Crazy Ralph

I think most sane people would agree that Ralph Nader is a buffoon and needs to go away. Most sane people would also agree that petition signatures should be verified and discarded if false.

However, it's interesting that the group working to keep Nader off the ballot in every state is none other than the Democratic Party.

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A state court knocked Ralph Nader off Pennsylvania's presidential ballot on Wednesday, citing thousands of fraudulent petition signatures including "Mickey Mouse" and "Fred Flintstone."

Describing the petitions as "rife with forgeries," Commonwealth Court President Judge James Gardner Colins said that fewer than 19,000 of the more than 51,000 signatures that Nader's supporters submitted were valid. Nader needed at least 25,697 to be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate.

...The signature review was prompted by a court challenge filed by a group of voters sympathetic to Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry.

Democrats have had mixed success in their effort to keep Nader off the ballot in battleground states where they fear he could siphon votes from John Kerry. Besides Pennsylvania, he failed to make the ballot in Ohio, Oregon and Missouri but has succeeded in winning a spot on ballots in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

So the Democratic Party would disenfranchise citizens from voting for the candidate of their choice simply because of a technicality. You bet.