People interviewed at the Garden were well aware of the problem: that a vote for Mr. Nader would only help Mr. Bush. Most said that while this made them think harder about their vote, they would still side with Mr. Nader and the Green Party because, as Mr. Nader likes to say, both front-runners are corporate mendicants in favor of the death penalty, globalization and corporate donations, and are thus interchangeable.

''I have to live with myself,'' said Jennifer Maslowski, a 29-year-old fine arts appraiser and freelance writer in Manhattan who, though leaning toward Gore earlier this week, was so moved at the rally that she pulled out her cell phone to call her mother in upstate New York and got her to promise to switch to Nader, too. ''My life is not going to change very much if either Bush or Gore are elected,'' Ms. Maslowski said.

In the last couple of months, Mr. Nader's campaign has enjoyed a bit of a second wind with what the Nader campaign has called ''super rallies'' in cities like Boston, Chicago and Seattle, which have attracted more than 10,000 people each time out. New York was the biggest to date; the next two are scheduled for Austin, Tex., and Oakland, Calif.

This being New York, the suggested price of admission was considerably higher than the other stops to help defray the $200,000 bill for renting the Garden: $20 versus $10 elsewhere. To his supporters, though, Mr. Nader, who does not accept soft money, hard money or corporate gifts, was well worth it, as he upbraided corporate America and both political parties, and appealed to the disgruntled and disenchanted.

''Please come in,'' Mr. Nader exhorted. ''Don't drop out of democracy. We even need your skepticism.''