Nader defends GOP support

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Ralph Nader yesterday defended the support he has received from Republicans in his presidential bid, saying that "Republicans are people, too."

The independent presidential candidate, in a debate with former Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, also called his bid to run as an outsider as an expression of freedom.

"It's called freedom," Mr. Nader said. "Freedom of conscience, freedom to authentically communicate the necessities to the American people without the trappings of special interests and commercial cash."

Mr. Nader picked on the Democratic Party throughout the hour-long debate, which was held at the National Press Club and sponsored by National Public Radio's weekly program "Justice Talking."

The consumer rights advocate recited a list of grievances he has with the system: the criminal justice system, the "failed" war on drugs, big-money influence in the political process.

"How can all that fit inside a Democratic Party that has ignored year after year these important changes for a more just and prosperous America?" Mr. Nader asked.

Mr. Dean told Mr. Nader that his White House run could help President Bush get re-elected. Democrats fear that the consumer advocate will mine crucial votes that otherwise would go to Mr. Kerry in November.

The former Vermont governor repeatedly accused Mr. Nader of accepting help from Republicans. And he emphasized that his feelings were not a hangover from the 2000 election.

"What's gone is gone and what's done is done," Mr. Dean said to Mr. Nader. "I don't begrudge Ralph Nader for running in 2000," but he called Mr. Nader's candidacy "disingenuous" because of its support from the right.

"You have 46 percent of all your signatures to get you on the Arizona ballot turned out to be Republican supporters," Mr. Dean noted. "One out of every $10,000 check has been from people who have already given money to Bush/Cheney -- this is not going to help the progressive cause in America."

Mr. Nader came back quickly.

"You really are being very inaccurate in addition to being very unfair," he said, before launching into a diatribe against the major parties.

"We don't want to settle for the lesser of two evils in our country. We don't want to have another special-interest clone in Washington. We don't want to have another Washington insider whose stance shifts back and forth with every poll and we don't want to have an insensitivity to the plight of workers, American workers, in this country who have lost their manufacturing jobs."

Mr. Nader paused briefly before adding: "All those quotes come from Howard Dean the first, against John Kerry in the primary campaign; what you're hearing now is Howard Dean the second in a desperate attempt to smear our campaign."

Mr. Dean refused to let things go without asking Mr. Nader to bow out of the race, as so many other Democrats have done, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

"You have an extraordinary career in standing up for the American people," he said. "I ask you not to turn your back on your own legacy."