Nader Names LaDuke as Running Mate

Al Gore '69 and George W. Bush may both have Harvard connections, but the Green Party has one-upped both major parties: both its presidential and vice presidential candidates will have a Harvard connection.

While the Green Party, which supports pro-environmental positions and is traditionally heavily liberal, will not hold its official nominating convention until later this month, Ralph Nader, a 1958 graduate of Harvard Law School, has been the presumed nominee for months.

Four days ago, Nader announced on Fox News Sunday that his running mate will be Winona LaDuke '80-'82. The announcement was not a complete surprise, as she was Nader's running mate in 1996, when Nader made an unsuccessful run for the presidency, also on the Green Party ticket.

LaDuke, a resident of Adams House while an undergraduate, is a resident of the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota. She is known for her activism on American Indians' economic and environmental issues, working to have land returned to her native Objibwa tribe. She is also a published author and a farmer.

During the last election, LaDuke proposed a constitutional amendment that would provide protection for certain kinds of natural resources for seven generations. She cites clear-cutting and air and water pollution as acts that would violate such a requirement.

In 1996 the Nader-LaDuke team finished fourth in the popular vote, receiving 0.71 percent of the vote.

Nader, who made a campaign stop at MIT last month, has indicated he will run a much more active campaign this year than he did in 1996. In that election he only spent $5,000.

He is also seeking inclusion on all 50 states' ballots this year and has filed suit against the state of North Carolina, claiming state laws make it too difficult for third-party candidates to make it on the ballot. Nader was on only 21 states' ballots in 1996.

According to results of an April Zogby's Poll posted on Nader's website, his preliminary efforts seem to be paying off. According to the poll, Nader has the support of 5.7 percent of likely voters. This was above the level of support Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan commanded in the same poll.

One of Nader's main issues this election will be campaign finance reform. In his MIT speech, he said the current system is plagued with problems.

"You buy the politicians," Nader told the crowd in May. "And if you can't buy them, you rent them on the installment plan."