popular in the common dreams circle, but i believe gore would have stood up to the generals and these right wing idiots a lot better than obama has. because he's not the kind of man whom american wish to drink a beer with, he lost to the folksy idiot, who then let cheney eat his lunch. i don't blame nader. everyone has a right to run. but, i do blame the system. in a truly democratic country, nader and gore would have formed a center left coalition, since their combined vote exceeded 51%. remember, that's the same percentage reagan got in the 1980 election , with mainstream commentators hailing a reagan landside. by contrast, the 2000 election was just ol' madison and hamilton keeping the majority from ruling, and, they may have gotten a good laugh out of it. i truly wish gore had won. he's not the kinda guy who's gonna sit around and watch polls all day. he'd have kicked some tails, the right ones, i do believe. just my guess about the history that i wish he's made.
So, big Al allows Lieberman to be on his ticket? Al Gore is as "bought and paid for" as any of them. Get-a-grip-dude!
Gore may have prevented 9/11 through diligence, or just by having a different set of insiders. After all, it seems clear that there were insiders in the Bush administration who enabled 9/11. We lack a smoking gun merely due to an effective cover-up. There is much stronger evidence of the cover-up than of the deed itself.
The real tragedy in 2000 was Gore's refusal to mobilize the populace(unions, Jesse Jackson's Rainbow, Dem rank and file) The resulting lack of street support allowed Tom Delay's Brooks Brother's riot to stop the vote re-count in Dade County. This gave the Supremes an oportunity to rule that they were simply endorsing the existing suspension of vote counting in FL.
1o years and four wars later (if you count Pakistan and Yemen), it's still not easy to think kindly about scion Al. He was the people's choice but he refused to lead their just struggle against Bush's election theft.
Also, under the 12th ammendment to the US Constitution, the Dem majority in the Senate could have blocked Dirty Dick Cheney's bid for VP. The Senate which was still in session from 1999, had a Dem majority. Gore still presided over it as is infamously portrayed in Moore's Farenheit 911.
So, the Dems had the constitutional power to give the vice president's job to Gore, but not the backbone!
W. was on vacation 42% of the time before 911 because he knew that the White House would probably be hit. I believe they knew that because they were eavesdropping on all our communications 7 months before 911. Yes, they let it happen.
Gore came from the elites, and could have been another FDR. So what, it didnt happen.
I know we want to just forget Bush, but he gave the country herpes, and there's no cure...
As we saw in San Francisco's mayoral race in 2003, the Democrats will fight like giant wolverines on speed if their opponent is a Green or otherwise someone on their left who stands a chance of being heard. It's only the Republicans against whom they come over all meek, when they aren't actively cooperating.
Have a bipartisan day.
So true!
Democrats recognize Republicans as being the same kind of animal as they. Democrat's shit stinks just as much as Republicans. It's time this country was rid of these vile political animals, and the system they have created to enslave us.
Frankly, I think it's disgusting that so many states deliberately kept Ralph Nader's name off the voting ballots, and out of debates in a number of places. Where has free speech gone to these days?
the same place that democracy has.neither exists in the usa any longer.lets
send out a international search party to find it! i'll check france you
check sweden norway and finland. someone else check italy.and lastly
to our brothers in central and south america check argentina brazil
chile and costa rica we should find something interesting going on all
over our beautiful mother earth just not here! for anyone to assume
that a democracy is happening here just call a shrink you can then
be treated for delusional behavior.
Go Nader! Here in Texas, independents have a very difficult time getting on the ballots thanks to electoral hurdles the Democrats and Republicans have instituted.
Everyone who follows ballot access laws knows that Nader is 100% correct and that the fascist DLC and its goons tried every dirty trick to keep him off the ballot in 2004 and 2008. The DLC only wants two right-wing candidates on the ballot in each election: theirs and the GOP's. Its time for US progressives to come out solidly against this reactionary "two-party" (Wall Street controlled) system.
http://www.gp.org/
2 million registered Democrats voted for Bush in 2000, and these swines still have the guts to blame Nader for that election. As if Gore and Lieberman in power would've been any different anyway.
This is a great thing, Mr. Nader, expose Democrats for what they are: Republican clones, pro-Wall Street, anti-labor war criminals.
I yelled at Gore supporters the night of the election in 2000 for getting Bush elected. A case could still be made that I was correct, but somehow I stupidly believed the dems were really on my side. I am now, after the general, if not utter, capitulation of the democratic party to corporate interests, ready to vote for Ralph Nader. Despite Obama's sell-outs, I still hope that there is something in his heart, and he has had to manoevre or save his skin, and is not just an outright liar. I still have doubts though.
Kucinich, Nader, we need someone tough in 2012. I'm not staying home. Throwing it to repubs is a bad alternative. However, we need to get some variety on the ballot everywhere, and the first promise of every candidate needs to be campaign finance reform, and breaking open FCC licenses. The rest can follow from there.
the only side the dems are on is the payroll of their corporate masters.
"Although the lawsuit was filed with Washington County Superior Court in late November, the subpoenas have just been delivered to defendants in recent days because earlier copies were apparently lost in the mail"
Ha! Nice try, though.
You go, Ralph!
Bring America Back !!!!
****Thanks to the Bangor Journal for this article. Very
interesting timing for Nader to file this lawsuit. What
is he really thinking ??
****Nader would certainly like a nice punitive reward in big bucks from the Dems, to add to his coffers, and to prevent the Demmy demagogues from doing it again !!
****Also, Nader knows the current Chair of the Party Howard Dean is not happy with Team Obama ! So what does this all say for Naders Raiders ?
****My associate Proggers in here tell me Nader is too old
to make another run for the gold medal. Recent history on Nader does show he likes to show up at the last possible moment, get on ballots as the bad-boy spoil sport, then write another book about it !
****But the lord works in mysterious ways....just think if Joe Lieberman would've become our VP==knowing what we know now about him as a confirmed Blue Dog, he would have been about as good as Prince Dick was anyway/
Plus, Gore truly lost the Election himself, failing to ask Clinton, with a 76% US public approval rating, to campaign for him; you see the American voter saw the Monica affair and the Impeachment for what it was==a Repubby ploy !
But, Gore did not want his family values gang to absorb any dirt from Monica's blue dress, and Liebermans Jewish vote could not overcome the Bush Gangs ability to forego a recount of the chads and ticks in Florida !!!!
Lord works in mysterious ways !!!!