[00:02.48]Democrats are furious and Republicans excited by the prospect

[00:06.37]of another presidential run by consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

[00:10.66]Many Democrats believe Mr. Nader's 2000 campaign

[00:13.54]for president cost Democrat Al Gore the White House.

[00:17.50]But this time around could be a different story.

[00:20.12]Ralph Nader says he is running for

[00:21.71]president this year because he believes

[00:23.72]both major political parties have

[00:25.52]become dominated by corporate interests

[00:27.68]who care little about the concerns of average Americans.

[00:31.10]"We have a moral imperative to take a stand to help rescue our besieged

[00:36.32]democracy and secure our country and its liberties," he said.

[00:40.21]"We need to restore the sovereignty explicit

[00:43.92]in the Preamble to our Constitution - '

[00:46.44]'We, the People' - not for sale,

[00:50.62]can decide to displace the corporate controls

[00:54.22]that try to make everything for sale."

[00:54.27]Four years ago, Ralph Nader won less than three percent

[00:57.54]of the popular vote as the presidential candidate of the Green Party.

[01:01.14]But some Democrats blamed him for Al Gore's defeat,

[01:04.64]contending that most of the votes he won

[01:06.72]in closely contested states like Florida and New Hampshire

[01:09.78]would have put Mr. Gore in the White House had

[01:12.38]Mr.Nader not mounted a campaign.

[01:14.54]Democrats have reacted with a mixture of anger and determination in the wake

[01:18.89]of Ralph Nader's decision to run again this year.

[01:21.48]But many political experts say it is unlikely that Mr. Nader will

[01:24.98]have the same impact on this year's election.

[01:27.57]Professor Allan Lichtman,

[01:26.57]a presidential scholar at the American University in Washington D.C.

[01:30.46]"I suspect the Nader vote will tail off sharply this time as compared to 2000.

[01:45.25]First, because it is a re-run and secondly

[01:48.13]because I think a lot of progressives are

[01:50.00]very angry at George W. Bush and are looking for a change,

[01:54.97]much more so, of course,

[01:56.56]than in 2000 when some of their unhappiness

[01:59.94]was directed against the Clinton administration."

[02:02.78]Analyst Craig Crawford agrees that Ralph Nader

[02:05.23]will not appeal as much to Democrats this time around.

[02:08.22]But he says the consumer advocate turned politician

[02:11.32]could become a factor in a handful of states if the election is close.

[02:16.14]He spoke on CBS television.

[02:18.23]"I do not think he is going to get quite the support he got in 2000," he said.

[02:21.94]"But to borrow a title from his most famous book

[02:25.14]in the 1960s about car safety,

[02:26.94]to the Democrats he is 'unsafe at any speed'.

[02:30.04]Even if he does not get as many votes,

[02:32.12]he could cherry-pick a couple of states and turn the election."

[02:32.20]Some Democrats have already lashed

[02:31.20]out at Mr. Nader for his decision to run again,

[02:33.36]and some are urging that he drop his candidacy

[02:35.85]in the final days of the campaign if the election appears close.

[02:44.70]But American University's Allan Lichtman says

[02:47.08]the Democrats might want to avoid going after Mr. Nader directly.

[02:51.11]"Nader feeds on confrontation. It only nourishes and sustains him," he said.

[02:56.91]"The Democrats definitely should not take on Ralph Nader.

[03:00.79]They should not give him one line of additional publicity."

[03:06.09]Unlike four years ago,

[03:07.31]Mr. Nader cannot count on help from the Green Party

[03:09.87]to get on state ballots in time for the election.

[03:08.87]He now faces the daunting challenge of obtaining

[03:11.46]hundreds of thousands of voter signatures

[03:13.83]to get his name placed on all 50 state ballots prior to November.