ASHINGTON - Ralph Nader yesterday shrugged off worries that his candidacy might hand the White House to Republican George W. Bush and tilt the Supreme Court on such issues as abortion.
Nader, shown by polls to be drawing enough votes away from Democrat Al Gore to possibly tip some states to Bush, said there was little difference between the Republican and Democrat.
''If I was worried about whether Gore or Bush were going to be elected, would I be running for president to establish a progressive political reform movement?'' Nader asked on ABC's ''This Week.''
''The two parties are becoming increasingly insignificant that way,'' the Green Party candidate said. ''And you can see they're morphing more and more, on more and more issues, into one corporate party.''
Nader scoffed at arguments by Gore's supporters that by helping to elect Bush, an opponent of abortion, he could bring about the appointment of Supreme Court justices who would tilt the court into overturning the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
''Even if Roe v. Wade is reversed, that doesn't end it; it just reverts it back to the states,'' Nader said, adding that Bush has said he would not push for the decision to be overturned unless public opinion on the issue changed.
He said many Senate Democrats voted to confirm two opponents of Roe v. Wade, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.
''The Democrats made it possible for Scalia and Clarence Thomas to get through the Senate,'' Nader said. ''Scalia was confirmed 98 to nothing, including Al Gore supporting him. Clarence Thomas was confirmed 52 to 48, with 11 Democratic senators putting him over the top in a Senate controlled by the Democratic majority.... What credibility do they have?''
Nader also questioned Gore's own ability to attract voter support.
''Do you think Gore is entitled to any votes? Do you think Bush is entitled - am I entitled to any votes? We have to earn them,'' Nader said.
