http://patriotupdate.com/17046/obama-bullied-democrats-not-to-run-against-himRalph Nader said the Obama administration “jumped like a cat” to crush anyone who threatened to run against their boss for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2012. “The retaliation is incredible,” he said.
Last April,the consumer advocate and four-time presidential candidate vowed to organize a slate of 2012 Democratic primary challengers against Barack Obama. Nader hoped as many as half-a-dozen candidates would challenge Obama in the intraparty contests,each raising a separate issue on which the Left feels it has been betrayed. He told The Hill newspaper the Obama administration saw to it that did not happen.
“I hate to say but it’s over,”he told the newspaper. “The minute any name was mentioned…they made the calls.”Nader did not elaborate on the pressure the White House exerted on those who threatened to run against Obama in the primaries.
Currently,the only presidential hopeful following Nader’s model —running against Obama to raise a single issue —is pro-life activist Randall Terry,who is running for president as a Democrat.
Nader,an honest gadfly,stated forthrightly that“Obama should be impeached” in March 2011. Six months later,he reiterated “the only remedy left”for Obama’s violations of the Constitution “is…impeachment.”
However,he is far from the only left-wing partisan who is disappointed with Obama. Last March,Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont,an avowed socialist,said a “progressive”rival would “enliven the debate.”Congressmen Pete DeFazio and Dennis Kucinich agreed a political challenge would strengthen the party’s liberal base.