Watch Paul and Nader sound off on the two-party system.

(CNN) - Watch Rep. Ron Paul and Ralph Nader as they discuss what they think is wrong with the two-party political system and why they think third parties should get more attention in political dialogue.

Related: Paul urges voters to skip McCain, Obama

Nader is taking heat for his latest comments.

(CNN) - Ralph Nader's presidential candidacy has received little media attention, but his latest critique of Barack Obama has come under fire for it's seemingly racial overtones.

Speaking with Colorado's Rocky Mountain News, Nader accused Obama of attempting to both "talk white" and appeal to "white guilt" in his quest to win the White House.

"There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American," Nader told the paper in comments published Tuesday. "Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards."

Obama's presidential campaign called those comments disappointing, and his communication's director, Robert Gibbs, said Tuesday they were "reprehensible and basically delusional."

"I don't think he's spent a lot of time looking at the record of Barack Obama," Gibbs said on MSNBC.

Nader, the longtime consumer advocate who was blamed by many Democrats for Al Gore’s loss in the 2000 presidential election, said Obama's top issue should be poverty in America, given his racial heritage.

Watch: Why is Nader running for president

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What impact will Nader and Barr have this election season?

(CNN) - There are two intriguing third party candidates running for president his year: Ralph Nader and Bob Barr. Both are well known here in Washington. But will they have an impact around the country if the election between Barack Obama and John McCain is close?

Nader, a long time populist and liberal consumer advocate, has been here before. He won more than 90,000 votes in the Florida election in 2000 and was widely accused of helping George W. Bush beat Al Gore by just more than 500 votes in the state. Gore’s supporters believe that he would have won the state and the election if Nader had stayed out. Nader denies that, insisting he took votes from both Democrats and Republicans.

Barr is a former Republican Congressman from Georgia and is now running on the Libertarian Party ticket. In the House of Representatives, he was always an outspoken conservative. He took the lead in initiating impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton.

Given that conservative track record, he is likely to take votes away from McCain, especially in Georgia where he is relatively well-known.

Obama’s supporters are hoping he does. They believe Georgia is fertile ground for the Democratic candidate, especially if the Democrats can register hundreds of thousands of new young and African American voters in the state.

So let’s see how Nader and Barr do this time around.

Nader’s campaign is taking aim at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a new fundraising pitch.

(CNN) – A presidential rival is fundraising off of Barack Obama’s decision to reject public financing for the general election, using the move to fuel allegations the presumptive Democratic nominee is a policy-shifting flip-flopper.

But it isn’t John McCain.

Ralph Nader’s campaign sent an e-mail to supporters Friday that paints Obama as too close to big business and special interests. “Ralph Nader stands for shifting the power from the big corporations back to the people. Period. Full stop. End of story,” writes the Nader campaign. “Contrast that with Senator Obama.”

The message highlights what it says are changes in the Illinois senator’s positions on public spending limits, NAFTA and economic populism, and says that Obama has surrounded himself with “veterans of the military industrial complex status quo.” It does not mention his Republican counterpart, John McCain.

“We're at six percent nationwide in the most recent CNN poll. We're going to be on ten state ballots by the end of June. And we're shooting for 40 by the end of the summer,” writes the Nader campaign. “Together, we are moving forward. And together, we will make a difference in November.”

Barack Obama’s lead over John McCain increased by one point in the most recent CNN national poll when Nader, a perennial presidential contender, was included as one of the options.

(CNN) – Ralph Nader, who recently announced his own 2008 presidential bid, has now also weighed in on the battle between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

In a blog posting on his campaign’s website, Nader advised Clinton to stay in the Democratic nomination race, despite recent calls for her to drop out from high-ranking members of the Democratic Party who back Obama.

“Just like every other citizen, you have the right to run. Whenever you like. For as long as you like,” wrote Nader.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, both of whom support Obama, made comments Friday that are some of the strongest yet from prominent Democrats suggesting that Clinton reconsider her presidential run.

Clinton has showed no signs of dropping out of the race. She currently leads polls in Pennsylvania, the next state to hold a primary. But, Obama was endorsed Friday by Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. and the endorsement may help Obama with Catholic voters, an important demographic in Pennsylvania which has favored Clinton in other states’ primaries.

–CNN’s Rebecca Sinderbrand and Martina Stewart

Matt Gonzalez ran for mayor of San Francisco in 2003.

(CNN) – Ralph Nader has selected a former San Francisco city official as his running mate in the presidential race.

Nader announced his selection of Matt Gonzalez, who served as a public defender and a member of the board of supervisors in San Francisco, at a news conference Wednesday.

"It is an honor to run with Mr. Nader," Gonzalez said. "I hold him in high esteem and share his politics."

