Clinton adviser wanted to tie Sanders to Ralph Nader, ‘who hates cars’

An adviser to Hillary Clinton floated the idea of tying her Democratic primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to former third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, “who hates cars,” according to a hacked email.

{mosads}In the email posted on WikiLeaks, veteran debate coach Ron Klain emailed campaign chairman John Podesta about Clinton’s strategy on auto and trade policy heading into a March primary debate in Flint, Mich.

“This is a debate about whose side are you on,” Klain wrote. “Bernie’s core argument is that she is on the side of big corporations who love trade. I would like to put Bernie on the side of Ralph Nader who hates cars.”

Klain expressed worry that Sanders was going to hammer the point that “trade ruined Detroit” during the debate.

He suggested that Clinton, now the Democratic presidential nominee, acknowledge that trade agreements have had a “mixed impact” in the region, but he also recommended that she slam Sanders for joining Nader in opposition to a plan put forth by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, that was meant to help auto companies keep pace with new technologies.

“Republicans didn’t want government help coming to Detroit. And Ralph Nader hates cars, and so, he tried to stop this partnership,” Klain suggested Clinton say. “And so Congress voted on killing this partnership. And when that vote was taken, you voted with Ralph Nader to kill it, while President Clinton stood with Detroit.”

The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) was a research partnership between federal agencies and major auto companies aimed at bringing more fuel-efficient vehicles to market by 2003.

Nader, who wrote an investigation of the auto industry that led to the most sweeping auto safety law in U.S. history, once blasted the PNGV program as one of “the most unnecessary corporate giveaways in recent times.”

The partnership was later canceled under the George W. Bush administration.

“I know that we then get some push back on whether PNGV worked or not (though we can say we’ll never know because it was killed), and I know today we want to regulate autos, not just help their tech – but I think we are going to have a battle over who killed Detroit, and Bernie has a theory, and we need some weapons,” Klain said.