WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites) said on Monday a meeting may be "in the works" with Ralph Nader (news - web sites), whose own bid as an independent is seen by some Democrats as a potential boost to President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election chances.
"I'm going to talk directly to people who in the past have been inclined to support Ralph Nader," the Massachusetts senator told reporters. "I'm not going to attack him in any way. I'm just going to try to talk to his people and point out that we've got to beat George Bush."
Some Democrats blamed Nader's third-party White House run in 2000 for helping elect Bush.
Ignoring pleas to stay out of this year's race, the veteran consumer advocate said he wanted to challenge the two parties' stranglehold on the political process and their shared addiction to corporate interests.
"My views on campaign finance reform, on corporate responsibility ... getting money out of American politics, all those things I've had for 20 years," Kerry said. "I hope by the end of this race I can make it unnecessary for people to feel that they need to vote for someone else."
Nader's Green Party bid won nearly 2.9 million votes in 2000 and was blamed for siphoning support from Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) -- particularly in Florida, where Nader won 97,488 votes and Gore's loss by a bitterly contested 537 votes cost him the presidency.
Asked if he would meet with Nader, Kerry replied: "It's possible. There may even be something in the works. I'm not sure, but it's possible."
A public opinion poll late last year found two-thirds of Americans did not want Nader to run again, and Democrats from across the ideological spectrum have asked him to stay out of the race and give them a clear shot at Bush.