Ralph Nader, pariah of the 2000 presidential election and the man still bitterly blamed by Democrats for losing the White House to George Bush, may well run for president yet again.
Seven years ago many believed he drained just enough votes from Al Gore to cost him the election. In 2004 he ran with little notice and was remembered most of all for having a pie heaved in his face.
Nader told the Guardian a few days ago he is seriously considering a run this year. He will decide within the month. Nader looks kindly on such candidates as Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, and even has a few approving words for Mike Huckabee - if only because the Arkansas preacher doesn't talk Washington gobbledygook. His ire is reserved for Hillary and Bill, whom he likens to a "software program".
If Hillary should win the nomination, those around Nader expect him to jump in, with the intent of pushing the party leftward and encouraging other outsiders, ie New York mayor Bloomberg, whom Nader told the Guardian he intends to encourage to run as an independent. As for Obama the consumer advocate regards the senator from Illinois as little more than a carbon copy of Hillary, taking money from the same corporate stooges and surrounded by tarnished political advisers from the Clinton era.
With Hillary running strong and his own credibility vastly diminished, Nader's entrance into the campaign might well appear sheer madness. And garnering a few points here and there may seem trifling, but in a tight election it could become important, maybe even decisive. Thus, he must figure on leveraging Hillary, pushing her into taking a tougher position against the war, embracing universal health care and saying something nasty about evil doing corporations. By that time, the economy is predicted to be in recession, and for Nader the answer doubtless lies in more - not less -government regulation.
