News & Notes

Ralph Nader ’55 announced his decision to run for president as an independent candidate yesterday. This is his fourth run for the presidency since 1992.

Nader, a noted consumer advocate, said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian last month that he wants to run because he is concerned about “so many of the widespread injustices [and] deprivations ... not being discussed.”

He added that he wants to address issues such as reducing the military budget, establishing a living wage, expanding environmental and workplace regulations, combating hospital infections and cracking down on corporate crime.

Republican primary candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee noted Nader’s tendency to take votes from the Democrats. “So naturally, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race,” he said on CNN.

Many Democrats blame Nader for Al Gore’s loss to Republican candidate George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election, claiming that part of the 2.7 percent of the popular vote received by Nader as a Green Party candidate may have gone to Gore had Nader not run.

When Nader ran as an independent in 2004, he received .4 percent of the vote.

There are mixed views on whether Nader will pull votes from the Democratic candidate this year. Democratic Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine does not think Nader can hurt his party’s chances. “When you get into running for your third or fourth time, I don’t think people will pay that much attention to it, and I wouldn’t see it having any effect on the race,” he said on Fox News.

Nader, who denies stealing vital votes from Gore in 2000, said, “If the Democrats can’t landslide the Republicans this year, they ought to just wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form.”