Democratic hopes of winning the White House have suffered a blow after a court ruled that independent candidate Ralph Nader will appear on ballot papers in Florida.
Nader has been blamed by many analysts for costing the Democrats victory four years ago after his leftist third-party campaign attracted many voters who would otherwise have backed Al Gore.
Despite appeals from many former supporters not to run, Nader has launched a bid to get on as many state ballots as possible. Florida was seen as a key test. In 2000, he got 97 000 votes in the state that President George Bush eventually won by just 537 votes.
The decision came after weeks of legal tussling as Democrats sought to prevent Nader from standing in Florida as the Reform Party candidate. However, the state’s Supreme Court voted six to one to allow him to participate.
The move angered Democrats, who say that Nader is now helping the Republican cause.
”In state after state, Nader has become an extension of the Republican party and their corporate backers,” said Democratic national committee chairperson Terry McAuliffe.
There appears to at least some truth to the charge. Republican operatives have campaigned in some states to allow Nader to stand in the belief he will drain votes from John Kerry. One survey found one in 10 of Nader’s biggest campaign contributors were Republicans who had also given money to Bush.
The fight in Florida carried grim echoes of the bitter election of 2000 when Bush and Al Gore disputed the Florida result in a spat that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Many senior legal figures arguing the case over recent weeks were also involved four years ago. Democrats have accused Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the president’s brother, and other Republican state officials of intervening to ensure Nader was on the ballot again, a charge Republicans deny.
Nader spokesperson Kevin Zeese said: ”This is a case that should have been thrown out of the courts sooner.”
Nader, who will now embark on a nine-city tour of Florida, argues that many Republican supporters actually vote for him and democracy is being kept in a stranglehold with only two large political parties.
To the dismay of Democratic strategists, Nader is now on the ballot in 27 states and could register for up to a dozen more in the weeks ahead. The list includes several key battlegrounds such as New Hampshire and West Virginia, where Nader could play a vital role in deciding which major candidate wins in November.
In most polls Kerry does markedly better when in a two-way race with Bush than he does when Nader is a third choice. — Guardian Unlimited Â