Well, it looks like Nader won't be going away (snippet):

....So Mr. Nader, who does not concede that he has little chance of winning the presidency, is preparing for battles ahead - for ballot access in most states (he is on the ballot in six states so far, including Florida), for credentials to the Republican convention this month (he was denied credentials to the Democratic convention), and for a seat at the table in the fall debates, which requires a standing of at least 15 percent in national polls. Andrew Kohut, the director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, said that Mr. Nader, who won 2.7 percent of the vote in 2000, was polling at about 3 percent in most national polls now but could spell trouble for Mr. Kerry in some swing states. ....Mr. Nader's determination to stay in the contest was evident on Friday night in Los Angeles, when Michael Moore, the filmmaker, who backed Mr. Nader in 2000, appeared with him on the HBO program "Real Time with Bill Maher." Mr. Moore and Mr. Maher dropped to their knees to beg Mr. Nader to drop out, with the audience cheering them on. Mr. Nader was unmoved, saying only, "We're going to help defeat George W. Bush" and dashing off the set at his first opportunity. Nader supporters, Mr. Greenberg's polling shows, are generally older and angrier than other voters. They are fiercely against globalization and corporate dominance, and they are largely indifferent to social issues like abortion and gay marriage....

I thought the begging on the Bill Maher Show was totally pathetic, cancelling out the great bit of showing OJ's picture to Nader and saying how a great career can be ruined by one mistake. Kerry et al. need to get over the fact that there is an independent who is going to pull 3% of the vote and instead be grateful that there isn't a Ross Perot around who would be snatching up 19% or a John Anderson at 7%.

Winning this election will be nowhere near as difficult as dealing with all the demolition of our nation wrought by 4 years of Bush. If Kerry is serious about becoming President, then he will need to pull up his bootstraps and really convince voters that he's serious about turning around this relentless corporate-financed apocalyptic steamroller that has Bush in the driver's seat and Cheney riding shotgun. I have yet to meet a single adult who is as anxious to vote for Kerry as they are of getting rid of Bush. I dare you to tell me that Democrats would not be more excited about voting for Martin Sheen than for Kerry, given the chance.