Conservative counties where Nader did relatively well

[Alcon]

It may have been fifth-highest, but the difference between Nader in Campbell County and the state average was not that hugely significant.

By and large, Nader still did best in ski bum areas and college areas.  Affluent liberal areas where nowhere near as Nader-friendly.  Rural areas just didn't see much Nader voting, although there was some correlation between Nader doing well and counties generally delivering a relatively larger percentage to third-party counties.

[Alcon]

Some conservative counties that are in conservative states had a relatively high Nader vote because the few liberals in those counties/states knew Gore (or Kerry) wasn't going to win the state, so they felt they had nothing to lose by voting Nader.

That's true.  Less competitive states obviously resulted in higher Nader votes than they would have if they weren't competitive.   But, by and large, liberal areas still got higher Nader votes.

[Alcon]

Nader did very well in Alaska and you can find precincts where he finished second.  (in 2000, not 2004) I suppose Alaska should be classified as conservative since it hasn't voted for a Democrat since LBJ.

Yep.  Lots of third party friendliness in Alaska.  I would imagine that Alaska Democrats might be more liberal than average; at least there's a larger than average "green" contingent.

There's a lot of weird places in Alaska where Bush, Gore and Nader were all practically tied.  California had a few too.  The result were tiny Bush victories in precincts with a solidly liberal majority.