repugs, demons attack

[Dan Scanlan <dscanlan@xxxxxxx>]

Nader Highlights Anti-Democratic Dirty Tricks' Ties to Kerry and McAuliffe

Corporate Democrats Working With Corporate Republicans to Stop
Anti-Corporate Power Nader-Camejo

Nader: "These Anti-Democratic Actions Go to the Top of the Party and
Their Presidential Candidate"

Washington, DC: The independent campaign of Ralph Nader and Peter
Miguel Camejo showed that Senator John Kerry and Democratic National
Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe are directly responsible for the
anti-democratic dirty tricks attempting to keep Nader/Camejo off the
ballot.

The Nader/Camejo campaign has repeatedly written Kerry and McAuliffe
describing the dirty tricks and urging both to stop before the
campaign was involved in a mini-Watergate scandal. Over two months
ago Mr. McAuliffe and his spokesmen admitted encouraging efforts to
keep Nader/Camejo off the ballot in "close states." But now we know
the DNC and the Kerry campaign that controls it are directly involved
in this lawyer layered rancid drive.

At a press conference in Washington, DC, the campaign played a tape
of sworn testimony by the head of the Democratic Party in Maine,
Dorothy Malanson, in which she admits that the Democratic National
Committee is paying for her time, the lawyers, and other expenses
related to the challenge to keep Nader off the ballot-and that this
is a national campaign.

The campaign also provided pay records of Judy E. Reardon showing
more than $64,000 in payments to her from March 15th, 2003 to July
30th, 2004 (the last date on which reports are available) from the
Kerry campaign. In 2003 Reardon was hired as the deputy national
director for the Kerry campaign in Northern New England and has been
described as a senior advisor to the campaign. The Nader/Camejo
campaign provided reporters with an email between Judy Reardon and
attorney Marty Van Oot concerning the lawsuit in New Hampshire. This
links the Kerry campaign with the so-called "independent" Ballot
Project (officially known as Focus on Ballot Qualification, Inc.)
which is litigating the New Hampshire case.

Members of the so-called independent 527, United Progressives for
Victory and the Ballot Project, met with Democrats at the Democratic
Convention in Boston. A press report in the Hartford Courant
indicated they met to strategize about how to keep Nader-Camejo off
the ballot (Janice Darcy, "Anti-Nader Forces Coordinate Strategy,"
July 27th, 2004). The Seattle Times recently reported on the
arguments that polling showed were most effective against Nader and
on how the "independent" groups were raising money at the Democratic
Convention (David Postman, "Nader Foes Seek Funding from Democratic
Donors, July 28th, 2004). The Santa Fe New Mexican has reported how
the 527's met with the New Mexico delegation to discuss how to keep
Nader off the ballot in New Mexico (Steve Terrell, "Fears of Nader
Keep Dems on Offensive," July 29th, 2004).

This coordination appears to be illegal and should be investigated by
the Federal Elections Commission and the media.

The Nader/Camejo campaign also demonstrated how the anti-Nader effort
involves not only Democratic donations, but also donations from
Republicans as well as law firms that donate primarily to the
Republican Party and candidates. For example:

    * In Ohio, the lawfirm of Kirkland and Ellis, whose most famous
partner was Republican Ken Starr of Clinton impeachment fame,
represents major corporate interests. Among them are: Dow Corning
(breast implant litigation), Brown and Williamson Tobacco (smoking
cases brought by state attorney generals), and General Motors
(product defect cases against victims of serious injuries). (See the
Kirkland & Ellis LLP web site) In Ohio Kirkland is supplying at least
two full-time lawyers working to keep Nader/Camejo off the ballot.
These lawyers have subpoened virtually every person who collected
signatures for Nader/Camejo. In the presidential campaign the firm's
PAC has given to George W. Bush's re-election-$5,000. They did not
play both sides of the fence, giving $0 to John Kerry. These abusive
subpoenas were quashed by the Ohio Attorney General on behalf of the
Secretary of State.
    * In Pennsylvania, Reed Smith law firm devoted hundreds of
high-priced attorney-hours to keep Nader off the ballot in
Pennsylvania. Reed Smith "is counsel to 29 of the top 30 United
States banks; 26 of the Fortune e-50 companies; 9 of the top 10
pharmaceutical companies; and 50 of the world's leading drug and
device manufacturers (www.reedsmith.com)." In legal backgrounders and
publications available on its web site, Reed Smith defends the
advertising business against attempts to restrict product placement
and against broader limits on commercialization of tawdry
entertainment directed at young children. It explicitly identifies
Ralph Nader as a proponent of these standards. The Reed Smith PAC
contributes primarily to Republican campaign efforts.
    * Toby Moffett, a corporate Democrat who works at the primarily
Republican Livingston Group, heads United Progressives for Victory
and the Ballot Project. Moffett is a former Vice President of
Monsanto, and his lobbying firm represents military contractors,
telecom giants, the Cayman Islands, De La Rue (who printed Iraq's
currency for the US puppet government), oil companies, asbestos
companies, and industry trade associations. The lead partner in the
law firm, Robert Livingston, was scheduled to replace Newt Gingrich
as the Republican Speaker of the House-until a scandal ended his
political career.
    * The National Lobbying Group, the lobbying arm of Oldaker, Biden
and Belair (whose principle William Oldaker, a long-term Democratic
operative), set up Focus on Ballot Qualifcations, Inc. His firm
represents major corporate interests, including Delta Air Lines,
which is seeking corporate welfare to shore up its losses, and
Equifax a major repository of credit information.
* According to reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service,
another anti-Nader group, the National Progress Fund, received one of
its largest donations ($25,000) from Robert Savoie, president of the
Louisiana-based firm Science and Engineering Associates. A month
before his donation to the National Progress Fund, Savoie handed over
$25,000 to the Republican National Committee.

While the Democrats are primarily behind the challenge to
Nader/Camejo, corporate Republican operatives are working on the
effort as well. This combination of corporate Democrats with
corporate Republicans against Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo,
the anti-corporate crime and power candidates, highlights how the
corporate political duopoly is working to strengthen its choke-hold
on the political system and force voters to vote for one of their
candidates or not vote at all.

All this is just the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the iceberg,
under the surface, is for the media to investigate and uncover,
should it think that these types of harassment and dirty tricks
against more voices and choices for the American people are
newsworthy.