ASGP News Circulator - Week Ending September 25, 2000

[Dean Myerson <greenstuff@deanmyerson.org>]

Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) News Circulator
Week Ending September 25, 2000

News Summary:

*  Washington Post: Debate Shut-Out Nominees May Participate Via Web;
*  8,000 Attend Nader Rally in Seattle;
*  South Dakota Appeals Court: Nader Off Ballot;
*  Los Angeles Times: Nader Rallies Crowds in Seattle;
*  Gore: Willing to Consider Nader in Debates;
*  12,000 at Nader Rally in Minneapolis;
*  Nader Tells Madison Crowd that Non-Voter Participation Essential;
*  Green Party Seeks Increased Presence in Texas;
*  LaDuke Stumps for Green Party in Rhode Island;
*  Nader Seeking New York Independence Party Line.


Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
                              The Washington Post

                               View Related Topics

                   September 25, 2000, Monday, Final Edition

SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A06; CAMPAIGN 2000

LENGTH: 518 words

HEADLINE: POLITICS; Parties' Nominees Who Are Shut Out of Debates Are
Invited
to Weigh In on Web Site

BYLINE: Ben White

BODY:


It is apparent that Green Party nominee Ralph Nader and Reform Party
nominee
Patrick J. Buchanan are not going to be allowed to appear in the three
nationally
televised presidential debates, but that doesn't mean their views will
be shut out
completely. Voters can check them out on the Web.

The video-on-demand Internet site FreedomChannel.com has invited Nader
and
Buchanan, as well as Natural Law Party nominee John Hagelin, Libertarian
nominee
Harry Browne and Constitution Party nominee Howard Phillips, to submit
videotaped
answers to all the questions posed to the major party nominees. The
answers will be
posted within 24 to 48 hours of the live debates and will appear
directly alongside
Republican George W. Bush's and Democrat Al Gore's answers on
FreedomChannel.com as well as on several popular news Web sites that
syndicate
FreedomChannel's content.

Phillips and Browne have agreed to participate and negotiations are
under way with
the others.



Debates Draw Political Activists



The debates have become the next venue for political activists of all
types. Nader
supporters and other groups are planning to show up on Oct. 3 to protest
outside the
debate site at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Security is
expected to be
just as high for the debate, if not higher, than it was for both major
party conventions,
which at times felt more like military camps than party gatherings.

Among those planning to show up, according to the Associated Press, is a
group
called Boston Mobilization for Survival, which promises "nonviolent
direct action
designed to disrupt or shut down the debate."

A group of seniors also plans to protest the high cost of prescription
drugs. They will
be joined by the rest of the usual suspects from recent major protests,
including
opponents of the death penalty, global free trade agreements and
environmental
degradation.

Police are expected to shut down streets surrounding the debate site and
set up an
official pen to house the protest groups.



Republican Endorses Democrat



Democrats are gleeful over the decision of Washington state Republican
Richard
Clear, who challenged Rep. George R. Nethercutt (R) in the state's open
primary last
week, to endorse Democratic attorney Tom Keefe. Clear had criticized
Nethercutt for
backing out of his pledge to serve just three terms in the House.

"It's time we look at the man, not the party," Clear said. "I would
rather disagree with
someone on some issues and know that he would back them up, than vote
for
someone who tells me what I want to hear. I will take character over
agenda every
day."

Clear's endorsement could hurt Nethercutt, who garnered 45 percent in
last Tuesday's
primary. Keefe attracted 21 percent of the vote while Clear got 20
percent.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Jim Wilkinson said
he
believed Republicans "would stay united" in Washington's 5th District.

"We don't think it's going to change the final outcome of this election
one bit," he said.




September 24, 2000, Sunday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 425 words

HEADLINE: Vedder, Nader rally the faithful at Seattle's Key Arena

BYLINE: By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: SEATTLE

BODY:
    It was grunge and green together.

Eddie Vedder, front man for Seattle "grunge rock" supergroup Pearl Jam,
rallied the
faithful Saturday night in support of Green Party Presidential candidate
Ralph Nader,
who repeated his call to be included in upcoming presidential debates.

"I've never been to one of these. I think the reason why is I've never
had anyone I could
believe in before," Vedder told the crowd of several thousand who paid
$10 each to
get into Key Arena, the home venue of the NBA Seattle SuperSonics.

