"...what is it about our voting system works that would keep Nader from helping elect Bush this time

What I said was "in most parts your country there is no real possibility of Nader doing any damage at all to the chances of removing Bush."

And what I meant was, in most States the margin between your Democrats and your Republicans is not so close that a vote of 5% (or even a good bit higher) for Nader would make any difference to the result.

The only places where that kind of thing actually matters is in "swing states" where a vote like that for Nader which would other wise be likely to go to Kerry could make a difference (as happened in Florida last time). Remember, it just doesn't matter who gets most votes across the country when it comes to determine who wins the election. The only thing that matters is the electoral college votes.

I can quite easily imagine that real conservatives, who don't trust unnecessary change and don't trust big business and big politics, could easily prefer someone like Nader to either Kerry or Bush.