February 23, 2004, Pg. A01

Nader to Run As Independent; Democrats Upset at 'Spoiler' in 2000 Race

By Shankar Vedantam

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader -- who many Democrats believe played "spoiler" in the 2000 election and helped put George W. Bush in the White House -- announced yesterday that he was going to run for president as an independent.

Nader said neither the Democrats nor the Republicans, awash in campaign contributions, were articulating his concerns for a more involved electorate, a better living wage, a crackdown on corporate crime, for more than two perspectives in presidential debates, and for stronger controls on the influence of money in politics.

"This has to be the only candidacy where the principal opponents are those who agree with you," Nader said in an interview, referring to the hordes of Democrats who have urged him not to run. "It's sad because they've lost their nerve and they've lost their expectations. They're willing to let the Democrats put a nose ring in their nose and say, 'Come along.' "

Spurred by the memory of how Nader siphoned away crucial votes in the 2000 election from Al Gore in Florida and New Hampshire, Democrats yesterday launched a frontal attack on Nader and accused him of being egotistical and irresponsible.

"This is an act of total vanity and ego satisfaction," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D). Nader, he added, "cost us the White House last time, and he could again."

The Democratic National Committee issued a statement saying Nader had promised Chairman Terence R.McAuliffe that "he would not criticize the Democratic nominee, but rather would focus on the failings of the Bush Administration. We take him at his word."

As he was leaving Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he attended morning services, Democratic front-runner Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) was asked about Nader's entry. "I'm going to appeal to everybody in this race and we'll make it unnecessary in the end for an alternative," he said.

Although the Republican National Committee studiously declined to gloat, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) declared, "Republicans love Ralph Nader!"

Nader, 69, made his announcement on NBC's "Meet the Press." In a subsequent interview, he predicted that his candidacy would hurt President Bush more than the eventual Democratic nominee. If the electorate were divided into three groups (Republicans, independents and Democrats), Nader said he expects to get more votes from the first two -- votes that otherwise could have gone to Bush.

Many independents, libertarians and Republicans share his concerns over the erosion of civil liberties and the giant federal deficit, Nader said. As to why he is getting a barrage of complaints from Democrats, and none from Republicans, Nader said operatives in both parties are following "a mantra -- an assumption without data."

Nader won about 3 percent of the vote in the 2000 election; Gore and Bush each won 48 percent. Nader's presence on the ballot proved crucial in at least two states. In Florida, Bush won by 537 votes even as Nader won 97,488. In New Hampshire, Bush won by 7,211 votes as Nader won 22,198.

Nader said polls had shown that in 2000, 25 percent of his supporters were Republicans, and 38 percent were Democrats. In 2004, he predicted, far fewer Democrats will vote for him.

John Pearce, a California activist who launched a Web site called RalphDontRun.net, said that even if Nader's numbers for the 2000 election were correct, he still tipped Florida and New Hampshire to Bush. If Gore had won either state, he would have won the election.

Pearce's Web site has received about 165,000 hits in recent days. Like many Democrats who want Nader out of the race, Pearce said he has mixed feelings about the consumer advocate.

"The irony to me is he was so inspiring and so well informed on so many issues, yet his candidacy will only serve to support the election of those most hostile to his issues," Pearce said. "I ironically continue to be inspired by Nader and very disappointed in his decision."

Nader and the Green Party, on whose ticket he ran in 2000, have steadfastly refused to take responsibility for Gore's defeat. They blame the Democrat's campaign, shenanigans in the Florida election and the intervention of a conservative Supreme Court for the defeat.

Nader dismissed the criticism of his candidacy as coming from "the liberal intelligentsia" -- people concerned about the same issues, but willing to settle for "the least worst option." He described himself as a lifelong progressive, part of a group that was "tougher in their struggle for justice."

Other self-described progressives disagreed. Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement that Nader could end up "splitting the vote with the candidate. Middle-income and working families just cannot afford four more years of Bush."

Dante Scala, a research fellow at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester, said Nader is unlikely to do as well as he did in 2000 because Democrats are much more united in 2004. But if the election were close, Nader's presence could tip a state or two, Scala said, including states that Gore carried in 2000.

Tony Quinn, a former Republican consultant in Sacramento who is involved in nonpartisan political analysis, said third-party candidates always do the most damage to candidates who are ideologically similar.

To avoid this, Nader supporters, many chastened by the 2000 election, have tried to mount vote-swapping arrangements. They would allow those who live in swing states to vote for the Democrats, while Democrats who live in solidly Republican or Democratic states would vote for Nader.

The deeply divided Green Party will decide at its Milwaukee convention in June whether to nominate another candidate, try to redraft Nader, not run a candidate at all, or run hard only in non-swing states, spokesman Scott McLarty said.

"People who voted for him the last time recognize they made a mistake, and they won't do it again," predicted Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who is chairman of the Democratic Governors' Association. "He won't have the resources to mount a major campaign, and people are focused on solutions, not symbols."

Nader has said that Americans should vote their conscience. Among his ideas are better public financing of elections, restrictions on corporate funding and a chance for voters to say they don't like any of the candidates and force a reelection.

These issues do not have anything to do with Nader's hopes of winning the presidency. Even as volunteers recruited through his Web site -- www.votenader.org -- try to get his name on the ballot, Nader acknowledged the election is only part of a broad scheme to involve people in political activism, and to draw attention to issues that the major parties would rather ignore.

If the Democrats paid real attention to the issue of corporate malfeasance, he would be delighted, Nader said. "It's up to them to grab away my votes and my issues," he said.

Staff writer David S. Broder contributed to this report.

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