Inspiring a generation of activists, Ralph Nader came to national attention in 1965 with the publication of his book Unsafe at Any Speed, which documented how the auto industry resisted safety innovations.
Later Nader came to be an outspoken critic of what he calls multinational corporate predators. "They openly and confidently strive to control our jobs; our environment; our political and educational institutions, our food, drugs and other consumptions; our savings; our childhoods; our culture; even our genetic futures," he writes in The Good Fight.
An Independent Party candidate for President, currently on 30 state ballots in the 2004 race, Nader's 2000 candidacy was considered by many to be the "spoiler" that cost Gore the election. Yet an article on his website contends that in the year 2000, exit polls reported "fully 25% of [Nader's] votes came from Republicans, 38% from Democrats, and the remainder from people who would not have voted." Still, because the vote was so close in Florida, if as little as 1% of Nader's votes had gone to Gore, he would have won the presidency.
Yet Nader is unapologetic about the 2000 election. He writes: "More and more the major parties become Coke and Pepsi, frantically highlighting their dwindling differences and masking their growing similarities."