Why is it notable, and what role? He didn’t bring him up because Obama obviously has no role to play in convincing Mitch McConnell, a Republican, to do anything. The problem here is the Republican leadership in the Senate, which refuses to allow up-or-down votes on an individual basis on these nominees because they know that one of them (also, by sheer coincidence, a Republican) will be rejected outright.

There’s nothing nefarious going on here as far as Ralph Nader is concerned. Of the three major presidential candidates to whom he could have addressed this release, John McCain is the only one whose name makes any sense in this context.