The independent candidate saw his support slump in the 2004 presidential election and did not draw enough votes in any state to have a serious impact on Democratic candidate John Kerry.

Asked about a national showing below one percent that relieved him of the role of potential spoiler, Nader (70) late on Tuesday was characteristically blunt.

"Since the Democrats, through their dirty tricks, have knocked us out of (ballots voted on by) almost half the nation's population, it's obvious that you can't get votes if you're not on the ballot," the maverick consumer advocate told CNN.

"The other thing is the incumbent being a Republican, a lot of the Democrats who supported us in 2000 came back into the fold with the Democratic party.

"I mean, trying to challenge the two-party electoral dictatorship is like trying to climb a cliff with a slippery rope."

Nader?s showing irrelevant

In Florida, then Green Party candidate Nader pulled more than 97 000 votes in 2000 ? far more than the 537 votes that tipped the state, and the election, to George W. Bush. He polled only 32 000 votes in Florida this time. Bush won the state by nearly 400 000 votes.

Nader's potential for derailing a Democrat's trip to the White House this year was fiercely debated and a cause for concern among many on the US left.

Filmmaker Michael Moore, of Fahrenheit 9/11 notoriety, famously begged Nader on US television to drop out, lest Americans get four more years of Bush.

But in the end, Nader's 2004 showing ranged from modest to irrelevant.

Even in states where Nader drew one percent in 2004, such as Wisconsin, Colorado, Minnesota, Wyoming or New Mexico, or two percent such as Alaska or New York, the votes would not have made a decisive difference for Kerry in those states he did not win.

Nader wants to do something substantive

"We're not doing this to be the margin at the narrow confines between the two candidates," Nader told CNN.

"We're doing this to put forward for the American people a series of directions and policies that they would really support on health insurance and living wage and getting out of Iraq and cracking down on corporate crime et cetera.

"They're long overdue. We're trying to change somewhat the trivial and gossippy type horse-race politics we're in and do something substantive in response to the necessity of the people."

Bush is all big business

Of Bush, Nader said: "He's just a big corporation, disguised as a human being.

"Time and time again, as two-thirds of the American people conclude, he sides with big business against workers, against consumers, against the environment.

"You name it, big business is his mantra. And that's not where the president of the United States should be. We do not need another corporation in the White House. We need a president that responds to the necessities of the people."

The son of Lebanese immigrants, Nader studied at Princeton and Harvard before moving to Washington.

He rocketed to fame in 1965 with his best-seller about the auto industry "Unsafe At Any Speed." His book and investigations led to congressional hearings and the country's first auto safety laws. Nader is credited with making seat belts mandatory, for example.