Nader calls on supporters to get him into debate

Time is running out for independent Ralph Nader to horn his way into the presidential debates.

So his campaign urged supporters late today to swamp Democrat Barack Obama's offices with phone calls and to fill the inbox of the head of the commission organizing the debate with emails.

"Okay, time for action. The first presidential debate is Friday. And we're getting stonewalled," says the missive, which helpfully includes a script of what to say or email.

The commission's rules say that a candidate must reach 15 percent in national polls to get an invite. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released today gave Nader 4 percent among likely voters -- well more than Libertarian Bob Barr and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, who registered at 1 percent each -- but still far shy of the threshold.