Vedder, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, warmed up the crowd
with two
songs whose lyrics took jabs at the kind of corporate leaders Nader has
made a
career of skewering.

Vedder dedicated his first song to "my neighbors Paul and Bill. Are they
here
somewhere? Maybe in a skybox? If they're not here, they should be."

The reference was to Microsoft Corp. co-founders Paul Allen and Bill
Gates

Nader slammed what he called unacceptable inequality of wealth in the
United States,
asserting that recently Gates' wealth equalled the worth of the 120
million poorest
Americans.

"This is not a so-called banana republic. This is the United States,"
Nader said,
adding that many people are making less in real wages than they were
decades ago.

"Workers should not be making less than what they made in 1968. They
should be
making double what they made in 1968," he said.

The crowd fell into a chant of "Let Ralph debate" as Nader called for
inclusion in
upcoming debates between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

Touting his Green Party candidacy, Nader said Americans should not have
to choose
between "the lesser of two evils and the evil of two lessers. Sometimes
the safest
thing to do is take a chance."

Nader said he's pleased with recent momentum his campaign has built,
noting that a
Minneapolis, Minn., rally Friday night had a similarly supportive crowd.

He chided Americans for expecting too little from government.

"Raising our expectations is the first step toward empowering
ourselves," Nader said.


He also praised the "spirit of Seattle." Nader was a firsthand observer
to some of that
spirit last fall, when the city streets were taken over by some 50,000
protesters during
the meeting of the World Trade Organization.

A Chicago Tribune poll conducted Sept. 11-17 found that Nader had the
support of
about 4 percent of voters in five "battleground" states, including
Illinois, Ohio, New
Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania.




September 24, 2000, Sunday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 485 words

HEADLINE: Appeals court rules Nader cannot appear on South Dakota
ballots

BYLINE: By CHET BROKAW, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: PIERRE, S.D.

BODY:
    Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader will not appear on
South Dakota's
ballot in November, a federal appeals panel has ruled.

The three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an
earlier ruling
by U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann.

Kornmann last month struck down a South Dakota law that required
independent
presidential candidates to file nominating petitions in June to get on
the fall ballot. He
said the early deadline placed an unconstitutional burden on supporters
of such
candidates.

But the federal judge said Nader could not get on the South Dakota
ballot because his
campaign never got the required number of signatures.

Nader will be on the ballot in many states, but his support appears to
be dwindling.
Recent national polls indicate he is supported by only 3 percent or 4
percent of the
voters.

The 1999 Legislature enacted a law that moved South Dakota's filing
deadline for
independent candidates from the first Tuesday in August to the third
Tuesday in June.
That meant the deadline this year was June 20 instead of Aug. 1.

Secretary of State Joyce Hazeltine had refused to place Nader on the
ballot because
he did not file the required 2,602 nominating petition signatures by the
June deadline.

Nader then sought a court order to get on the ballot. His lawsuit argued
that the June
20 filing deadline was unconstitutional because it was so early.

Kornmann agreed that the early filing deadline was unconstitutional as
applied to
presidential candidates. The judge said the previous law's filing
deadline of the first
Tuesday in August remains in effect.

However, Nader cannot get on the state ballot because his campaign
failed to get
2,602 valid signatures by the Aug. 1 deadline, Kornmann said.

The appeals panel said the state has a right to require candidates to
gather petition
signatures to show substantial support before getting on a ballot.

The early filing deadline and other factors may have hampered the Nader
campaign,
but it was clearly possible to gather the required number of signatures
before the
August hearing in federal court, the appeals judges said. They noted
that relatively
unknown Constitution Party candidate Howard Phillips submitted enough
signatures
by the June 20 deadline.

The appeals judges said Nader cannot be placed on the South Dakota
ballot
because he should not be excused from getting the required number of
petition
signatures.

And Nader cannot be allowed to gather more signatures now because that
would
"thoroughly disrupt the South Dakota election process, jeopardizing the
First
Amendment rights of South Dakota voters," the appeals panel said.

The secretary of state's office on Aug. 29 certified to county auditors
which names
should appear on ballots. Those ballots must be printed and in the
possession of
county auditors no later than Tuesday, according to state law.