Gonzalez said his priorities in the campaign are election reform, poverty and the war in Iraq.

"I find Matt Gonzalez unwavering in his principles," Nader said.

He announced Sunday that he will launch his fourth consecutive White House bid - fifth if his 1992 write-in campaign is included.

Many Democrats fear Nader could draw votes from whoever gets the party's nomination, potentially helping presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain win the White House in November. Nader has long rejected accusations that he served as a spoiler in 2000, in effect helping George W. Bush beat out Al Gore.

Watch Tad Devine, a former adviser to Al Gore, discuss what impact Ralph Nader may have in the 2008 presidential race? (Getty Images)

Watch Nader on CNN's American Morning Monday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Facing criticism from the two Democratic presidential contenders, Ralph Nader lashed out at them Monday and defended his decision to enter the race.

Speaking to CNN's "American Morning," the long-time consumer advocate accused Sen. Barack Obama of "name-calling" and "an unseemly silence" on issues involving poor minorities. And he accused Sen. Hillary Clinton of being too close to "big business" in America.

Many Democrats fear Nader could draw votes from whoever gets the party's nomination, potentially helping presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain win the White House in November. Nader has long rejected accusations that he served as a spoiler in 2000, effectively helping George W. Bush beat out Al Gore.

He announced Sunday that he will launch his fourth consecutive White House bid - fifth if his 1992 write-in campaign is included.

On Saturday, Obama was asked about a possible Nader candidacy. He praised Nader's work for consumers, but added, "My sense is that Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don't listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you're not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work."

Nader responded in Monday's interview. "As if Barack Obama doesn't have a high opinion of his own work? That's name-calling.

"Address the issues, Barack. Address why you're not for single-payer health insurance... Explain why you don't challenge what you know as to be tens of billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse in the military budget.

Explain why you don't really get concrete about how you would renegotiate NAFTA and WTO, which is exporting jobs and industries to places like the communist dictatorship in China.

"And above all, explain why you don't come down hard on the economic crimes against minorities in city ghettos - payday loans, predatory lending, rent to own rackets, landlord abuses, lead contamination, asbestos. There's an unseemly silence by you, Barack, a community organizer in poor areas in Chicago many years ago on this issue."

Nader also took Clinton to task. On Sunday, she said Nader - whose environmental policies are central to his platform - "prevented Al Gore from being the 'greenest' president we could have had."

Nader stood by his contention that Gore won the 2000 race because he took the popular vote and because Florida's electoral vote "was stolen from him." Nader said Democrats should "concentrate on the thieves who steal elections," instead of "scapegoating the Greens" - a reference to the Green Party, the ticket he ran on in 2000.

"The Democrats ought to look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves why they have not been able to landslide the worst Republican Party and the White House and Congress over the last 20 years," he said.

And noting a quote from former Sen. John Edwards - whose endorsement has being sought by Clinton and Obama since he dropped out of the race - Nader said little will change "if we replace a corporate Republican with a corporate Democrat."

Referencing an article from last year, Nader called Clinton the Democrat "most loved by big business." The article he seemed to be referring to, from June 2007 in Fortune Magazine, said Clinton had "probably the broadest CEO support among the candidates" at that point. But it also said Obama had "a solid base of business support in Chicago" and had "fared well with Hollywood media moguls" and "aggressively moved into Clinton's turf among East Coast financiers."

Nader told CNN he does not believe any of the candidates, including McCain, will pull through on pledges to reduce the influence of special interests in Washington. "Of course not. First of all, if they wanted to do that, they'd put front and center public funding of public campaigns," cracking down on corporate crimes, and other issues.

"Washington has closed its doors on citizen groups," he complained, calling the nation's capital "corporate-occupied territory."

Talking about his decision to run, Nader - who turns 74 this week - said, "We have to give the system more competition, more voices, more choices, more freedom, more diversity."

– CNN's Josh Levs

Nader said Sunday he will mount another presidential run.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Ralph Nader announced Sunday he is entering the presidential race as an Independent.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," the consumer advocate said great changes in U.S. history have come "through little parties that never won any national election."

"Dissent is the mother of ascent," he said. "And in that context I've decided to run for president."

Nader, who turns 74 this week, complained of the "paralysis of the government," which he said is under the control of corporate executives and lobbyists.

It marks his fourth straight White House bid - fifth if his 1992 write-in campaign is included.

Nader's entry into the race did not come as a surprise to political watchers.

On Sunday, Sen. Barack Obama criticized him. "My sense is that Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don't listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you're not substantive," Obama told reporters when asked about Nader's possible candidacy.

