Posted by
Justin Haskins on Thursday, March 06, 2008 2:00:15 AM
It's hard to imagine someone as far to the left as Ralph Nader being allied with the likes of John McCain. It is true than many conservatives, including a great deal of bloggers within these forums, see McCain as a liberal anyway; I suppose to them it wouldn't be very surprising at all. But in all fairness, based on the record of John McCain's career in Congress since the days of Ronald Reagan, Senator McCain has a far more conservative record than Ralph Nader. In many aspects of policy, especially those relating to the economy and foreign policy, McCain and Nader differ greatly...and yet, liberal blogs are ripe with stories on a possible Nader and McCain connection.
What is this based upon? Apparently Ralph Nader, according to a New York Times article back in 2004 stated that a former member of the Federal Elections Commission and a prominent lawyer by the name of Trevor Potter was sent by John McCain to Tallahassee, Florida to assist the Ralph Nader campaign in legal battles over getting on state primary ballots. Democrats, and Democrat-leaning governments, attempted to remove Nader from ballots following the 2000 disaster in Florida(for Democrats it was a disaster obviously....I loved Nader for it!)
McCain also helped the Ralph Nader campaign through the use of the Reform Institute, a think tank that John McCain is chairman of. The Reform Institute went on to support Nader in the name of open elections in states like New York and Florida. According to Trevor Potter, the lawyer hired by McCain's Reform Institute in 2004, George Bush also urged and lent his support toward Potter's goal of placing Nader on as many ballots as possible. So the question now becomes, once we realize that Nader's campaign in 2004 would have been completely non-existent without the help of McCain (an embarrassment I'm sure), is Nader now returning the favor? Was McCain planning this all along? We will have to see how this plays out...but you must admit, whether you support McCain or not, his political planning for this election has been astounding. It appears as though Mr. McCain has learned from the 2000 election.
Justin Haskins,
Author, Saving America