It’s sounds like a poor attempt at humor, but Ralph Nader, disgraced and left with no allies, believes he’s entitled to an apology now that the campaign is over.
You read that right. In a recent interview with Counterpunch, the three-time failure insisted that his critics should apologize for noting his campaign’s ties to Republicans.
Counterpunch: I wanted to briefly ask you also what your relationship is like with people such as Jeff Cohen or Medea Benjamin, who among some other self-described “progressives,” signed a letter against your candidacy in the so-called swing states.
Nader: I think they have an apology to make to the Nader-Camejo campaign. It wasn’t just their opposition. They spread lies. They endorsed lies about our being bankrolled by the Republicans. It was completely false.
No, unfortunately it wasn’t. The truth, whether Nader is prepared to admit it or not, is that his campaign worked with Republicans and conservative Bush allies to raise money and collect signatures across the country, including Michigan, Oregon, Florida, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Wisconsin, among others.
By the time of the Dem convention, one in 10 of Nader’s biggest contributors (those who have given more than $1,000) were longtime Republican donors. When Nader’s running mate, Peter Camejo, suggested the campaign might give the right-wing money back — “I take no money from people who disagree with us,” Camejo said — Nader overruled him, insisting, “Republicans are human beings, too.”
So, liberals owe Nader an apology? Sounds like the poor man has it backwards.