Democrats remain furious with consumer advocate Ralph Nader for barging into the presidential campaign in 2000.

They believe he siphoned votes from then-vice president Al Gore who had a skinny lead over future President George W. Bush. Democrats blame Nader for shifting the fragile electoral vote count to the Republicans.

So it was no wonder that the Democrats' response to Nader's entrance into the 2008 presidential campaign was swift and vitriolic.

While initial appearances may have warranted their complaints, some wonder whether it is possible Nader's campaign would actually do more harm to Arizona Sen. John McCain and draw votes away from him, if he does indeed win the Republican nomination.

Although independents undoubtedly will cross over to Nader's campaign, it's doubtful they're going to be the ones McCain and his camp will be worried about. McCain's independents are mostly disenfranchised Republicans, such as Libertarians, Constitutionists and other independent conservatives. These independents won't vote for Nader because of his past affiliation with the Green party, which most conservatives see as the party of unfettered liberalism.

Instead, Nader likely will pull votes from the Democratic nominee in the 2008 campaign, because his issues are so tightly aligned with theirs: he's pro-union, he wants to immediately reverse the policy on the war in Iraq and he plans to adopt a single-payer national health insurance if he is elected (which is highly unlikely).

As much fuss as the Democrats made about Nader's impact on the 2000 election, few will recall that they had plenty of time to compensate and prepare for the votes he undoubtedly was going to pull away. As Nader himself said just after tossing his hat into the 2008 campaign, "If the Democrats can't landslide the Republicans this year, they ought to just wrap up, close down [and] emerge in a different form."