— Independent presidential Ralph Nader led a rally in Raleigh on Saturday night as part of his "Shift the Power" campaign.

Supporters gathered signatures for a petition to get Nader status as a write-in candidate on North Carolina's ballot in the fall. The rally took place in Pittman Auditorium at St. Mary's School, 900 Hillsborough St., from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

State law requires 500 signatures be submitted so that write-in votes for a person will be counted and nearly 70,000 signatures for a person to appear on the ballot as a candidate.

"The status quo parties have made North Carolina one of the most difficult states in the country for an independent presidential candidate to gain ballot status," said a press release from the Nader campaign.

The Nader campaign says he will appear on the ballot in 45 states.

The Nader campaign said Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barak Obama both represent "business as usual," when it comes to the Iraq war, Iran and Israel, and economic issues.

Nader says he supports a live wage; unionization; universal, public health insurance; a non-nuclear, renewable energy program; an end to the war in Iraq; and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nader ran as a third-party candidate in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. He is still loathed by many Democrats who call him a spoiler and claim his candidacy in 2000 cost the party the election by siphoning votes away from Al Gore in a razor-thin contest in Florida.