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Nader: Dems Offered Me Money in '04 to Skip Key States
McAuliffe doesn't deny the charge
By Harry Kimball
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Posted May 28, 09 8:09 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Ralph Nader says Democrats were so worried about him in 2004 that DNC chief Terry McAuliffe offered to give his campaign money if he steered clear of 19 battleground states, reports the Washington Post. "When you get a call like that, first of all it's inappropriate,'' Nader said. "The other thing is if you don't immediately say no, it's like taffy, you get stuck with it."
McAuliffe, now running for governor of Virginia, didn't exactly deny the charge. A spokesman said he was worried that Nader "would cost John Kerry the election as he did Al Gore in 2000" and added that Nader "misses seeing his name in the press." Nader's campaign manager called it "undemocratic"—"the head of the Democratic party was telling Ralph where he could or could not run."