Ralph Nader has qualified for the Nov. 4 ballot in Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press.

This is big news in two ways.

Nader was thrown off the ballot in 2004 by Democratic Party operatives who went to court to challenge Nader's nominating petitions. It turns out that the people who worked on the challenge were state workers who were doing campaign work on taxpayer time.

With Nader off the ballot, John F. Kerry narrowly defeated George W. Bush to take Pennsylvania.

The other significant impact of Nader on the ballot in 2008 is how much support he will draw away from Barack Obama, who has abandoned his left base on a half-dozen important issues, including the war in Iraq.

Nader is the only candidate who is calling for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. Die-hard liberals may vote for Nader as a protest to Obama's flip-flopping.

That's good news for John McCain, who is hanging close in the race.

If McCain takes Pennsylvania, he wins the White House.

Read more from the AP story in today's edition of The Mercury.