Close Vote Costs Nader the Green Nomination

Nader, the Green candidate in the last two presidential elections, sought the party's endorsement this year for his independent candidacy -- a move that could have gained him ballot access in at least 22 states and the District of Columbia. Instead, after days of feverish debate, the Greens opted for David Cobb, 41, by a narrow margin.

That was good news for Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee whose campaign is worried about a repeat of the 2000 election. Nader was on the ballot in most states that year, thanks largely to the Green Party, and he was blamed by some -- and thanked by others -- for paving the way for Republican George W. Bush's narrow win over Democrat Al Gore.

Cobb's nomination means that Nader faces the arduous task of qualifying for the ballot on his own in the states where the Green Party has a ballot line. Many ballot experts predict Nader will fall short in some of these states, which include key battlegrounds Wisconsin, Oregon, Minnesota, New Mexico and Nevada.

By nominating Cobb, the Greens have a candidate "with zero name recognition," said Dean Spiliotes, a fellow at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. "It may be a good exercise in building up the party on the local level, but it means the party will drop off the radar. It's a shock, but it is great news for Kerry."

Cobb's campaign strategy also should help Kerry. Cobb plans to avoid a hard sell in the states that Kerry and President Bush are most closely contesting -- an approach that some have described as a "safe state" strategy.

His focus will be in states that are dominated by either the Republicans or Democrats, where he has said he will push progressives to vote Green as an "investment" in the party's future. Those states probably will include California, which Kerry is expected to carry easily and where the Green Party has a ballot line.

To qualify as an independent in California, Nader will have to gather more than 150,000 signatures of registered voters.

Green Party co-chairman Ben Manski said the group hoped that by November, it would have qualified Cobb for the ballot in more than 30 states. But a clear rift in the party was created by Saturday's vote, and it might last, say party officials.