Copyright 2000 / Los Angeles Times
                               Los Angeles Times

                               View Related Topics

                  September 24, 2000, Sunday, Home Edition

SECTION: Part A; Part 1; Page 22; National Desk

LENGTH: 674 words

HEADLINE: 8,000 RALLY FOR NADER IN SEATTLE;
POLITICS: THE GREEN CANDIDATE IS DRAWING BIGGER CROWDS THAN HIS
RIVALS, BUT THE POLLS DON'T REFLECT IT.

BYLINE: LYNN MARSHALL, TIMES STAFF WRITER


DATELINE: SEATTLE

BODY:
       Ralph Nader, the Green Party presidential candidate, drew more
than 8,000
paying supporters to a rally here Saturday night, a turnout that far
exceeds daily
crowds drawn by the major party candidates but that seems to be doing
little to shore
up Nader's position in voter polls.

The event was the third in a series of Nader "super rallies" that have
been drawing
some of the largest crowds of the presidential campaign. Nader drew
10,000 in
Portland, Ore., last month, and Friday night in Minneapolis he spoke to
an estimated
12,000--the largest rally of the 2000 race outside of the national
conventions, his
aides said.

"Nader is the only candidate speaking to issues I care about, and he's
the only one
with any credibility," said Mary Cavanaugh of Poulsbo, Wash., as she
waited for the
speech. "If we don't get big money out of the system, we don't have a
democracy."

Saturday's rally in Key Arena, a Seattle sports auditorium, took on the
air of a
progressive revival show with comments by Nader, a video-fed speech by
running
mate Winona LaDuke and an appearance by populist social critic Jim
Hightower, the
former Texas agriculture commissioner. It also included a brief
performance by Eddie
Vedder, lead singer for the rock band Pearl Jam.

"This is a great turnout," Nader said. "This crowd is bigger than my
whole hometown
in Connecticut. We are atttracting more people than Bush and Gore. They
have to pay
people to come out and see them."

Nader's campaign touts the events as a rally, but they also serve as
fund-raisers.
Nader's staff declined to say how much money has been raised at the
events, but
attendees pay from $ 7 to $ 10 to get in.

Additional rallies are planned in October for Boston and Chicago.

Even without an entry fee, aides for the major party nominees--Democrat
Al Gore and
Republican George W. Bush--say they have not drawn crowds to a rally
that are near
the size of Nader's recent events.

Jano Cabrera, a Gore spokesman in Nashville, said the vice president's
largest
post-convention crowd was 8,000 at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh,
followed by 5,000
in Moline, Ill. Bush officials have said his largest post-convention
crowds came during
his train trip through the Midwest, which they claimed drew 5,000 to
7,000 people.

On Saturday, rally-goers said they were drawn both by their support for
Nader and
their opposition to the major parties.

"Voting for Bush or Gore is like throwing my vote away," said Frank
Jackson, 23, of
Tacoma. "I want to get the ball rolling for an alternative party."

The crowd Saturday was enthusiastic and largely under age 50. An
undercurrent to
the event was the demand that Nader and Reform Party candidate Pat
Buchanan be
included in the upcoming debates between Gore and Bush.

"It is very important that Nader participate in the debates," said Bill
Morris, 48, of
Issaquah, Wash. "Without him, you have two people who are a lot alike
talking about
things they agree on."

At a news conference before the event, Nader focused on local issues
that dovetail
into his broader positions. He registered his support for a moratorium
on logging in
national forests and for breaching dams on the Snake River that have
threatened
salmon habitats.

Nader also called for genetic testing and labeling of food in the wake
of the recall of
Kraft Food's Taco Bell Home Originals taco shells that were found to
contain
genetically altered corn not approved for human consumption.

Scott Royder, Washington state coordinator for Nader, said the campaign
is striving
to reach "the people who are so fed up that they don't even vote."

Nationally, his poll numbers have hovered around 3%. But if there is
Nader country, it
is in the Northwest.

In the 1996 presidential election, Nader received less than 1% of the
vote nationally
but picked up 4% of the vote in Oregon and 2.6% in Washington. Recent
local polls
have shown him running as high as 8% in Oregon and 6% in Washington.



Copyright 2000 U.P.I.
                            United Press International

                          September 24, 2000, Sunday

SECTION: GENERAL NEWS

LENGTH: 324 words

HEADLINE: Gore willing to consider including Nader in debates

BYLINE: By PAUL SINGER

DATELINE: SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 24

BODY:
    Vice President Al Gore told reporters during a conference call Sunday
that he had not "ruled
out" the possibility of including Ralph Nader or other third party
candidates in the upcoming
presidential debates.

