Looks like Nader's in the race for the presidency in 2004. This time, he says he won't run as a Green Party candidate because that party won't nominate a candidate until June, and he says that's too late in the process to be effective.

Nader told CNN, "If I do run, it will be as an independent. One out of every three Americans calls themselves independent. We want to give them the kind of candidacy, if I announce it, that will resonate there."

A formal announcement by Nader is expected this weekend.

"He's felt there is a role for an independent candidate to play," Linda Schade, a spokeswoman for Nader's presidential exploratory committee.

Some are wondering what effect, if any, Nader's entry into the race will have on the other candidates, particularly as Kerry and Edwards both try to attract independent voters. Nader's 2000 presidential run is blamed by many Democrats for tilting a close election in favor of George W. Bush.

"I don't think it will have a tremendous amount of effect," Edwards told reporters Friday. "I think if we have a candidate across the ticket that's appealing to independents, appealing to the kind of people that might be attracted to a Nader campaign, then we'll be fine. And I think I am exactly that kind of candidate."

Exactly! That's why I like Edwards.