n the eve of the election, Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and his supporters rallied at the Boston University Armory building on Commonwealth Avenue, hoping to make a last-minute impression on young voters.
About 2,500 mostly college students attended the rally in support of a breakdown of the two-party political system.
Calling Al Gore and George W. Bush ''two of a kind,'' Nader told the crowd that the Democratic and Republican parties had ''hijacked our government'' and ''undermined our democracy'' by reducing citizens' choices.
He made an impression on 19-year-old Kyle Wackenheim, who saw Nader on NBC's ''Meet the Press'' in April.
''He speaks common sense,'' Wackenheim said. ''He's done more for the American people than either of the other candidates.''
''He can't be bought, unlike Bush and Gore,'' Boston University law student Aaron Cieniawa, 23, said of Nader. Cieniawa said he decided to register a couple of months ago, though he was eligible to vote in the 1996 election.
''I didn't care then but now I want my voice to be heard,'' he said. Cieniawa said he felt safe voting for Nader in a state where he believed Gore was going to win.
''A vote for Nader is harmless,'' he said. The Green Party should ''get recognized as a major party.''
Some in the audience weren't impressed.
''He's very socialistic,'' said Katherine Pavlovsky, 20, a BU student from Colorado. Pavlovsky said she voted for Bush via absentee ballot.
The Green Party needs 5 percent of the vote to secure federal funding in 2004. Nader hovers below 5 percent in national polls.
Support for Nader is higher in states where the race between Gore and Republican George W. Bush is close, including California, Minnesota, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Nader said in an interview before the rally that he was trying to attract young voters ''big-time.''
''They have a higher expectation level and are willing to take the chance,'' he explained.
Campaigning in Michigan yesterday, Patrick J. Buchanan says a third party may be the wrong way to reach the American people.
Buchanan, who left the Republicans to run as the Reform Party presidential candidate, predicted a narrow win for Bush today, the Associated Press reported.
As for his own campaign, lagging with 1 percent or less in national polls, Buchanan was having second thoughts about running as a third-party candidate.
''I've decided that a presidential campaign is really not a place where great ideas and great issues can be best advanced,'' said Buchanan, who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He spoke at a suburban Detroit news conference yesterday before wrapping up his campaign in New York.
