The 2008 presidential campaign of Ralph Nader, political activist, author, lecturer and attorney began on February 24, 2008. He announced his intent to run as an independent candidate, on NBC's Meet The Press. It was Nader's fifth campaign; he ran in the four election cycles prior to 2008: 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. The 2008 election was the third in which he had officially run a national campaign. While Nader ran as an independent, in some states he had ballot access with the Independent-Ecology Party, the Natural Law Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party. Nader received 738,475 votes. Pre-announcement Some Greens started a campaign to draft Nader as their party's 2008 presidential candidate. In June 2007, Nader said, "You know the two parties are still converging -- they don't even debate the military budget anymore. I really think there needs to be more competition from outside the two parties." Nader praised Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and John Edwards during the race for the Democratic nomination. Nader hinted more towards his own presidential bid by participating in the Green Party Presidential Debates in San Francisco on January 13, 2008, though not as an announced candidate. He formed a presidential exploratory committee on January 30, 2008, telling CNN he would run again if he could raise the necessary funds. Before entering the race, Nader was asked by Wolf Blitzer on CNN's The Situation Room if he liked any of the Democratic presidential candidates in 2008. Nader answered "in terms of his record, Dennis Kucinich and in terms of a great Democratic strengthened Democracy proposal, Mike Gravel". A petition was started to urge Nader to run with Mike Gravel as a vice presidential candidate. In the weeks before the Iowa caucus, Nader praised former Senator John Edwards and his populist message, calling him "a Democratic glimmer of hope" and encouraging Iowans to "give him a victory". Polls In a Zogby International poll released March 15, 2008, Nader received 6 percent of the vote in a John McCain-Clinton-Nader race and 5 percent in a McCain-Obama-Nader race. According to pollster John Zogby, a self-described Democrat, "Nader's presence in the race can potentially turn a lulu of a race into an absolute tizzy. The messages to Democrats are clear – number one, Nader may win enough support to get into the general election debates. Number two, what could be at risk is support among several