NADER'S PARTY TAKES TO A STAID UNIVERSITY TOWN

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 31 - When Green Party die-hards want to feel the warm
embrace of like-minded progressives, they come to this mannered and
manicured college town, even though it is not exactly famous for political
radicalism.

"Princeton is very welcoming to us," said Noni Bookbinder Bell, the
coordinator for Nader 2000 in Burlington County. "The energy here is amazing."

Since the university is Ralph Nader's alma mater (class of '55) and the
town is the home of two Green Party Congressional candidates, Princeton has
become an unlikely center for Green Party activism in this middle-of-the
road, two-cars-in-every-driveway state.

Mr. Nader has found considerable support for his presidential run on
campuses across the country, to be sure, but in this college town in Mercer
County, he is better known than in most, and everyone seems to have an
opinion of him, good or ill. He drew more than 1,600 people to Dillon Gym
three weeks ago, and lawn signs for him and other Green Party candidates
are as common as those for local Republican and Democratic candidates.

Some political analysts even believe that Carl J. Mayer, the Green Party
candidate in a very tight race for the 12th District House seat, could
spoil the chances of the Democratic incumbent, Rush Holt, and throw the
victory to the Republican, Richard A. Zimmer.

The United States Senate race between Jon S. Corzine and Representative Bob
Franks is not considered as close, but Bruce Afran, the Green Party's
senatorial nominee, is expected to draw votes from Mr. Corzine, the Democrat.

Mr. Nader's statewide support was 5 percent, according to a Star-
Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll of 600 registered voters released on Sunday,
which showed Vice President Al Gore leading Gov. George W. Bush of Texas 47
percent to 35 percent. But neither Mr. Mayer nor Mr. Afran has polling data
to gauge his popularity.

"In a tight race, anything idiosyncratic can make a difference," said Cliff
Zukin, a political scientist and director of The
Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll, who went on to say that he thought Green
Party candidates were unlikely to affect the outcome of House or Senate races.

Still, single-digit poll numbers have not dismayed Green Party backers, who
say they are building long-term support and publicizing issues that the
major party candidates are ignoring.

Robert Holzapfel, coordinator (and the only paid worker) for the Nader
campaign in New Jersey, said he had enlisted more than 3,000 volunteers
since he took the job three months ago. Weekly Green Party rallies around
the state are drawing 300 to 600 people, he said. "We're getting an
incredible amount of grass-roots interest," he said. "I think the major
parties should be worried about the gubernatorial race in 2001."

It would be an overstatement to describe the picturesque neo-Gothic
university campus here as a hotbed of Green Party activism. Princeton, in
fact, has never had a reputation for incubating political activism of any
stripe. During the antiwar protests of the 1960's and 70's, Princeton was a
fairly tame place, especially compared with other Ivy League institutions.
In the mid-80's, when demonstrations against apartheid persuaded dozens of
colleges to sell their stock in companies with operations in South Africa,
Princeton held out. Though Princeton started admitting women as students in
1969, all-male eating clubs persisted until a decade ago, when a lawsuit
forced the last of 12 to admit women. Until recently, the campus had no
student Democratic club.

"Since I've been here, the most interesting signs of political life have
been from the right, not the left," said Stanley Katz, a professor of
American history who has been teaching here for 25 years.

Surrounded by a growing crop of expensive new houses and corporate
headquarters, Princeton is not exactly the kind of place that draws young
idealists bent on shaking up society. "We attract wonderful students, but
the kind that are risk- averse," Professor Katz said. "If you are into
solving urban problems or addressing the woes of the world, you wouldn't
come here."

There are, nevertheless, quite a few students here interested in the
political process and political change. One day during a weeklong break,
Curtis Deutsch was standing at the edge of Palmer Square with a George W.
Bush mask on his face and a sign in his hands that read, "Trick: Gore Wants
More Military Spending. Treat: Vote Nader."

Accompanied by a dozen other students and the two local Green Party
candidates, Mr. Deutsch, 26, was trying to elicit honks from passing
drivers, most of whom seemed annoyed by the resulting rubbernecking delays.

A graduate student in atmospheric and oceanic science, Mr. Deutsch said
there was a devoted core of 20 students volunteering for Mr. Nader. "It's a
pretty good number, considering how conservative and apathetic most
students here are," he said.

As he spoke, Mr. Afran and Mr. Mayer handed out fliers and Halloween candy
on the sidewalk, and joked with each other. "We really shouldn't be eating
this corporate-produced candy," Mr. Afran said, fishing for a Starburst
inside the plastic jack-o'-lantern Mr. Mayer was holding. "We should start
up our own cottage industry."

When asked about their platforms, however, the candidates became
appropriately humorless.

Mr. Mayer, 41, a former member of Nader's Raiders, wants to ban handguns,
end the death penalty and curb the practice of unregulated campaign
contributions. Of the party's 12 candidates in the state's 13 Congressional
districts, Mr. Mayer, a lawyer, former Princeton Township Committee member
and frequent House candidate, is clearly the best financed.

Mr. Afran, 40, a lawyer specializing in constitutional and civil rights
issues, has a platform similar to Mr. Mayer's. He is firmest about ending
the government's war on drugs. He believes that mandatory drug treatment
and widespread drug education in schools should replace the incarceration
of drug offenders. To put a brake on sprawl in New Jersey, he favors a
moratorium on retail and office development; nationwide, he would urge an
end to all construction on wetlands.

His goals for this election, however, are not grand. "Frankly, I would be
happy with a small percentage," he said. "My main hope is to break down the
prejudice against third parties."