Ralph Nader supporters in 2004 strongly disapprove of President Bush's administration and favor Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry as their second choice by a three-to-one margin over Bush, according to a recent survey released by The Nation Institute.
The survey, conducted Oct. 17 to 19, surveyed 500 registered voters in Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
\Nader voters clearly love Ralph. I think that's probably the thing that stands out foremost,"" Nation Institute spokesperson Hamilton Fish said.
According to the survey, 81 percent of Nader voters polled disapprove of the job Bush has done as president, with only 16 percent approving. Additionally, 35 percent said they would not vote for Nader because it could take votes from Kerry; 10 percent cited Nader's inability to win the election.
According to Fish, this ""portrait"" of the Nader voter reveals inconsistencies in the prevailing perceptions about the cares and interests in this category of voter. He said one of the most startling findings of the survey was the anxiety they had about aiding Bush's re-election by supporting Nader.
""I thought that was very striking in indicating that contrary to widely-held beliefs, quite a few of the hardcore Nader voters are extremely mindful of this problem and are thinking about it,"" he said.
Also contrary to typical perceptions of Nader voters is the fact they are concerned with the same voting issues as the general voting population. The study found Nader voters' top concerns are the economy, heath care and the war in Iraq. Nearly one-third surveyed said they think Kerry would do a better job on these issues than Bush.
Although the survey clearly illustrates that many Nader voters would vote for Kerry if Nader was not on the ballot, Fish said it does not show state by state what the impact of Nader's candidacy will be. What the survey does show is Kerry should have placed more focus on Nader voters during his campaign.
Kerry has ""stigmatized"" and treated Nader voters as ""spoilers,"" Fish said, which could lose him many undecided Nader voters.
""If Kerry in part were to honor Nader's right to run and Nader voters to support him ... [Nader voters would realize] that under the circumstances, they'd be better off by supporting [Kerry's] candidacy and many of the things that they care about would be well-administered,"" he said.
UW-Madison political science Professor Charles Jones agreed with Fish, stating he thinks the Kerry campaign has been using the wrong strategy with Nader all along.
""I think [Nader supporters'] emotions and reactions to the [Democratic National Convention] and Kerry would be either to not vote or to damn well vote for Nader if it's possible to do so,"" he said.
