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May 19, 2004 Kerry Is Expected to Meet With Nader BY JODI WILGOREN WASHINGTON, May 18 - Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, plans to meet Wednesday afternoon with Ralph Nader, whose independent bid for the White House has many Democrats worried about losing votes on their party`s left flank. The meeting comes amid rising concern in and around the Kerry camp that Mr. Nader`s strong opposition to the war in Iraq could gain traction as approval for President Bush`s handling of the war plummets. Mr. Nader has ratcheted up his rhetoric on Iraq in recent days. Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Kerry`s communications director, said there was no set agenda for the meeting, but predicted they would "discuss the obvious," an apparent reference to many Democrats` urging Mr. Nader to drop out or risk securing President Bush`s re-election. Many in the party blame Mr. Nader, who won more votes than the Republicans` margin of victory in key states like Florida and New Hampshire, for Mr. Bush`s ascension to the White House. Mr. Nader could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night but told The Associated Press that leaving the race was not an option. He said he planned to discuss "certain common policies" with Mr. Kerry, adding, "I think that`s for the good of our country and for the benefit of the American people that are being ignored or repudiated by the Bush regime." Mr. Kerry returned here Tuesday after campaigning in Portland, Ore., where Mr. Nader is popular. Mary Beth Cahill, Mr. Kerry`s campaign manager, said this week that she paid close attention to Mr. Nader`s campaign but that she was confident his movement would fade. "The people who know Ralph Nader best are the most adamant about what the 3 to 5 percent he would get would mean in November," she said. Last month, Mr. Kerry said he respected Mr. Nader and that he would not attack him. "I`m just going to try to talk to his people and point out that we`ve got to beat George Bush," Mr. Kerry said. "And I hope that by the end of this race I can make it unnecessary for people to feel they need to vote for someone else." Kevin Zeese, a spokesman for Mr. Nader, said that he was unsure of Mr. Kerry`s agenda for the meeting but that the question of Mr. Nader dropping his campaign was "not going to come up." "We don`t plan to ask Kerry to withdraw from the race, and we don`t think he`ll ask us because it`s pretty clear were not going to drop out," he said. "From our perspective, we`re going to say the kind of thing that Ralph has already been saying, which is to explain how our second front against George Bush is going to help remove him from power." Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Guten Morgen Mr. Bush |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | Joerver (19.05.04 10:16:44) |
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