UPDATE: Today's launch of the Fresno Ralph Nader for President office was changed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Just two weeks ahead of the November 2000 election, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader made a Fresno campaign stop. This time around, Nader is running as an independent, and instead of a personal visit to the Valley, we'll likely have to make do with a local campaign office.

Local Nader staffers plan to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. at 1470 N. Van Ness Avenue, to officially open the local Ralph Nader for President office.

It's one of four California offices -- the others are in Berkeley, Los Angeles and Sacramento -- as well as 18 others across the nation that are opening.

In addition, the Nader campaign says it plans to add nearly 50 field staff to its already active volunteer base, with the hope of winning votes in 49 of the nation's 50 states.

Nader, by now a perennial candidate -- either representing a third party or running as an independent -- is again attacking the two major parties in a beyond-longshot bid to win the presidency. He recently referred to the Republicans and Democrats as a "two-party dictatorship."