from a July 19, 2004 Press Release from the DNC:

Responding to reports today that Ralph Nader has accepted the 43,000 signatures gathered by the Michigan Republican Party to appear as an independent on the Michigan ballot, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe issued this response:

"We are very disappointed that Ralph Nader has chosen today to accept signatures from Republicans hoping to help elect George W. Bush.  Ralph Nader faced a clear choice in Michigan and he chose to cave to political convenience.

"For months we have publicly called on Nader to disavow any Republican help -- organizational or financial -- because there are clear differences between George W. Bush and John Kerry on issues like corporate responsibility, health care, and the environment, for which Ralph Nader has fought his entire life.

"Ralph Nader's decision today aligned him with the Republican Party, their corporate supporters, and groups like Pat Buchanan's Reform Party, the kind of right wing conservatives Nader has spent a lifetime fighting against."