Nader: I'm Back!

FROM THESTREET.COM: Ralph Nader, famous for his tenacious efforts at consumer-rights activism, has again declared an independent run for the presidency. Nader ran in both 2000 and 2004.

Nader appeared Sunday with Tim Russert on NBC's Meet The Press (GE, VIV). Nader vowed to run on support of universal health care, fighting waste in the Pentagon's budget and reducing the influence of corporate lobbyists.

Many Democrats blame Nader for handing President Bush the election in 2000. They may be right, considering Bush won the election with a razor-thin margin in Florida. According to CNN, Nader received 2% of the vote, or about 97,000 votes in Florida. He won 2.7% of the national vote.

Gore certainly could have used those votes in Florida. But Gore can certainly thank Nader for winning an Academy Award, which he won a year ago for his environmental film, An Inconvenient Truth.

Democrats didn't fall for the Nader trap in 2004. His vote totals plummeted to a miniscule .38% of the national vote as Bush beat John Kerry.

Nader already has a campaign Web site up and running: http://www.votenader.org/.