Ralph Nader wasted no time in striking back against Governor Bill who accuses the independent Prez candidate of running because of his "ego." But Nader, widely blamed by the Dems for throwing the Prez race to Bush in 00', lashed back with a fury in an appearance on CNN late Monday when asked about Richardson's ego statement. "That's because they have no other argument. You see, that's name-calling, like Governor Bill Richardson, who is a chronic speedster in his car as governor. He violates speed laws. He's probably a little irritated that I pointed that out," snapped Nader.

Consumer and safety advocate Nader took after Bill when it was disclosed last year that the Guv was traveling NM's highways at an alarming 110 mph. Now, Nader says Bill is paying him back. This is Ralph's third Prez bid and the Dems are in a tizzy believing he could again cost them the White House which Nader says is "corporate occupied" territory. The big question now is whether Nader can get the 18,000 petition signatures he needs by September 7 to get on the NM ballot. Steve Cabiedes, a petition collection specialist and longtime Green Party member, says Nader "has plenty of time" and "will get help from some Greens" insuring he will make the cut.

Unanswered questions include whether Republicans will help Nader make the ballot here and elsewhere and whether Dems will put up a fight by challenging Nader's petition signatures.

Nader's run complicates things for the Greens, under whose banner Nader ran four years ago when he garnered four percent of the NM vote which Al Gore ultimately won by just over 350 votes. The Greens have David Cobb running this time, which means New Mexicans are likely to see two liberal alternatives on their ballots. Cobb needs to get five per cent of the vote here if the Greens are to retain their "major party" status. That grows increasingly unlikely with Nader vying for the same votes as Cobb. Notable NM Green Carol Miller is one you can expect carrying the Nader banner here, despite it's possible harm to her party's own contender. She has been a longtime Nader supporter.

One top level NM Dem strategist emails in with more analysis: "Ralph's candidacy is a dagger in the Green heart. And that's not just a New Mexico phenomena. Undoubtedly, Green Party ballot status will be jeopardized in other states as well. Moreover, their ability to meet the threshold for federal matching funds goes out the window for the next cycle too."

Cabiedes puts Nader's base vote in NM at 2 percent, or about 10,000 votes. Nader picked up 21,000 ballots in NM in 2000. But it's Nader's impact on the Dems and their hopes of unseating Bush that remains the big issue. And Big Bill's personal tongue-lashing of the new Prez hopeful might only harden his position on staying in the race until the bitter end. Folks at home may quiver when Big Bill speaks, but it's different on the national level where guys like Nader have been playing this game for 40 years and are more than willing to return fire and then some.

MAYORAL RUN-OFF'S COULD COME BACK

Well, our accuracy record is pretty solid here, but once in a while we drop the ball. And that's what we did today when our early morning readers read our item saying municipal run-off elections would not be brought back to NM anytime soon. Top New Mexico lobbyist Scott Scanland was quick to notice and reports that a constitutional amendment allowing cities, such as ABQ, to conduct run-off's between the two top finishers for mayor and council will indeed be on the November ballot for voters to decide. Scott says the amendment, if passed, would give city councils around NM the option of going to the run-off system. If passed by voters and approved by the city council, the 2005 ABQ mayoral election would feature a run-off. Under the old system that was struck down, a candidate would have to get 40 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off election. It will be up to each municipality to decide what the threshold will be for an outright winner. Suffice it to say there are a lot of angles to this one, and we apologize for our earlier erroneous report.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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