Green, Reform parties may both tap Nader
Maria Recio

WASHINGTON -- Q: Ralph Nader, who is running for president as an independent, will be listed on the ballot in November as:
a) the Reform Party candidate
b) the Green Party candidate
c) an independent
d) all of the above.
The answer is likely to be "d." Nader has made it clear that he will use whatever tactic helps him get on state ballots, and he has lots of options.
In 2000, Nader was the Green Party candidate and won 2.7 percent of the popular vote while on the ballot in only 43 states. In Florida and New Hampshire, if only a small number of Nader voters had gone to Democrat Al Gore, he would have defeated Republican George W. Bush. Democrats fear a repeat this year.
An Associated Press poll released Friday put Nader's support at 6 percent nationally, with Democratic candidate John Kerry in a virtual tie with Bush. The poll, taken March 1-3, was of 771 registered voters and had an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.
Nader's independent, anti-corporate, populist campaign starts its uphill effort to get on the ballot in all 50 states this week in Texas. And there are signs that he may end up as the nominee of both the Reform Party and the Green Party, which are strange bedfellows ideologically.
Texas has one of the toughest standards for ballot qualification in the nation. Starting Wednesday, any minor candidate has 60 days to get more than 60,000 signatures. Complicating the task is that anyone who votes in Tuesday's Texas primary can't sign the petition.
But it's easier for a third party to get listed on the Texas ballot than an individual; a third party needs only 40,000 voter signatures collected in a 75-day period starting Wednesday. As a result, Nader is engaged in an unlikely flirtation with the Reform Party.
The Reform Party, founded by Dallas billionaire Ross Perot in the fiery spirit of his anti-deficit, anti-free-trade 1992 presidential candidacy, all but disappeared after the 2000 campaign, when it split between followers of Perot and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, the party's nominee four years ago.
Nader met with Reform Party officials recently during a three-day Texas swing. The party has voted to collect the signatures needed to put Nader's name on the ballot as its candidate in Texas.
"Everybody's thrilled to death to have Nader run on our line," said Beverly Kennedy, the Reform Party's Dallas County chair.
The Nader campaign also plans to get him on the Texas ballot as an independent. "We're gearing up for an independent run," said Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese. The campaign Web site is seeking $20,000 to help.
The national Reform Party has maintained ballot lines in seven states that are pretty much Nader's for the asking.
Meanwhile, the pro-environment Green Party, which backed Nader in 2000, has a vigorous Draft Nader movement under way, with Nader stand-ins running for delegates to the party's June convention.
In California, Nader ally Peter Camejo won the Green Party's presidential nomination in last week's state primary, collecting 74 percent support. But Camejo says he won't run for president. "I think it's very important for Greens to endorse Ralph Nader. Nader's campaign is a factor in the election now," Camejo said.
Greens are trying to determine if Nader would accept a draft and have asked him to make his intentions clear. Nader declared in December that he wouldn't seek the Green Party's nomination because he didn't want his candidacy to be constrained by Green Party rules, but that's not the same as renouncing Green Party support.
Zeese said Nader would soon issue a "statement of intent" regarding the Green Party. It has ballot lines in 21 states and is organizing to get on ballots in about 20 more.
Would Nader accept a Green Party draft? "We'll see," said Zeese. "We get a lot of calls from Greens who want him to run. The Reform Party is also calling. He's not seeking the Reform Party nomination, either."
Zeese noted that in 2000, Nader's name was on the ballot in 13 different incarnations, including as the nominee of the Progressive Party in Vermont and the Mountain Party in West Virginia. Nader was clear when announcing that he would run again this year that he would be on ballots under different party names.
"Fifty states -- that's definitely what the goal is," said Zeese.
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