Congressional Black Caucus to lean on Nader

[WilliamPitt]

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http://www.rollcall.com/issues/49_141/news/5975-1.html

CBC to Lean on Nader

By Erin P. Billings
Roll Call Staff

June 21, 2004

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus will meet privately with independent presidential hopeful Ralph Nader on Tuesday afternoon to tell him in no uncertain terms that they want him out of the race. The CBC asked for the sit-down with Nader in April at the urging of Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.). The 39-member group wants to personally urge Nader — widely blamed for Democrat Al Gore’s narrow defeat in the 2000 presidential race — to abandon his White House bid.

CBC lawmakers, on the verge of formally endorsing Democratic Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) for president, said they fear a repeat of 2000 this fall. Members said by staying in the race, Nader will hurt Kerry’s chances and secure a second term for President Bush. The CBC chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), said the group is committed to electing a Democrat to the White House and feels to that end it is critical to reach out to anyone who might be “blocking those efforts.”

Cummings said the CBC will try to impress upon Nader on Tuesday that while the independent candidate and Kerry have differences, they are minor when compared to the differences between Nader and Bush. “Hopefully, Mr. Nader will look at the big picture — that being he wants the country going in a much different direction than the country is going in now. We will ask that he not be an aider and abettor to anything that might be harmful to the Kerry campaign.”

One CBC member said the meeting with Nader will likely be a “very direct and blunt conversation.” Others said they expected the session to be “hard hitting” and that the group will not approach Nader with kid gloves.

...more...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. And Nader like Bush will simply repeat himself

out of a desire to stick to ideology irrespective of facts.

[lovedems]

2. Times sure a different for Nader.

To my knowledge, he hasn't received an ounce of good press this year.

Makes you wonder what is going on in that head of his.

[Gom Jabbar]

3. Good

I don't agree that 2000 was all Nader's fault (unless he invented and implemented ChoicePoint in Florida), but...well...I guess I'm just an anti-democratic bastard.

[LisaM]

4. But as a consumer advocate, he should have responded to Florida

and he didn't. He didn't. He just kept blabbing that "Al Gore cost ME the election." At least Pat Buchanan had the balls to admit that Florida was messed up.

[mopinko]

5. how is signature gathering going?

there was supposed to be a pr event here in illinois when they submitted the petitions. then it was postponed, then i heard nothing. how many states is he on?

[Cheswick2.0]

33. only the ones that the reform party put him on

about 12 of them? He has yet to qualify for a single state on his own. His supporters just aren't showing up. In AZ 92 % of the signitures were republicans and there are too many discrepancies so he is probably not going to be on the ballot there.

PS... Nader is blaming Dean because Dean is telling his supporters to ignore Nader this year.

[Justice]

43. Arizona - There is a Chance He Will Not Be On the Ballot?

I missed that Cheswick, is that right?


I must say, I would be happy if he was not on the ballot in AZ.

[Gom Jabbar]

6. Kick!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. They should be leaning on Kerry.

If they want to attract leftist votes, they should get Kerry to reverse his rightward drift.

[candy331]

9. Amen to that bandera, seems like they forgot the

"crying in your teacups" from Kerry. Vote for Kerry if they will but calling for Nader to get out the race is not something they should take on. It looks just like politics as usual and I haven't heard a clamor from the Black community for Nader to get out.I don't think this looks good on their part at all. They should be championing loudly the issue of paper trails for the electronic voting since they were the most disfranchised of voters but to buy into this Nader cost us the election makes them look silly when that surely is not the main issue for Blacks. Got their priorities wrong on this one.

[sangh0]

10. More white people telling blacks what to do

typical Naderite paternalism.

[lancdem]

28. Somehow I think the CBC understands

that moving to the center is actually how you WIN. Duh

[Cheswick2.0]

34. they should be doing both

Nader is the opposition. There is no reason to treat him as anything else.

[leyton]

8. Is the caucus entirely Democratic?

Or is J.C. Watts still in Congress? Just curious.

[aldian159]

12. I'm almost positive Watts never joined CBC

and I think he retired in 2002 anyway.

[JI7]

14. i think he was part of the CBC , but can't say for sure

[JI7]

13. J.C. Watts retired from Congress so the CBC is all democratic now

it was a huge loss for republicans since they lost the only black person on their side. but from what i hear jc watts tried to do something to make the republican party more diverse and to reach out to women and minorities, but tom delay dismissed him. so watts just got tired of it all and decided to retire.

[Cheswick2.0]

35. Not all black legislators join the CBC

It is a progressive group mostly.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. They are welcome to introduce legislation putting

ranked voting into effect.

That would sure be nice.

[sangh0]

20. Do you have any more suggestions for the black folks?

After all, they need someone like you to tell them what's best for them.

[GreenPartyVoter]

45. No, but I've got plenty of suggestions for

the elected officials who make up Congress, regardless of their color.

And yeah, one of them regards trying to improve our election system.

