Some old friends of ralph Nader's in Australia, including politicians, journalists and environmentalists, are sending Ralph Nader a letter asking him not to stand again.

(see full article at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9216526%5E12272,00.html)

excerpts below:

Rein in your crusade, Ralph; Phillip Adams, The Australian; April 10, 2004

AN urgent phone call from Barry Jones in Italy, where he's attending an education conference: "We've got to organise a letter to Ralph!" I tell him it's too late: Nader's been on CNN, confirming his presidential candidacy. Which may, yet again, prove catastrophic.

The scene was a farewell dinner at Melbourne University and Jones's guests were Sir Macfarlane Burnet and his wife, Linda (who, sadly, was dying of leukaemia), former Liberal PM John Gorton, Graham Perkin, Gordon Barton and myself. Perkin, the former Age editor, was goading Barton who, having made millions out of IPEC, had launched the Australia Party, a precursor to Don Chipp's Democrats.

Burnet, one of Australia's greatest scientists, was arguing with Gorton who, slightly pissed, was talking about his plans (fortunately unrealised) for Australia to "go nuclear" in power generation. The Nobel Laureate rattled off objection after objection. Radioactivity would cause innumerable cases of leukaemia, a fact emphasised by his wife's silent presence. There was no safe way to store nuclear waste. Worse still, any nuclear power plant would, in due course, provide a perfect target for terrorists. No, the only safe answer was solar power, and Mac drew a sketch on the tablecloth.

He told us that a solar collector, measuring just 160 kilometres by 160 kilometres, a dot in the middle of the Nullarbor, would capture sufficient energy to run the entire planet. Nader was fascinated, exhilarated. It was like St Joan hearing her voices. He returned to the US and changed his focus from Detroit to, yes, the nuclear industry.

Nader is one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Around the world, he triggered a tsunami of legislation to protect the consumer and the environment. To use an overused word, he "empowered" the public, almost tipping the balance in their favour.

Yet there's a danger he'll leave the world in a worse mess than before. He played a significant role in the election of George W. Bush by leaching votes from Gore.

Bush has demolished almost every one of Nader's achievements, not only trashing Kyoto but tearing up the rule books on domestic environmental protection. And he's not only contemplating nuclear power but, yes, the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. Yet, deaf to the entreaties of his American friends, a defiant Nader is running again and he could, in a close election, give Bush a second term.

Jones has circulated a letter among Nader's Australian friends – and I think that all of us, without exception, will co-sign. Australia changed Nader's mind back in 1972. Okay, it's a long shot. But perhaps, just perhaps, Australia can do it again.
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end of article