Oct. 4, 2004
Nader: Not Going Away
The status of the Green Party candidate's nationwide ballot campaign
By JAMES CARNEY

President Bush's lead in the polls may be shrinking, but another obstacle to
John Kerry's chances of winning the White House is not: Ralph Nader.

The erstwhile champion of consumer rights turned festering thorn in the
Democrats' side has managed to get on the ballot as a third-party candidate
in 37 states, including Florida, where he won more than 97,000 votes in
2000.

Bitter Democrats complain that if the far-left Nader hadn't run that year,
Al Gore, who lost by just 537 votes in Florida, would be President today.

Fearing another Nader nightmare in 2004, Democrats have mounted court
challenges...

...In the latest TIME poll, Nader draws a surprisingly high 5% of the vote
nationally.

Nader says he's running because the Democratic party is no longer any
different from the GOP Both, he says, are beholden to big corporations. He
denies reports -- confirmed by Republicans themselves -- that the GOP has
helped fund and support his campaign in the hope of hurting Kerry.

www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1101041004-702132,00.html