WASHINGTON - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, whose third party run in 2000 many Democrats say cost Al Gore the presidency, will announce on Sunday whether he will run again this year.

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"He will be announcing his decision on 'Meet the Press,"' said Linda Schade, a spokeswoman for Nader's presidential exploratory committee.

She said only Nader knew what he was planning to do when he appears on NBC's Sunday morning talk show.

Many Democrats, still angry at Republican George W. Bush's narrow victory in 2000, blame Nader's liberal, consumer-oriented run as the Green Party's presidential nominee for taking away votes from their candidate, then-Vice President Gore.

The number of Nader votes in key states such as Florida and New Hampshire were greater than the gap between Bush's winning total and Gore's losing total. Gore would have been elected president had he won one more state.

Nader, who turns 70 next week, said last year he would not run again as the Green Party nominee but did not rule out running as an independent candidate. An independent run, however, might make it more difficult for him to get on all 50 state ballots.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe told CNN he had met with Nader several times to urge him not to run. He said he told Nader that his legacy should not become eight years of Bush as president.

"It would be a shame if what Americans remember after a lifetime fighting for working families is the fact that he did not fight on the side of the Democratic Party and its nominee when all of those issues he and us hold dear were at risk," the Democratic committee said in a statement.

©2004 Reuters Ltd

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