Gore said he believed the deadline for expanding the field in the
debates had not yet passed,
although the first debate was less than two weeks away.

Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush have agreed to spar in three debates
sponsored by the
Commission on Presidential Debates, while Green Party Candidate Nader
and Reform Party
candidate Pat Buchanan have railed against the commission for excluding
them.

The first presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 3.

"I have not ruled out revisiting the issue of the people who participate
in the debate," Gore said,
adding that he did not believe "the commission has crossed the deadline
for deciding" who will be
included.

However the vice president did not explicitly endorse expanding the
debate roster beyond the
current two-candidate plan.

Nader's deputy press secretary, Laura Jones, welcomed Gore's statement,
but told United Press
International, "We would encourage Gore to reflect that in action by
making a public statement in
favor of including Nader" in the debates.

"If he were truly committed to open debates, he should make a public
statement reflective of the
will of 64-percent of the American people" who have said they would like
to see Nader included
in the debates, Jones said.

The CPD currently only extends invitations to candidates that have
support of at least 15-percent
of the electorate in public opinion polls. Jones pointed out that
Federal Election Commission rules
allow a candidate to qualify for federal campaign funding with only 5
percent in the polls.

Recent polls have pegged Nader's national support at around 3-5 percent
and Buchanan lingering
at around 1 percent.

The Bush campaign could not be immediately reached for comment.




September 23, 2000, Saturday, BC cycle

SECTION: Political News

LENGTH: 677 words

HEADLINE: More than 12,000 greet Nader at Target Center

BYLINE: By ASHLEY H. GRANT, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: MINNEAPOLIS

BODY:
    Person by person, dollar by dollar, Ralph Nader has been building
support for his
Green Party presidential bid.

Then, every once in awhile, he cashes in like he did Friday night at the
Target Center
in Minneapolis.

More than 12,000 people flooded into the arena on the damp, rainy night,
paying $7
each to hear the longtime consumer advocate rail against the major party
candidates
and call for social justice.

"This campaign is not about leaders producing followers," Nader shouted.
"It is about
leaders producing more leaders."

The crowd, he said, was proof his candidacy should be taken seriously -
and that he
should be allowed to participate in debates with Republican candidate
George W.
Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore.

"This is the largest gathering of paying citizens of the entire year,"
Nader told the
raucous crowd, which behaved as if the hometown Timberwolves were
playing,
shouting, whistling and waving signs that said "Let Ralph Debate!"

He urged audience members to vote with their consciences and ignore
arguments
that a vote for Nader is a wasted vote.

Before the candidate spoke, volunteers passed cardboard collection boxes
up and
down the aisles. At least two people donated $1,000, and several others
donated
$500. Nearly everyone seemed to donate something.

"We're gonna bang our spoons until we get Ralph in the debates," said
former talk
show host Phil Donahue, who has traveled with Nader during this leg of
the campaign.


Nader's running mate, Winona LaDuke - who lives on the White Earth
Reservation in
northern Minnesota - gave a stirring speech about how she and Nader
would make
the world a better place for generations to come.

"We will not be taken for granted, and we will vote," she said.

Earlier Friday, Nader proposed shifting control of U.S. agriculture away
from
corporate conglomerates and back toward the family farmer.

"By weakening the stranglehold agribusiness has on the food industry, we
will be able
to increase farm gate prices and competition, which will consequently
reduce food
costs for consumers," he said.

His farm plan, among other things, calls for stronger enforcement of
antitrust laws,
prohibition of meatpacker ownership of livestock production facilities
and allowing
American farmers to grow industrial hemp.

Next to him on a table during an afternoon news conference sat a pile of
18,000
signatures of Minnesotans requesting that Nader be included in the
debates.

If that were to happen, Nader said one of his top priorities would be
spurring more
discussion on agriculture policy.

The Minnesota stop was the second of four major rallies. The first, in
Portland, Ore.,
was nearly as large as Friday's event, selling out with 10,000 tickets.

The last time Nader visited Minnesota, he held a smaller rally at the
University of
Minnesota that drew a packed house of 1,400 and raised about $17,000.

