'08 Spoiler Alert

He wants to be the Ralph Nader of 2008, but the fact that Bob Barr has already filled the position is not deterring him.

The Spoiler of 2000, who originally said he would run because he hates the Clintons, is now accusing Barack Obama of trying to "talk white." From anyone but today's loony Nader, that might be seen as racist, but it's hard to take umbrage at someone who has talked himself into the shadows of history but refuses to go quietly.

In what amounts to a political obituary, the Washington Post limns the pathetic figure Ralph Nader has become, noting that a biographer "searched for evidence of Nader's personal life and came up with nothing. Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist, called Nader 'a rebel without a life.'"

Meanwhile, Bob Barr has taken up Ron Paul's mantle as the Libertarian scourge and is threatening to cause serious damage to the Republicans, perhaps doing to McCain in Georgia this year what Nader did back then to Al Gore in Florida.

Barr, a former House member who disappeared without trace, was in the spotlight briefly as the relentless Inspector Javert of the Clinton impeachment, who later filed a $30 million lawsuit against the former President, James Carville and Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt for causing him "emotional distress" in retaliation.

But this year he is hounding Republicans by getting on the ballot in 30 states, with petition drives under way in 20 others. In close races, he could bring McCain down.

This year, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have shown that almost anyone can run for president. Nader and Barr are proving you don't even have to be certifiably sane to do it.