LEWISTON – Maine’s Green Independent Party, which is scheduled to hold its state convention in this city in two months, could end up drafting Ralph Nader as its presidential pick, a party spokesman says.

Some Greens are seeking to recruit the former party presidential nominee as their candidate, said Ben Meiklejohn, the party’s state co-chairman. Others prefer a lower-profile candidate, he said.

Expressing misgivings about the Green Party’s lack of a serious national strategy for a presidential contender this year, Nader recently said he probably would run as an independent if he decides to throw his hat into the race for the White House.

Four years ago, Nader appeared on the ballot in 44 states as a Green and finished third with 2.7 percent of the vote, according to that party’s Web site.

Although Nader declined to declare himself a candidate for the Green Party nomination this time, he told Maine Green officials that he would agree to represent their party if they put him on the state ballot. But that’s only if he decides to run.

Out of step?

That could put Maine Greens out of step with their national counterparts who may decide to shun Nader, Meiklejohn said. “That’s at the heart of what’s dividing the party at the moment,” he said.

Or it could make Maine a trendsetter. “We could actually start to roll the Nader nomination, or we could put a stop to it,” he said.

Feeding the debate about Nader this year is the perception among some party members that he acted as spoiler in the 2000 race, siphoning votes from Democratic candidate Al Gore and contributing to the election of President Bush.

For a small state, Maine carries a lot of clout – and delegates – at the national convention because a relatively high number of Greens hold elective office here, Meiklejohn said. The state party also holds its convention – scheduled for April 17 and 18 at the Ramada Inn – before those in most other states.

So far, four Maine communities have held Green Independent caucuses. Nader is leading the field of potential presidential nominees by four votes out of 16. Seventy more caucuses are scheduled for the roughly 16,000 registered party members prior to the state convention.

Lewiston, which has the second-largest number of registered Green Independents in the state, has never hosted the convention before, Meiklejohn said. For that reason, coupled with the fact that the city is “a rapidly changing community with a lot of diversity,” party leaders chose to come here this year.

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