Full story

– CNN's Josh Levs

Nader is taking steps toward another White House bid.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Ralph Nader, the longtime consumer advocate who was blamed by many Democrats for Al Gore’s loss in the 2000 presidential election, launched an exploratory committee Wednesday for another White House bid, and told CNN he is likely to get in the race if he can put the resources in place.

"John Edwards, the banner of Democratic Party populism, is dropping out, and Dennis Kucinich dropped out earlier, so in terms of voters who are at least interested in having major areas of injustice, deprivations, and solutions discussed in a presidential campaign, they might be interested in my exploratory effort," Nader said.

Nader has launched an official exploratory committee Web site, and said he will formally make a decision in about a month. He said he is certain to get in the race if he can demonstrate the ability to raise $10 million and recruit enough lawyers to deal with ballot access issues. He has yet to formally file paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission, though he does not need to until he officially becomes a candidate, according to the FEC.

Nader said he finds Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both unacceptable candidates, and he said whichever wins the party's presidential nomination will not have an impact on his decision to run.

"They are both enthralled to the corporate powers," Nader said of the two leading Democrats. "They've completely ignored the presidential pattern of illegality and accountability, they've ignored the out of control waste-fruad military expenditures, they hardly ever mention the diversion of hundreds of billions of dollars to corporate subsidies, handouts, and giveaways, and they don't talk about a living wage."

He expressed particular disappointment with Obama, whose senate record he called "mediocre, and quite cautious."

"It's not that he doesn't know what the score is, of course he does - look at his background, he knows plenty," Nader said. "But he's censoring himself."

Nader attracted close to 100,000 votes in Florida in 2000 - a state Al Gore ultimately lost to George Bush by approximately 500 votes. He brushes aside suggestions his candidacy this year may ultimately spoil the election for the Democratic Party.

"Political bigotry will be the label on anybody who uses the word 'spoiler,' he said. "Because ‘spoiler’ means minor candidates are second class citizens. Either we have an equal right to run for election, or we are spoilers for each other trying to get each other's votes.”

– CNN Producer Alexander Mooney

Nader said he likes Democrat John Edwards for president.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (CNN) - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader criticized Democrat Hillary Clinton Monday, and gave his seal of approval to her presidential rival, John Edwards.

In an interview with the Politico, the consumer advocate urged liberal Iowans to "recognize" Edwards by "giving him a victory." He added that Clinton would "pander to corporate interest groups" if elected.

Nader, who has long said Democrats and Republicans are almost indistinguishable, called Edwards his party’s "glimmer of hope."

Clinton, Edwards and Obama are either tied or separated by just a few percentage points in most recent polls, with Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses just two days away.

Nader is a controversial figure within the Democratic party – a liberal icon who is blamed by some for Vice President Al Gore’s loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential race.

Nader has said before that he is not a fan of Clinton or Obama. During a June interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Nader took a few jabs at Sen. Clinton for “not using her political capital to shift power to challenge abuses of power.” In another interview, with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Nader accused Obama of excluding himself from the progressive coalition.

On Monday, the four-time presidential contender specifically accused Clinton of failing to challenge military spending because "she is a woman who doesn't want to be labeled as soft on defense and she doesn't want to be shown as taking on big business."

"The issue is corporate power and who controls our political system and it's not who has experience for six years or two years," he said, alluding to an ongoing debate over experience between Clinton and another Democratic presidential hopeful, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

This isn’t the first time that Nader has expressed his support for Edwards. In his 2004 campaign for the White House, Nader pushed for Democratic candidate John Kerry to pick Edwards as his running mate, saying he would be an “effective spokesperson for citizen’s rights in court…”

– CNN’s Cody Combs and Rebecca Sinderbrand

Watch CNN's Wolf Blitzer interview Ralph Nader Thursday.

Watch CNN's Mary Snow take a look at what effect Nader might have on the 2008 presidential race.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Consumer advocate and 2000/2004 presidential candidate Ralph Nader has not ruled out another run in 2008, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer Thursday it's too early for him to make a decision.

The man who many blame as spoiling the election for Al Gore in 2000 also said a potential third party candidacy by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would not affect his decision to run.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg, a lifelong Democrat until he ran for mayor in 2001, dropped his affiliation with the GOP - a move that increased speculation he is considering an independent presidential bid.

Nader also sharply criticized Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, but said it’s not out of personal disdain for the New York senator.

“It isn’t a matter of liking her,” said Nader. “She’s not using her political capital to shift power to challenge abuses of power.”

Regarding the charge that his candidacy ultimately tipped the balance in Florida to hand George Bush the election, Nader rejected the “spoiler” label. He claimed that such an accusation is based on “factual errors.”

“I think Gore won, by the way,” he added. “I’ve spoken to him. I think he knows he won.”