Consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced his run for the president today. He will run as an independent this time and not as a candidate for the Green Party.

Understandably, Democrats are concerned about the potential for a repeat of 2000. Nader defends himself in a letter to "anybody but Bush Democrats." While it's important to think about Nader's impact on this race, I don't believe he'll receive anywhere near the support he received in 2000. For one, more voters realize what the stakes are. It's also very unlikely he'll be on the ballot in as many states and I don't think he'll be able to raise as much money this time around (although I'd venture a guess many of his donations will be from Republicans).

The dynamic of this race is going to be much different from 2000 when we had no incumbant president running. This year's election will be a referendum on the Bush presidency, and I'm venturing a guess that those "undecideds" will be few in number in the weeks leading up to Election Day.