OMAHA — If Sen. John F. Kerry thinks he's having a tough time fending off attacks on his military record, he ought to consider the plight of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader.
The well-known consumer advocate, who Democrats fear will again siphon critical votes from their nominee, faces court challenges in more than a dozen states. He's struggling to get on other state ballots, and the college students and Hollywood celebrities who once lavished praise want nothing to do with him.
Democrats have pledged to file legal challenges against Nader's ballot efforts in many of the 17 states whose deadlines for filing signatures are in the coming weeks. And although it won't be clear until October how many state ballots will bear Nader's name, Democrats are confident it will be significantly fewer than the 43 states where he appeared in 2000.
As he accepts the nomination as the Reform Party candidate today in Irving, Texas, Nader has qualified for the Nov. 2 ballot in seven states and has gathered enough signatures to add his name to half a dozen more.
But he has failed to qualify in another dozen states, including delegate-rich California, Arizona, Texas and Michigan.
Nader attributes it to "an orchestrated Democratic campaign" to silence him.
The lanky, graying activist who became famous for championing consumer reforms has weathered accusations by Democrats that his campaign has received money and signature-gathering support from Republicans and the corporate interests that Nader has spent his career fighting.
After gaining 2.7% of the national vote in the 2000 election as the Green Party candidate, the former darling of many Hollywood liberals has lost even that support. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore got on bended knee during a cable TV show to beg Nader to drop out of the race.
This spring, Nader was dumped by the Green Party, and many former followers have launched anti-Nader websites -- one circulating a "Bush/Nader" campaign bumper sticker, suggesting his potential effect on the November results.
On a campaign stop this week at Creighton University here -- a stage where Nader once drew adoring crowds -- a 1,000-seat auditorium held 75 students. The "Doonesbury" comic strip is lampooning him as a stubborn megalomaniac.
But the maverick public figure remains unapologetic and unbowed. His campaign website advertises a "spoiler" T-shirt while he bills himself as the only candidate ready to take on corporate greed and bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
