By C.G. Lynch

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader spent his Monday night more often defending himself against the verbal attacks from Kerry supporters than speaking on his political ideas.

In a speech before supporters and a crowd of Democrats at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Ralph Nader called for the purging of corporate interests from the American political landscape and urged democratic voters to place demands on Sen. John F. Kerry in his run for the presidency.

“The least worst strategy has a mantra these days,” Nader said. “It’s called, anyone but Bush, leave Kerry alone, make no demands on him.”

Nader entered the 2000 presidential race as the Green Party Candidate.

On Feb. 22 of this year, he announced his candidacy as an independent, even in the face of outcries by Democrats and close friends.

Nader reinforced that no candidate is entitled to votes, noting they must be earned. He also said Gore won the 2000 election and it was stolen from him by the United States Supreme Court and from disorganized democratic leadership in Florida — not a third party candidate.

Comments from Nader did not prevent staunch Kerry supporters from asking Nader if he felt responsible for a thousand dead soldiers in Iraq, a mounting deficit and depleting health care.

At times, during the question and answer period, the auditorium took on chants with screams, “A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush.”

Despite the outburst, Nader remained on point that the Democratic Party had lost its spine and ability to place demands on its candidate.

“We’ve checked the major environmental, minority, anti-poverty, labor, consumer and other groups that support the Kerry-Edwards ticket,” Nader said.