It's an unusual way for a presidential candidate to raise money, but
Nader says the
rallies are the best way to show how serious he is.

"We have to demonstrate that we can draw far greater audiences," Nader
said.

While the opening speakers criticized the debate format and mocked
"Gush" and
"Bore," people decked out as chickens flapped around the arena on
stilts. Some
members of the crowd wore bumper stickers that said "Gush and Bore make
we want
to Ralph."

Nader cited Minnesota as an example of a state on the cutting edge of
what should be
done to spur more voter participation.

Three things - debate access, public financing and same-day voter
registration -
helped Gov. Jesse Ventura get elected, and Nader thinks those principles
should be
emulated by other states.

"Those three factors should be the law of the land," he said, adding
that "campaign
finance reform is the boulder on the highway to justice."

Nader told the crowd he and LaDuke offered something special.

"The Green Party is a different kind of party - a party without baggage,
a party without
shame," he said.




Copyright 2000 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
                             Wisconsin State Journal

                 September 21, 2000, Thursday, SECOND EDITION

SECTION: Front, Pg. 1A

LENGTH: 712 words

HEADLINE: NADER: 'WE CAN SWEEP'; THE GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE
BELIEVES HE HAS A CHANCE IF NON-VOTERS GET OUT; AND VOTE.

BYLINE: Scott Milfred Wisconsin State Journal

BODY:


Ralph Nader brought his underdog, third-party campaign for president to
Madison on
Wednesday night, telling about 1,800 people at the Orpheum Theatre he
can win the White
House if traditional non-voters show up at the polls.

''If you pull out the people, talking it up, we can sweep across the
country,'' Nader said to cheers
and applause.

Nader, the Green Party candidate and longtime consumer advocate,
insisted he has a legitimate
shot at beating Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush on Nov. 7
if his
anti-corporate, pro-citizen message gets out.

''Everything is for sale,'' Nader said, ''including the University of
Wisconsin, which is being
corporatized from A to Z.''

Nader and his supporters at Wednesday's event -- including
gonzo-political filmmaker Michael
Moore and former talk show host Phil Donahue -- are traveling to six
cities in three days to try to
activate non-voters and pressure the organizers of presidential debates
to let Nader in.

Nader's stop at the Orpheum included a night of live music and films at
$ 10 a head. The event
was scheduled to run until 2 a.m.

If his message seemed dramatic, his delivery wasn't. Standing earnestly
at center stage in a modest
suit, Nader derided Gore and Bush in a just-the-facts, determined
monotone for about 90
minutes.

He said the two major candidates largely agree on most issues including
foreign trade, the death
penalty and special breaks for corporations. Nader said the drug war has
failed, the environment
is being polluted, rural America is disappearing and children are
''being delivered to corporate
hucksters'' through advertising over public airwaves.

Neither Bush or Gore is seriously addressing the disparity between rich
and poor, Nader said.

Bill Gates, the richest person in the world, has a net worth about equal
to the bottom 40 percent
of the American population, he said.

Most workers make less today than they did in 1979 while working 160
hours longer per year, he
said.

Bush is ''a big corporation running for president disguised as a human
being,'' Nader said.

Gore's advisers ''are a rogues' gallery of corporate lobbyists,'' Nader
said.

If ''none of the above'' was an option on ballots, Bush and Gore
wouldn't stand a chance, he said.

Nader and his celebrity supporters spoke in Milwaukee earlier Wednesday
and are traveling to
rallies in Michigan today, Minnesota tomorrow and Seattle, Wash., on
Saturday.

Moore, best known for his anti-General Motors film ''Roger & Me,''
loosened up the crowd
before Nader spoke with humorous jabs at both parties.

Moore said he wasn't good at math in school. But by his estimation,
Nader will win the White
House if those who don't typically vote are prodded off the couch to the
polls.

''There's 110 million Americans who have decided not to vote,'' Moore
said. ''They're not going to
waste their time voting for Tweedledee or Tweedledumber. They're smart
and they're brave.''

Donahue said Nader was the most frequent guest to appear on his show and
''was always right. I
watched him in awe.''

Nader supporters insisted they weren't throwing away their votes by
supporting the longtime
consumer activist, who is running as the Green Party nominee.