[sangh0]

47. Then why don't you tell them your suggestion

Make an appointment with one of the CBC's members and talk to them about your concerns.

[GreenPartyVoter]

48. Have e-mailed many of them

[sangh0]

49. Well, whatever you do

don't strain yourself fighting for what you believe in.

[GreenPartyVoter]

50. Believe me, if I could afford to go down to D.C. and talk with

some of them face-to-face, I would.

Heck, I can't even afford to get as far as NY to see some of them in their home offices.

So e-mail is the best I can do, and it is better than doing nothing at all. :)

[Cheswick2.0]

36. actually there are welcome to treat Nader as the opposition

And you know that the legislation you suggest would never make it out of commitee with a republican controlled congress.

[Forkboy]

15. I'd love to be a fly on that wall

:)

[DeepModem Mom]

29. Me, too! Don't fool with the Congressional Black Caucus --

they stood tall, alone, on the House floor after the stolen election. I'll never forget that, and no one having the courage to stand with them.

[Forkboy]

30. That day I knew I wasn't long for the Dem Party

I was disgusted by the cowardice on display that day. :-(

[FlemingsGhost]

16. Political strongarming worthy of the GOP

Nevermind trying to woo previous non-voters or adopting a more progressive platform to make Nader's candidacy redundant.

It's much easier to snooker the voters via an "either-or" decision.

Pathetic, but not surprising.

(edited for clarity)

[sangh0]

17. It's terrible the way those black people throw their weight around

I hope when whites get some power, they won't resort to "strongarming"

[FlemingsGhost]

18. I was thinking along Party lines. You brought up race.

Oooops...

[sangh0]

19. Yes, those black DEMS are like NAZIS

You brought up race

The thread is about the Congressional BLACK Caucus, Einstein

[FlemingsGhost]

21. It's about a caucus, who is endorsing a Democrat ...

attempting to quash a percieved electoral threat.

Nazis? Whatever, Rush.

[sangh0]

22. No, it's about the Congressional BLACK Caucus

not just any old caucus.

But keep telling them what's best for them. I understand that really goes over well in the black community.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cheswick2.0]

38. are you black?

I don't actually know so since you want to tell the CBC what to do, I am just wondering.

[sangh0]

40. How do I know you're not black? Simple

You accused blacks of abusing their power.

[FlemingsGhost]

42. I am accusing Democrats of abusing their power.

One doesn't need to be black to levy that accusation.

Which by the way, I am. My mother was black.

[sangh0]

44. You accused BLACK Democrats

In case you didn't know, the Congressional BLACK Caucus is made up of the black members in Congress.

Which by the way, I am. My mother was black.

I guess that makes you the expert on all things black, right?

[FlemingsGhost]

46. You are not interested in a rational debate.

Have a nice day.

If it makes you feel any better, respond to this post--to get the last word in. You are playing a game, and I'm not interested in participating.

Cheers.

[CatWoman]

25. sangh0

I love you!!!!!!!

:hi:

[sangh0]

41. I LOVE YOU TOO, CATWOMAN

Now stop that damned cackling, woman!!

:spank:

:pals:

[lancdem]

27. Gee, maybe the CBC thinks getting rid of Bush is MOST IMPORTANT

But we can't assume they know what they're doing, can we?

[Cheswick2.0]

37. the CBC is very progressive

unfortunately the rest of the congress is controlled by the repukes. So they are doing what they think is best.

[AP]

24. Nader is terrible on the issue of race, if you ask me. I appreciate that

his economic message lifts all boats, but one of the things he said that made me cringe the most was when he'd go to a college with a largely white audience and tell them that for most of them, whether Bush or Gore were president would make little difference in their lives.

It's not so much that that isn't true. The shameful thing is that he didn't have the courage to go into a black neighborhood where college attendance rates might be in the low teens and give that same speech.

[Forkboy]

26. Great points AP

And it's refreshing to see criticism of Nader based on issue and not emotion.

[oasis]

31. Let Maxine Waters go one-one one with Ralph. She'd make his Randi Rhodes

interview seem like a visit from PBS's Mr.Rogers.

[Cheswick2.0]

32. Kick his ass Sheila Jackson Lee!!!!!

I would love to be there.

[Realityhack]

39. There is a danger...

There is a legitimate danger that by trying to get his platform all at once Nadar will split the left leaning vote between himself and Kerry and allow Bush to be re-elected. In fact in theory Nader could take 33% and Kerry 33% and bush win with 34%. If this were uniform Bush would sweep every state... why is that bad. Because once in office the mandate from the people matters little for 4 years. Bush would be free to move the country further from Naders vision.

Some say that Kerry should move more left to take the votes back. But this ignores the fact that this would cause more voters to be "closer" to Bush than to Kerry. He would loose more votes than he gained.

Also every poll I have seen shows that the votes do indeed come from Kerry.

As the system stands today the only way to exicute change is to "move the center".

Nadar's campain threatens to take the coutry even further from his vision and he must by now know this. Therefore the only reason I can see for his running is egotism.

RH