By Darlisa Crawford
Washington File Special Correspondent

On February 22 consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced his candidacy for president as an independent. Nader ran in 1992, 1996 and 2000 as the Green Party candidate, receiving 2.7 percent of the national vote in the 2000 election. [The Green Party will decide on a presidential candidate at their June convention in Milwaukee.]

Experts say Nader faces difficult financial and logistic challenges. His failure to capture five percent of the vote in 2000 makes him ineligible for public funding in the general election. The Federal Election Commission stipulates that Nader, as an independent candidate, is also ineligible for an estimated $18.6 million in government funding for the primary season.

In order to qualify for the Texas ballot, the first contest for Nader, he must obtain 60,000 signatures by May 10 from voters who are not participating in the Democratic or Republican primaries. For the general election, Nader must gather an estimated 1.5 million signatures to appear on the ballot in all 50 states and must satisfy the various requirements of state election laws, which differ greatly from state to state.

Although some political analysts suggest that Nader's candidacy may draw votes from the Democratic Party, Charles Cook, publisher of the Cook Political Report, said, "The Democratic rhetoric this year is considerably more liberal [than in 2000]. I don't see the Democratic message leaving a lot of room for Nader."