Therese Scheckel, 40, a teacher from Richland Center, said she has heard
repeatedly that a vote
for Nader is nothing more than a vote for Bush.

''I don't want George Bush to be elected,'' Scheckel said. ''But I
refuse to vote out of fear for
what's going to happen. I survived Reagan. So Bush doesn't scare me.''

Scheckel already considers Nader a success because he's getting the
attention of the major parties
and might garner enough votes for the Green Party to get government
matching funds for the next
campaign in four years.

Dean Amundson, 47, a business owner from Richland Center, said Nader is
''for the common
man, not the corporations.''

''You've got to support someone you believe in,'' he said. ''I don't
believe in Bush or Gore.''

Matt Hoffman, 20, a UW-Madison student, called Nader a refreshing voice
in politics.

''Bush and Gore are the same,'' he said. ''There's no difference. It's
time to stop moving to the
center. This is hope. A vote for Nader is a vote for Nader. It's not a
vote for anyone else.''



Copyright 2000 Daily Texan via U-Wire
                                University Wire

                              September 20, 2000

LENGTH: 473 words

HEADLINE: Green Party seeks increased presence in Texas

BYLINE: By Julie Nolen, Daily Texan

SOURCE: U. Texas-Austin

DATELINE: Austin, Texas

BODY:
    Hoping to increase public recognition and garner increased minority
support, the Travis County
Green Party and Ralph Nader 2000 presidential campaign opened their
newest office Tuesday
in East Austin.

Texas Green Party co-chairman Steve Agan said opening the office in a
community with a large
minority population will help the party reach out to those voters.

The Green Party, which began in 1983, has a platform that includes
universal health-care
coverage, a living wage, environmental protection and campaign finance
reform.

"Now every person of every color can say this is your party too," Agan
said. "People of all stripes
think the current political parties are corrupt."

Agan said the party's new office will offer literature about the Green
Party, as well provide party
members to answer questions about the presidential campaign.

"This should put a face to the Nader campaign in Austin," Agan said.

Ray Ramirez, president of Congonas, a local community service
organization, welcomed the
Green Party into East Austin Tuesday and praised its respect for
Hispanic, African-American and
Asian-American communities.

"Your location and presence in the inner city ... represents an active
effort to reach out and ask for
our inclusion in the political process," Ramirez said.

Speaking about issues that concern minorities, Ramirez cited the
minority-heavy prison population,
the failed war on drugs, Draconian immigration laws and not including
third parties in the
presidential debates.

"Many citizens and voters feel 'locked out' of the current political
dialogue at all levels, and a good
example is the exclusion of any independent participation in the debates
scheduled between the
two major party candidates," Ramirez said.

UT Students for Nader co-president Brian Carnes said independent parties
give voters more
choices.

"In 1996 I didn't vote. I didn't think I had much of a choice," said
Carnes, a doctoral student in
computational and applied mathematics. "I heard Nader speak and he
inspired me."

Formerly known as the University Greens, Students for Nader helped
gather more than 75,000
signatures statewide last spring to place Nader on the ballot for the
Nov. 7 elections.

The Green Party is now striving to get at least 5 percent of the vote in
Texas statewide elections,
which will guarantee a place on the ballot for the Green Party in 2002.
Five percent of the vote
nationwide will entitle the Green Party to federal funding in the next
presidential race.

Adrienne Boer, Travis County Green Party co-chairwoman said the Green
Party's goal now is to
gain long-term recognition for the party.

Statewide candidates include Railroad Commission candidates Gary Dugger
and Charlie Mauch,
Texas Supreme Court candidate Ben Levy and U.S. Senate candidate Doug
Sandage.




September 19, 2000, Tuesday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 434 words

HEADLINE: LaDuke stumps for Green Party in R.I.

BYLINE: By GILLIAN FLYNN, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: PROVIDENCE, R.I.

BODY:
    Green Party vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke campaigned
through the
state Monday to help local organizers win ballot status in Rhode Island.

The Green Party needs to draw 5 percent of registered voters, or about
30,000
people, on Nov. 7, so candidates in future elections can receive federal
matching
funds and gain a permanent spot on the local ballot.

This year, three candidates are running for state representative under
the Green
Party banner but they're listed as independents on the ballot.

"A single vote means an awful lot to us and it means absolutely nothing
to Al Gore,"
LaDuke said.

