Strange bedfellows, indeed

By Aziz P. -
reprinted from the Times without comment. Make of it what you wil:

Apparently Mr. Bush is not the only American capable of bringing Democrats together. Ralph Nader is doing his part, too.

A group of former Democratic enemies announced Wednesday that they had formed a group called the National Progress Fund to woo Mr. Nader's supporters into the party with a television and an Internet campaign warning that a vote for Mr. Nader could help elect Mr. Bush.

The group's president is Tricia Enright, who was the communications director for Howard Dean's campaign. Among her colleagues are John Hlinko and Chris Kofinis, who were credited with pushing Gen. Wesley K. Clark into the race.

The idea for the group came from David W. Jones, a Democratic fundraiser who was behind Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values, which ran scathing attack advertisements against Dr. Dean. One showed Osama bin Laden's face as an announcer questioned Dr. Dean's defense credentials.

In December, when Mr. Jones refused to divulge his group's funding sources, Ms. Enright called the advertisement "hateful" and said of him and his group, "Whoever is behind this should crawl out from underneath their rock and have the courage to say who they are." What is it like working with Mr. Jones now? "Democrats have to come together from all walks of life," Ms. Enright said, "and even from under their rocks."

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