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LaDuke: Let Greens debate Bob Pennell photo Green Party vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke, formerly of Ashland, talks with reporters during a trail fees protest in Medford Saturday. LaDuke agreed with protesters that access to public lands should not be limited. �Dialogue must be broadened,� VP hopeful says By Paul Fattig Winona LaDuke isn�t asking for your vote just yet, although the Green Party�s vice presidential candidate certainly wouldn�t reject it. What the former Rogue Valley resident seeks now is public pressure to allow her and presidential candidate Ralph Nader to be included in the national televised debates in October. "The dialogue must be broadened," she said during a visit to Medford on Saturday. "And the only way that will be broadened is if we�re allowed access in the debates." Yet she believes the Republican and Democratic party leadership cringes at the thought. "Ralph is a very smart guy � he is very good on his feet," she said, adding, "And I would love to debate. I�d have John Tredway come along and help out." Tredway, her speech instructor and debate team coach at Ashland High School, where she graduated in 1976, says LaDuke would do well if allowed to debate. "She�s good," said Tredway, whose local debate teams consistently win state and national honors. "She would hold her own against Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney if she is allowed to debate. I�m looking forward to that possibility." Supporters are encouraging the public to "sign" an online petition for the Green Party candidates to be in the national debate at: http://www.VoteNader.org. "The debates would definitely be more interesting," LaDuke said. "What we have to say is outside the limited dialogue we are hearing now." A Harvard University graduate, LaDuke, 41, is the daughter of Betty LaDuke, an Ashland artist and instructor at Southern Oregon University. A member of the Ojibwa nation, she now lives on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. In addition to campaigning in Medford, she was given a tribute at her alma mater Saturday evening. Her visit to the place she once called home came after she and Nader addressed more than 10,000 people packed into the Memorial Coliseum in Portland Friday night. Polls indicate the Green Party ticket is now drawing 7 percent of the vote in Oregon, while the Democrat and Republican front-runners are splitting the remainder. Like Nader, LaDuke pledged to eliminate private campaign contributions, end child poverty, provide blanket health coverage, cut military spending and stop the production of nuclear weapons. But she didn�t agree with Nader�s opposition to Oregon�s assisted-suicide law. Citing Nader�s long history of consumer advocacy, she noted he is primarily concerned about the potential for abuse of the law. "My choice is that people should have the right to choose," she said. "Ralph and I would differ on this." But she was quick to observe that she and Nader are in agreement on the broad scope of issues, including stopping corporate welfare while boosting economic justice, environmental protection and campaign finance reform. For instance, they would end commercial logging on federal forests. They support the growing of industrial hemp to replace the use of wood from public lands. They also call for tapping more alternative energy resources such as wind power. LaDuke rejected concerns aired by some environmental activists who feel a vote for the Green Party is tantamount to voting for Republican George W. Bush. "I think that is an absolute waste of your vote, a vote based on fear," she said. "It diminishes the value of your vote. People died for the right to vote in this country." Moreover, that attitude continues to support the status quo that has resulted in a majority of voters opting not to vote, she said. Campaign observer Steve Traisman of Ashland, noting he voted for Clinton in 1996, agreed. "If you are voting for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil," he concluded, adding that he supports the Green Party candidates. In Medford, LaDuke met with several protesters who oppose user fees on national forests. Observing that she spent much of her childhood camping on national forests in the region, LaDuke also expressed concern about the fees. "I don�t believe that access to the public lands should be limited," she said. In contrast to statements by Cheney, who visited earlier in the week, LaDuke supported the creation of national monuments on public land, including the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in the mountains east of Ashland. "The more you can preserve for common people the better," she said. "Increasingly, the disparity of wealth in this country means that more people live in gated communities, more people can buy a private education. The public land shouldn�t be just for people who can afford it." Citing the national reputation of Nader and the fact there is a growing disparity between rich and poor in the nation, LaDuke said the Green Party has a chance in November. The largest party in the United States is neither the Democrats nor the Republicans, she said. "The largest party is the nonvoter," she said. "People have become increasingly disenfranchised. "Ralph and I hope to re-energize the public debate on the future of this country, whether it is through the debates, through voting or multiparty participation," she added. "We have a vision for the future." LaDuke is scheduled to leave today for campaign stops in New Mexico. 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