Nader foes seek funding from Democratic donors

By David Postman
Times chief political reporter

Ralph Nader calls effort a smear campaign.

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Trying to learn from what they say were mistakes in running a low-budget, casual campaign against Nader four years ago, organizers are pitching Democratic donors, lobbying state party leaders on the convention floor and promising a professional operation guided by research from one of the Democratic establishment's leading pollsters. Many Democrats blame Nader's 2000 Green Party run for Democrat Al Gore's loss to Bush, saying he pulled liberal votes from the vice president in key states.

Major donors here for the Democratic National Convention were given a briefing on the anti-Nader effort this week, said Toby Moffett, a former Connecticut congressman and Nader protégé who is among the leaders of the group. The donors were shown polling on what drives voters to Nader, what turns them away the quickest and which public figures can best make the case against the consumer activist.

Anti-Nader groups have been organized for months. But the efforts have taken "a huge move" recently in fund raising, research and a detailed attack plan, Moffett said.

"This guy is still a huge threat," he said. "We're just not going to make the same mistake we made in 2000."

Money will be raised by an independent political committee that can accept unlimited donations, referred to as a 527 group for the section of the IRS code that governs them. Democrat-allied 527s have raised about $200 million so far this year.

A memo given to potential supporters said Moffett's group, United Progressives for Victory, will do research, community organizing, media outreach and Internet marketing aimed at weakening Nader's standing.

Last night, Nader called it a smear campaign and said, "It's the Democrats' undemocratic attempt" to quash third-party candidates.

The honorable thing to do

"When John Kerry said he wants to take away my votes by taking away the issues, that's the honorable thing to do," Nader said in a telephone interview. "When he says, 'A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush,' that is an attitude that the two parties own the voters and everyone else stay away."

Nader made vague pledges of retaliation if Kerry repeats that claim. "I'm waiting for him to say it once more and I will unfurl my epithet against him that will stick for the rest of the campaign," Nader said.
 
Moffett got his start with the Nader group Citizen Action in the 1970s before being elected to four terms in the U.S. House. He works for a D.C. lobbying firm. Robert Brandon, another former Nader acolyte, pitched party leaders from several states, including Washington, where Nader is seen as a threat. They want to have an organization in full operation for the final two months of the campaign.

UP for Victory will organize appearances by liberal figures, celebrities and former Nader associates who can counter his message.

At the top of the list is former President Jimmy Carter. The polling, Moffett said, showed that Carter is immensely popular among Nader supporters, even more so than former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has been seen as a key draw for Nader-leaning liberals.

The group's polling, by former Bill Clinton pollster Stanley Greenberg, shows that economic issues most attract voters to Nader.

"We were worried about attacking Ralph," Moffett said, but no more. The polling found that Nader support drops precipitously when supporters are told "he is in bed with Republicans," a reference to the GOP helping to get Nader on the ballot in some states.

Only Kerry can fix problem

Nader replied: "The only way they can provide cover for their dirty tricks is to cry out that Republicans are propping us up, and that attracts the media's attention."

Moffett said that, in the end, only Kerry can fix the Nader problem. He said Kerry needs to address the issues of job loss and the economy in a way that resonates with those voters.

Washington state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt said polling he has seen shows Nader's candidacy to be "the difference between being a safe state and a state that is in play for the Bush campaign."

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com