| A new factor has emerged in the presidential race, which is scheduled to end in the US elections on November 2. It is small, but significant. His name is Ralph Nader. The 70-year-old firebrand consumer advocate was cleared Friday by the Florida Supreme Court to run for president on the Reform Party ticket.
The news must have dampened the mood of Democratic candidate John Kerry. According to polls, he enjoys the support of up to 45% of the electorate, President Bush - 45-50%, and Nader - from 3 to 6%. In the 2000 presidential election, Nader, then the Green Party nominee, received nearly 98,000 votes in Florida. Both Democrats and Republicans unanimously believe that if it were not for Nader, these votes would certainly have gone to Democratic candidate Al Gore. He lost the opportunity to become president by just 537 votes, losing to George W. Bush in Florida. For a similar reason, Kerry may also be defeated.
Nader is confident: "A vote for me is not a vote for Bush. It is a vote for change in a system where there is no difference between the two leading parties, which equally serve the interests of large corporations."
Lawyer Nader is a wealthy man, since he specializes in civil claims against monopolies. Coming from a family of Lebanese immigrants and a graduate of Harvard Law School, he became famous in the 1960s when he nearly bankrupted General Motors by accusing it of neglecting the safety of those who drove its cars. In 1968, Nader created the world's first consumer protection organization. Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN
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