12/03/2003: 
Criminally Absurd
Nader's Raiders
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ralph Nader has not yet decided whether to make another run for the White House, but he's authorized a new exploratory committee to raise money for a potential bid.
The new committee also has a Web site under construction,(can anyone say DDOS?) which Amato said would debut "very soon" and play a key role in raising money.
On Check Your Head, Mike D said "It's 1992 and still no one to vote for." That was 11 years ago.
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Political notebook: Nader raises money for potential campaignBy SAM HANANEL
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ralph Nader has not yet decided whether to make another run for the White House, but he's authorized a new exploratory committee to raise money for a potential bid.
The Nader 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee was formed in late October as part of the consumer activist's effort to gauge support for a run, said Theresa Amato, a committee director.
"He is using it to test the waters," said Amato, who served as Nader's national campaign manager when he ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 2000. She said the organization is part of Nader's overall strategy of "talking to people, calling people, seeing what level of support there is."
The new committee also has a Web site under construction, www.naderexplore04.org, which Amato said would debut "very soon" and play a key role in raising money.
Nader has said he would decide by the end of the year, but Amato said Tuesday an announcement is more likely to occur early next year. Nader did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Part of his consideration is whether the major political parties decide to take his progressive agenda seriously. Nader has sent letters to Republican and Democratic party leaders urging more of a focus on issues such as universal health insurance and corporate fraud. Amato said Nader is still waiting to hear back from party officials.
But she cautioned against reading too much into the committee's formation. "Some other candidates have used it as the launching pad, but he's using it to test the waters," Amato said. "He is not a candidate now."
Nader won about 3 percent of the vote as the Green Party's candidate in 2000, but many voters blamed him for taking votes from Democrat Al Gore, paving the way for President Bush's narrow victory.
This year, Nader has been an active supporter of Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman considered Nader's political soul mate on social and economic issues.
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A group of moderate Democrats will begin running two television commercials in Spanish, calling on Hispanics to support the Democratic agenda and arguing that President Bush broke his promise to fully fund financially troubled schools.
The New Democrat Network will air the two spots - the group's first issue ads of the 2004 campaign - in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., beginning Wednesday. The two cities have heavy concentrations of Hispanics, who will be crucial to the outcome of the presidential election.
NDN president Simon Rosenberg said the group is spending "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to air the ads over several weeks. He declined to provide specifics.
One ad, titled "Change," reminds Hispanics that "the Democrats have always been our best friends. With them, the progress of our community is secured."
In that spot, a Hispanic man watches as a run-down school and store morph into renovated buildings. The man holds a Spanish-language newspaper with the headline, "Latinos applaud Democratic programs."
The other ad questions Bush's spending on poor schools, which are attended by 60 percent of Hispanic children.
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Joe Lieberman likes New Hampshire so much, he's moving there - at least for the time being.
The Democratic presidential hopeful is renting an apartment in Manchester so he can spend more time campaigning for the state's first-in-the-nation primary.
The campaign has signed a seven-week lease on a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment in downtown Manchester. The home will be used by the Connecticut senator and by members of his family as they campaign in the Granite State during December and January.
Lieberman plans to spend nearly the entire month of January in the state. The primary is Jan. 27.
"He may not be from a neighboring state, but by the time the primary rolls around, Granite State residents will consider Joe their neighbor," said Peter Greenberger, Lieberman's New Hampshire director.
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Hoping to demonstrate his Internet-driven campaign has coattails, presidential hopeful Howard Dean's aides are asking supporters to funnel money to an Iowa congressman facing a tough election next year.
Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi sent an e-mail Tuesday to a half-million supporters, asking them to contribute to, or volunteer for, the campaign of Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, who has been targeted by the Republicans for defeat in 2004.
"We're going to show how this grass-roots organization we built can be the best way for Democrats to get the Congress back," Dean spokeswoman Sarah Leonard said.
Dean's helping hand also could translate into more support for his own bid to win the Iowa caucuses. Boswell, an influential Democrat, has not yet endorsed a candidate in the Jan. 19 contest.
