By Brian Carnell

Wednesday, February 7, 2001

On election night, former George H. Bush punching bag Michael Dukakis told The Washington Post's David Broder that if Ralph Nader "keeps Gore from winning them, I'll strangle the guy with my bare hands." As the Boston Globe's Scott Lehigh asks, "Where, you might ask, was that ire back in 1988, when CNN's Bernie Shaw posed his famous question about Kitty?"

Anyway, Nader apparently was less than appreciative, sending a letter to Dukakis saying about the remark, "It is reckless, it is out of control, it is uncalled for, and it demeans the dignity of the former governor." Dukakis responded with a letter of his own which Dukakis summarized to the press saying, "I said, not only was I not going to apologize; if he followed through with his plan to run Green Party candidates in 2002 and thereby virtually guarantee another Republican Congress, anger would be too mild a word to describe my emotions."

This from the man who ran what was easily the worst campaign for president of the 20th century.

Personally I thought the anti-Nader rhetoric from Democrats was simply pre-election hype designed to force Nader to get out of the election. When that didn't happen, certainly the Democrats would wait a few weeks and then kiss and make up with Nader. Instead, they seem to be serious about making him persona non grata.

Which makes sense for the New Democrats/Republicans, but for the more Leftist Democrats excluding Nader makes no sense at all since he's easily the most visible national spokesman for Left issues. The Democratic embargo of Nader really only hurts the Democratic Party.

Source:

Dukakis was Joking About Nader (Wasn't He?). Scott Lehigh, Boston Globe, February 7, 2001.

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