Ralph Nader according to Sid Blumenthal

[Mizmoon]

In his book "The Clinton Wars" Bluementhal wrote:

"On June 12, 2001 Nader attended the Wednesday Group, a weekly strategy meeting of right-wing constituency groups organized by Republican lobbist Grover Norquist, advisor to Tom Delay. Among those included were the Christian Coalition, NRA, Eagle Forum, Free Congress Foundation, and Republican National Committee. They cheered Nader for his help in the 2000 election. 'Nader responded by pointing to his favorite political cartoon, in which a George W Bush figure , upon hearing that 'A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush,' announces his intention to vote for Nader.'"
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This is on page 746 of Blumenthal's book and his citation is Marc J. Ambinder, "The Strangest Bedfellows: Conservative Strategy Meeting Gets a Dose of Nader Populism". The abcnews URL Blumenthal cites is gone, but you can see a copy of the article below:

The Strangest Bedfellows
Conservative Strategy Meeting Gets a Dose of Naderite Populism

By Marc J. Ambinder


W A S H I N G T O N, June 12
— Ralph Nader is perhaps the country's single most successful progressive policy entrepreneur and activist.


On the other side of the conventional Washington divide, the less famous, but perhaps as influential, conservative Grover Norquist holds sway over his famous "Wednesday Meetings," where the capital's most powerful Republican groups wage war, trying to deconstruct nearly every piece of legislation Nader has pushed Congress to pass over the years.
Nader and Norquist are in many ways the yin and yang of America's Beltway ideological battles.

Civility, a sense of irony, and a bit of mischievousness helped convince Norquist to invite Nader to his meeting this week. Nader took full advantage, urging some of those conservatives to rethink their fundamental political beliefs and reclaim the Republican Party from the grip of corporate interests.


Waiting His Turn

Nader arrived at Norquist's downtown Washington offices 10 minutes early and took a seat at the mahogany table around which the weekly activist meetings are held. He shook a few hands. The younger conservatives in the crowd, less inured to Nader's superstardom, just stared.

For an hour and a half, Nader waited as 20 speakers, representing Republican policy staffs, anti-regulation groups, family-policy organizations and political candidates updated each other on their respective contributions to the fight against liberalism, taxes and bureaucracy.

Most proceeded as if an ideological arch-nemesis was not there, listening, nodding, and arching an occasional eyebrow. (One regular meeting-goer, the American Land Rights Association's Mike Hardiman, casually referred to a group Nader founded as "spoiled suburbanites." Nader smiled wanly.)

When it was Nader's turn to speak, he took on the basic assumptions of his audience.

"Some of it is arguable, some of it is not so bad," he said of what he had just heard. "But the thrust is, strengthen the oligarchy, and strengthen the concentration of power."

He did not hold back.


Issuing a Challenge

He immediately challenged "anybody who calls himself a conservative or a libertarian and not a corporatist" to join his crusade against what he called "corporate fraud."

"I think it's time for people who call themselves conservatives and libertarians to address the contradictions in their lives," he said.

The Wednesday Meeting does not usually contain disquisitions on the meaning of liberty. But Nader proceeded to tell those assembled that their version of freedom was narrow and exclusive. True freedom was also "the freedom to participate," he said.

"If you define capitalism, as, number one, giving owners control, well, stockbrokers don't have much control. It's almost a Kremlin-like electoral process in big corporations. If you don't like what's going on, get out. There ought to be another way."

He went on to decry the "sink or swim" ethic of capitalism, and said warned about commercialist culture, which he said had run "roughshod over more important things."


Support From Schlafly

On that last point, there were several conservatives there who agreed. Pro-family conservatives allied with Nader to oppose extending permanent normal trade relations with China on the grounds that the country's one-child policy was barbaric. The belief among some that capitalism is amoral and that free-trade economics undermine sovereignty and living standards helped to persuade protectionist conservatives to oppose free-trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement.

And Phyllis Schlafly, the family-policy activist, told the group: "I agree with the underlying message of Ralph. Do you want the GOP to be a corporate party? Or do we want them to represent traditional Republican values?"

Nader later noted his agreement with Norquist about the corruption of corporate subsidies. In 1992, they worked togther to get state legislatures to pass term limits for state officeholders.

That both Norquist and Nader are somewhat larger than life figures made for some amusing moments, as well.

A few speakers referenced Nader's 2000 presidential run, in which his nearly 3 million votes caused Democrat Al Gore's loss in the Electoral College.

At one point, the room cheered Nader for his "help" in that election. Nader responded by pointing to his favorite political cartoon, in which a George W. Bush figure, upon hearing that "A Vote for Nader Is a Vote for Bush," announces his intention to "Vote for Nader." And Nader began his presentation by poking fun at his audience and at its reputation as the fulcrum of a right-wing conspiracy.

He thanked them for inviting him, and then said of the atmosphere, "It feels like a coldblooded, ideological Marine barracks."

"I notice that nobody seems to be smoking," he said, and then took credit for the regulation that banned smoking in common work areas.

Of the group's reflexive dislike for regulation, he then said, "Some of you may even have been saved by seat belts, and had your freedom limited by going through the windshield."

That got a belly laugh.


Activists Can Agree to Disagree

Norquist said he invited Nader because he respects him as an activist.

"Neither he nor we are under any delusions that we now agree," Norquist said. "But on corporate governance government transparency questions … we do."

After the meeting, Norquist said Nader proposed a plan to publish on a Web site all the details of government contracts worth more than $100,000. Norquist offered his help with the project.

"The press will go, 'Ooh, this is weird,' when it happens. That's OK. Nader and I, we sometimes. This happens all this time on the civil liberties questions."

Norquist noted that representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union had attended at least four Wednesday Meetings.

"Conservatives and liberals are both concerned with the government getting too big," he said.


Copyright © 2004 ABC News Internet Ventures.

[bluestateguy]

1. and his book on the Corvair was a pile of crap.

I knew people who owned that car for years and never had any problems.

[IIgnoreNobody]

2. Didn't they fix the problem and keep making them?

My aunt had one.