"Get your ass out"

Published June 23, 2004 6:53PM (EDT)

Ralph Nader's been asked by a number of Democrats to abandon his Independent candidacy, but no one has been quite as blunt as the Congressional Black Caucus was on Tuesday. The Hill reports that Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) asked Nader to "Get your ass out." Fellow legislators echoed her sentiments both at the closed-door meeting (which was apparently loud enough to hear through the walls of the U.S. Capitol basement) and afterwards:

"'Many of us told him that,' said Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.). But Nader appeared unwilling to heed the CBC's advice, causing many black lawmakers to express their frustration.

"'The guy's got a Messiah complex,' said Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.). 'He's all over the park on why he wants to run. He gives you all kinds of reasons, none of which match the rationale of his candidacy.'"


By Jeff Horwitz

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