Ralph Nader has never had trouble attracting attention. From his war on the Corvair automobile to his Green Party bid for president in 2000, with many battles in between, Nader has found a place on the public square.

His announcement Sunday that he will again run for the presidency adds yet another twist to the already plot-filled campaign for the White House.

This would be his third consecutive run for president, and most analysts believe that his returns will continue to diminish from his showing in 2000, when he won millions of votes that might have altered the outcome.

Nader, 73, is voicing a familiar refrain of disenchantment with the Democratic and Republican parties.

A protracted war in Iraq, a struggling economy and tax breaks for the rich during the Bush administration have added to a sense of discontent among lower- and middle-class voters, Nader said Sunday in announcing his candidacy during an interview on NBC News'"Meet the Press."

"You take that framework of people feeling locked out, shut out, marginalized and disrespected," Nader said. "In that context, I have decided to run for president."

Yet experts say Nader's impact this year is likely to be limited.

"The truth is that Nader's time has passed," John Geer, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University, said Sunday.

As the Green Party candidate in 2000, Nader won 2.7 percent of the vote nationwide.

Yet with the 97,488 votes he collected in Florida -- 1.6 percent of the total there -- many believe that Nader cost Democrat Al Gore victory in a state that George W. Bush carried by a disputed margin of 537 votes, allowing Bush to win the presidency even though Gore led Bush by more than 500,000 in the popular vote nationwide.

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