Sometimes it seems like Ralph Nader is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of presidential politics. Just ask Jeff Cohn, who was getting no respect while stumping for Nader the other night in a Philadelphia suburb.

Cohn trekked to the Neshaminy Mall, figuring that some of the anti-Bush liberals who had shown up to see “Fahrenheit 9/11” would also be willing to sign his petition to put Nader on the Pennsylvania ballot in November. He knew he had guessed wrong when they started screaming:

“Get outta here.”

“Whattaya think you’re doin’?”

“You’re gonna put Bush in for another four years.”

And that argument explains why Nader, the tarnished anti-establishment hero who is trying to launch another presidential candidacy, finds himself under withering attack, here and elsewhere, as never before. These days, he’s like the prep school kid who gets whacked by paddles as he runs the gauntlet.

His old Green Party allies have spurned him, fearing that he could split the anti-Bush vote and cost John Kerry the election. Democrats in several states are suing him, to keep his name off the ballot — and they succeeded on Friday in Arizona. Six “Stop Ralph” Web sites are going after him. And because Nader seems untroubled by the fact that Bush-friendly groups have been aiding his ballot efforts, his former friends are condemning him; their disdain for Nader nearly rivals their sentiments about the president.

Thus far Nader has raised barely $1 million, and new Democratic court challenges to his ballot signatures could slow him further. Nader press secretary Kevin Zeese said, “Those lawsuits certainly divert our resources away from advocating our issue positions.”

Right now, Nader still is not officially listed on any state ballots. He has been forced to fight for access one state at a time, because the Green Party refused last weekend to endorse him — a decision that has cost Nader an automatic listing in 22 states. One reason for the refusal: the Greens wanted assurance from Nader that he wouldn’t stump heavily in the key swing states (a strategy that might imperil Kerry). Nader refused to offer that assurance.

Nader’s attitude is great news for the GOP; that explains why Bush-friendly forces have been openly aiding his ballot efforts in Oregon and Arizona; according to a review of Nader’s Arizona petitions by the state Democratic Party, 65 percent of the signatories were Republicans.

On June 27, the Oregon chapter of Citizens for a Sound Economy — led nationally by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey and financed by the corporate interests that Nader has opposed — phoned members and said, “Nader could peel away a lot of Kerry support in Oregon … Liberals are trying to unite (but) we could divide this base of support” by signing up for Nader. A conservative Christian group made the same pitch to its own members.

There are always strange bedfellows in politics, but Nader’s critics see this alliance as fresh proof of his perfidy. Tricia Enright, a former Howard Dean aide who now runs thenaderfactor.com, said: “How do you reconcile the fact that he’s accepting help from groups that stand for everything he has fought against for the last 40 years? At what point does he stop putting his integrity aside, for political gain?”

But Nader press secretary Zeese returns the fire: “Come on, get real. The Democrats are so hypocritical, because here was John Kerry sounding out (Republican senator) John McCain as a running mate. Kerry was willing to sell out the whole liberal wing of his party, in order to get elected — and they attack us?”