toledoblade.com --

Ralph Nader said yesterday that his independent presidential candidacy would help elect Democrat John Kerry because he would inspire people to vote against President Bush.

Republicans discounted the theory, which, Mr. Nader said has conservatives and independents who voted for Mr. Bush in 2000 abandoning him this year over concerns he has advocated policies that have increased the federal deficit and extended government intrusion into the lives of American citizens.

"The pattern this year is that the members of the out-of-power party nationally - that's the Democrats - usually come back into the fold," said Mr. Nader. "The conservatives, independents, and liberal Republicans are furious with Bush, who voted for him in 2000. They represent a vast number of voters that we are going to appeal to with our independent candidacy.

"They are furious with Bush over the vast deficit, over the big-government Patriot Act. Conservatives also don't like their tax dollars going to corporate subsidies. They don't like the federal regulation of school boards and school districts through the No Child Left Behind [act]," he said.

"Republicans are united behind President Bush," countered Heather Layman, spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "On issues like the Patriot Act and No Child Left Behind, the President has shown positive, strong leadership to make this country safer and stronger and better. I think that what you see on the other side is that John Kerry and other opponents of the President continue to peddle divisiveness and anger. I think that is unfortunate. Anger is not an agenda," she said.

Mr. Nader, who has built a career battling corporate America and embracing liberal causes, said Democrats and Republicans have no monopoly on the presidency.

"We all have an equal right to run. The two parties have to earn their votes. They don't inherit their votes. They aren't entitled to their votes, and we all try to take votes away from each other," he said.

Democrats blamed Mr. Nader for siphoning off just enough votes in key states in the 2000 election to keep Democrat Al Gore from winning the presidency. In Florida, where Mr. Bush defeated Mr. Gore by just 537 votes, Mr. Nader won 97,488. In New Hampshire, where Mr. Bush won 7,211 more votes than Mr. Gore, 22,198 people cast ballots for Mr. Nader.

Likely voters in both states are again evenly divided, recent public opinion polls show.

In Ohio, Mr. Bush won by a sufficient number of votes that Mr. Nader's candidacy had no impact on the race here.

Mr. Nader met at Murphy's Place restaurant on Water Street downtown with more than a dozen supporters, urging them to gather signatures on petitions that will qualify him for the Ohio ballot in November.

Contact Fritz Wenzel at:
fritz@theblade.com
or 419-724-6134.

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