Nader and Patrick Buchanan have not, will not, and should not participate in presidential debates for 7,424 reasons. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver, that number represents the number of legislators in the 50 states. Nearly all are either Democrats or Republicans. They form a political base for Congress, which contains no Green Party and no Reform Party members, providing 535 more reasons to exclude no-chance scolds from minor parties.
Presidential leadership requires building coalitions of different people with different views.
It is not a solo act, the specialty of Nader and Buchanan. Effective politics begins at the grass roots of organizing, not on the front porch of celebrity. In 1834 the new Whig Party elected 98 House members and 25 senators. The Whigs, after electing two presidents, faded away, replaced by the new Republican Party, which also started at the congressional level, winning 108 House seats and 15 Senate seats in 1854. The two parties have ruled politics since not because of corporate power but because in a big country, two major coalitions have proved practical.