LaDuke ran with Nader in 1996 and received 1 percent of the vote
nationally. This
time, the pair will be on the ballot in at least 45 states. They're
planning to spend
millions and are fighting to be included in the presidential debates.

In her one-day visit, Duke spoke at the University of Rhode Island, held
a press
conference in Providence, spent several hours at the Narragansett Indian
reservation
and spoke at a sold-out fund-raiser at the Biltmore Hotel.

The $35-per-ticket event for about 175 people was held the same day
Republican
U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee was charging $500 a ticket for a fund-raiser
across town
where Elizabeth Dole spoke.

LaDuke, an Ojibwe Indian who lives in northwest Minnesota, also touched
on local
issues, arguing Rhode Island's Narragansett Indians should be allowed to
operate a
casino on their tribal land in Charlestown without a statewide
referendum.

"These tribes need to generate income and restore their communities,"
she said.

The tribe is frustrated by a decade of failed efforts to build a
gambling hall, but has
vowed to push forward, despite some state leaders' public opposition to
their plan.

"We're very proud to have a vice presidential candidate here today to
meet some of
our people," said Narragansett Indian Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas. "I
don't think
Al Gore or George Bush did that when they came to Rhode Island."

The state's Green Party is growing, organizers said. The mailing list
has tripled to
nearly 600 people and there was more money raised this year than in its
eight-year
history.

"It's obvious we have a one party system in this state. The fact is
we're getting new
volunteers all the time," said Greg Gerritt, the party co-chairman.

There are 244 Green Party candidates in 27 states this year. The Rhode
Island
candidates are Jeff Johnson, of South Kingstown, Gregg Steven of North
Kingstown
and Bob Sumner-Mack, of Cumberland. Karen Johnson is running for South
Kingstown Town Council.




September 19, 2000, Tuesday, BC cycle

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 491 words

HEADLINE: Nader seeking New York's Independence Party nomination

BYLINE: By ANNY KUO, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y.

BODY:
    Consumer advocate and Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader
is
seeking the November ballot line of New York's arm of the national
Reform Party,
officials said Tuesday.

Nader's campaign manager, Theresa Amato, said he became interested in
running
on the New York Independence Party line after its state party officials
reached out to
him and suggested the possibility in August. She said the New York
officials seemed
"eager" to consider Nader for their presidential nomination.

After an early infatuation with Reform Party candidate Patrick Buchanan,
New York's
Independence Party leaders have balked at having the conservative
commentator as
their standard-bearer. Even so, Buchanan has already qualified for the
New York
ballot where he will appear as the Buchanan-Reform candidate. He is the
candidate
of one faction of the national Reform Party.

Nader had been campaigning as the Green Party candidate in recent
months. One
leader of the Green Party in New York said he was concerned that an
Independence
Party candidacy by Nader might hurt the Greens.

In New York, the Independence Party has the third ballot slot, right
after the Republican
and Democratic parties. Green Party candidates come much further down
the ballot,
in the seventh spot.

"It would end up hurting a lot of Green Party candidates across the
state," said Mark
Dunlea, a Green Party leader and a candidate for state Assembly.

Dunlea said he fears Nader supporters will vote for him on the
Independence Party
line and never get down to the Green Party spot.

Amato dismissed those concerns.

"People who want to vote Green will vote Green. People who consider
themselves
Independents will vote for the Independence Party," Amato said. "That's
true in any
case where there's a candidate running in multiple parties."

Independence Party officials will meet this weekend in Albany to
designate a
presidential candidate who will appear on their party line on the
November ballot.

State Chairman Frank MacKay has said that all leading presidential
candidates have
been invited to make pitches for the nomination. Amato said she will
attend the
Independence Party meeting.

MacKay said there is "tremendous amount" of support within his party for
Nader and
urged him to come to the party's convention in person, or at least have
his vice
presidential running mate, Winona LaDuke, attend.

"If he came himself, it would be a slam dunk," MacKay said.

The Independence Party in New York, much like the Reform Party on the
national
level, has been plagued by infighting, with factions backing separate
candidates at
different times.

Amato said that besides seeking the Independence Party nomination, Nader
is also
looking for the Liberal Party endorsement in New York. It is expected to
go to
Democrat Al Gore.

Unlike most other states, New York allows candidates to run on more than
one ballot
line and count all the votes from each line.








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