Kerry and rival Nader discuss White House bids

WASHINGTON - Democrat John Kerry held "a friendly discussion" with rival Ralph Nader on Wednesday but did not ask the independent candidate whose third party run could sink his presidential bid to drop out of the race.

Other Democrats have urged Nader to abandon his campaign, convinced that he cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000 by siphoning away the votes of more liberal Americans.

But a Kerry aide said this year's presumptive Democratic nominee did not request Nader drop out and the veteran consumer advocate gave no hint of the conditions under which he might do so.

"These two have known each other for 30 years," the aide said. "Obviously it was a very friendly discussion...there was nothing contentious about it."

The Nader campaign issued a statement afterward saying the meeting was designed "to put the focus on the human race not the presidential horse race" and both men agreed to "continue the dialogue".

An added concern for Kerry is Nader's anti-war sentiment which has struck a chord among some voters, especially in closely contested states.

Although Iraq has emerged as a major issue between the two campaigns -- Nader has called for the withdrawal of US troops and Kerry, like President George W Bush, wants to stay the course -- the aide said the two men did not discuss their differences during the hour-long meeting.

But Kerry, who campaigned in Oregon on Tuesday, enlisted the help of former rival Howard Dean, whose own maverick bid for the Democratic presidential nomination was built around his vehement opposition to the Iraq war.

Both men have warned that Nader could draw votes from the Democratic candidate. Kerry will return to Oregon -- which Gore narrowly won in won in 2000 -- next week.

Ignoring pleas from Democrats earlier this year to stay out of the race, Nader threw his hat into the ring saying he wanted to challenge the two parties' stranglehold on the political process and their shared addiction to corporate interests.

The Kerry aide, who was in Wednesday's meeting, said Nader made that same argument.

"He believes he is helping John Kerry by doing this," the aide said. "That he can provide a sharper counterpoint to Bush and that the Democratic Party over the past 10 years has not been particularly tough on these issues."

Nader's Green Party bid won nearly 2.9 million votes in 2000 and was blamed by many for draining away support from Gore -- especially in Florida where Nader won 97,488 votes and Gore's loss by a bitterly contested 537 votes cost him the presidency.

"I intend to get elected president," Kerry told Nader, according to the aide. "I'm working hard at this. I think it's a huge deal for the country to get rid of the people in the White House and I think I have the values to do this.

The four-term senator from Massachusetts pointed out that he and Nader had been "together for 30 years" on issues like corporate welfare, consumer issues and abortion rights. The Nader statement said corporate welfare, corporate crime and union rights were among the issues discussed.

Kerry asked Nader not to judge him by his predecessors.

"I have fought with you. I have been with you on a range of issues and you should judge me by my record in the Senate," he said, according to the aide.

The Kerry aide called the session "very straightforward" and said the two men agreed to meet again. Asked if the senator had requested Nader quit the race, the aide replied: "No." Conversely, Nader neither offered to nor gave any hint if he would, he added.

Nader brought up the issue of increasing the number of presidential debates and including more candidates in them, his campaign said.

A public opinion poll late last year showed that two-thirds of Americans did not want Nader to run again. Democratic operatives would continue to press Nader publicly and privately to come around, party officials said.

- REUTERS