A last stop for campaign Nader

And Nader blames these problems on everyone, from the corporations he says seek to wrestle power from the hands of the people, to politicians who "allow the corporate political grease to take over," to the public.

"Our excuse is we have defaulted as citizens," Nader said.

The crowd in Stanford's Memorial Auditorium, and the crowd standing outside the doors listened attentively and applauded at moments in Nader's speech, even when he came down hard on the students and the university. He said that most students there would never turn their eyes toward the economically marginalized.

"You're not on a ladder to success. You're on an escalator to success," Nader said with a warning to the students that 45 years later when they look back on their lives, their number of stock options, cars and houses won't be a a matter of pride. "You're going to look back on your life with an empty feeling because you will have missed the justice train."

At a university which feeds Silicon Valley high-tech companies, Nader lamented that so much talent is going toward building consumer culture.

Stanford invited Nader, Vice President Al Gore and Governor George Bush all to speak, but according to Suzanne Able, director of development for Stanford, Nader was the only candidate to take them up on the offer. He did so conditionally - it had to be in the final two weeks before the election and only before a crowd of at least 1000.

At universities across the country, Nader has raised thousands of dollars for the campaign by charging $10 or $15 at the door, but this time he agreed to not only waive the honorarium fee for Stanford, but also welcome everyone in for free.

The Green Party estimates that Nader has garnered 7 percent of the vote in California, and about the same in San Mateo county. He is counting on students and blue collar workers to add thousands of newly registered and formerly disinterested voters to his side. And even though few expect Nader to actually win, Nader supporters hope that he will at least make the 5 percent necessary to gain federal financing for the Green Party next election year.

Another goal of the Green Party is to build it stronger from the ground up. That means supporting the 36 Green Party candidates for seats in California this year. Nader has spoken a number of times to campaign rallies for local Bay area candidates. Medea Benjamin, founder of San Francisco based Global Exchange, is running for U.S. Senate, and was at the event last night to speak a few words about her campaign. "I think this country has gone so awry, I don't think it's a democracy anymore," she said and then Benjamin lambasted incumbent Democrat Diane Feinstein for going further to the right than her Republican opponent, Tom Campbell.

Many in the audience of Stanford's auditorium were not Nader converts - yet. Many said they came out just to hear his ideas.

"I don't agree with anything he says, but I just wanted to hear what he has to say," said Nathan Bransford, a junior at Stanford and a staunch Gore supporter. Bransford said Nader is "too strict" on environmental issues.

Arturo Tudery, a salesman who works at Stanford, said he does not rationalize his vote between the lesser of two evils. Nader will have his vote. "I've heard said that a vote for the lesser of two evils is a vote for evil," Tudery said. "Nader has the more populous viewpoint - he has democracy at heart. The people that really need representation would be more served [by Nader] than the other candidates, who seem to serve corporate powers and the corporate elite. The Green Party is the party of hope."