Defiant Nader Says He’s Still Running

If many Democrats speak of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader as a fallen angel of the left, Nader talks about the Democratic Party much the same way he does the Republican Party -- except he reserves most of his vitriol for the Democrats.

“This is a decadent, decayed party” that behaves like “a dictator,” Nader said in an interview Thursday.

Republicans are helping Nader’s effort to get on the ballot in several states so he can peel off votes from presumptive Democratic nominee John F. Kerry. Nader discounted their aid as inconsequential and criticized Democratic leaders for trying to thwart his candidacy.

“The Democrats are the ones obstructing us,” he said.

In Los Angeles to promote his book, “Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender,” Nader met with reporters throughout the day as his campaign continued to struggle to secure a place on ballots across the nation.

Nader seemed at relative peace with his evolving role as a rabble-rouser who former supporters said had gone too far. He said it had come to a point where old friends had to be sadly written off, victims of the “least-worst virus.”

Many former allies have pleaded with the country’s most famous consumer advocate to bow out of the race. They tell him his cause is noble but it may have the effect of reelecting President Bush in a tight vote.

“The least-worst virus,” Nader said, causes smart, thoughtful liberals to support Kerry even if they think he would be a president only slightly less bad than Bush.

“That’s why we call it a virus: It has no correlation with intelligence, education or humanity,” he said. “When you have an anybody-but-Bush attitude ... the brain closes down.”

Among those who have squabbled with Nader recently and have urged him to abandon his candidacy are former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, filmmaker Michael Moore and the Congressional Black Caucus.

His reason for running is the same as it was in 2000: “To push the agenda” -- one that includes opposition to the war in Iraq and the North American Free Trade Agreement and support for universal healthcare and revamping taxes.

The phenomenon of Republicans toiling to help get Nader on the ballot has made news in recent weeks. And with electoral deadlines looming in many states, Nader may need their support.

In Michigan, his campaign was mired in a dispute over who was the true head of the state’s Reform Party, and if Nader’s endorsement by the party was valid.

Additionally, the campaign turned in signatures from about 5,000 voters in Michigan -- 25,000 short of the number needed to put him on the ballot as an independent. To the delight of Democrats, Nader’s campaign announced Thursday that it had turned down 30,000 signatures collected by Bush supporters.

In Oregon, Nader needed 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot under one clause, but failed when some who turned out for a rally were not eligible to vote. Now he must gather 15,000 signatures. Representatives of a conservative anti-tax group are helping.

Citizens for a Sound Economy, a conservative group led by former House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-Texas), is at work in several battleground states on behalf of Nader’s ballot efforts.

Nader said Democrats were ignoring the possibility that people who voted for him could also vote for Democrats in congressional races, bolstering the party’s power. And Democrats and Republicans were solidifying the two-party system to the point that any dissenting voices easily could be drowned out.

“The more four-year cycles you go through without pushing a progressive agenda, the fewer the young people who know about it,” he said.