• Originally published in the Washington Post on Septmeber 12, 2004

 
Ralph Nader was dealt a blow in Florida last week when a judge barred him from the presidential ballot in the state. But the independent presidential candidate got some eleventh-hour legal help from a seemingly odd source: Ken Sukhia, a well-known Republican lawyer with ties to President Bush, has been hired by the campaign to fight the ruling. Sukhia helped the GOP with the nasty recount battle in 2000.

Nader has been attracting enthusiastic GOP help nationwide in his efforts to get on the ballot, infuriating Democrats who believe he will drain votes -- again -- from their candidate.

"What do people expect? Certainly the Democratic lawyers don't want to help us, that's for sure," said Kevin Zeese, a spokesman for Nader. "Everyone is more interested in our choice of lawyers than the battle we're fighting. I find it very amusing."