Nader Considering White House Run

Guess who's back, back again...

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, whose very name can rile up Democrats still stinging from Al Gore's narrow loss in the 2000 election, is flirting with what would be his third major run for the presidency. News reports indicate he's filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and he's also launched a new Web site, NaderExplore08.org.

The site's launch comes on the same day as Democrat John Edwards' exit from the presidential race.

Source: cbsnews.com

The Green Party has set up draftnader.org, in order to get his hat in the ring yet again, stating,

We believe Ralph Nader is the best possible candidate to spearhead a Green and independent electoral insurgency in 2008 against the war in Iraq, global warming, and the corporate domination of health care, economics, environment, and every other public policy.

Source: draftnader.org

Nine supporters of Ralph Nader have created this website, asking for donations to an exploratory committee for a possible Nader presidential candidacy this year. They are Peter Camejo, Matt Gonzalez, Theresa Amato, Jason Kafoury, Sally Soriano, Matt Zawisky, Nat Coppernoll, Julie Coyle, and Carl Mayer.

Source: ballot-access.org

Some Democrats blame Nader for spoiling former Vice President Al Gore's bid for the presidency in 2000 by taking support away from him in Florida, the state that decided the election. Nader got 97,488 votes in Florida; President George W. Bush ended up winning the state by just 537 votes over Gore.

Source: bloomberg.com

Many Democrats see Nader as a sort of unintentional Judas, hamstringing John Kerry's campaign by siphoning off liberal votes, a charge that Nader denies (see link directly above).

So... should Democrats be afraid? The current Primary landscape suggests not, as Dems seem passionate about their candidates this time around, even though, as a party, they are not united behind a single name. Kerry didn't seem to inspire the same sort of fire as Obama or Clinton. Indeed, his own voter base seems to be declining, according to Forbes. Most on the left would agree that this is not the season in which to be pulling stunts, as a first-past-the-post system does not really allow for"message candidates": Nader's ideas are arguably good, but his voter base is too small for him to stand a realistic chance-- his opportunity to shine, though, will lie in his endorsement of one of the likely lads or lasses in the Democratic Party.

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