It was supposed to be a platform for local and national environmental activists to support Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore.
Instead, Thursday afternoon’s press conference turned into a face-off between Gore followers and supporters of Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Of the 35 to 40 people who amassed in Alton Baker Park, roughly one-third showed their support for Nader with posters and signs.
The protesters didn’t say anything until Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, stepped to the podium.
Facing a large sign that read “Gore & Pope: Old-Growth Sell-Outs” on the left, Pope delivered his intended speech, voicing support of Gore for president and urging citizens to use their votes responsibly.
“I’m here because I believe that the voters of Oregon may very well decide who the next president of the United States will be,” Pope said.
Environmentally speaking, Pope said, there has never been such a contrast between two candidates as there is between Gore and Bush, leaving a significant choice for voters this election year.
Even though Nader is the candidate most aligned with the environmental concerns of many activists — Nader said four dams won’t be missed by the country — Pope pointed out Nader “freely acknowledges that he’s not going to be the next president of the United States.”
“But we do have the choice, if we use our votes effectively, of a candidate who has said that extinction is not an option,” Pope said. He is “a candidate we still need to educate, a candidate we still need to reach.”
His point proved to be a hard sell to Nader supporters, who said Pope’s endorsement of Gore was ridiculous because Nader is more in line with the club’s environmental views.
Pointing out that Gore was not in favor of protecting old-growth forests, the protesters questioned Pope about his choice.
While Pope said he thinks cutting needs to be stopped in all national forests, he said he believes Gore is willing to work with environmentalists on the issue.
“If there are two candidates, and neither of them will take that that pledge with me on inauguration day, then I’ll say a plague on both your houses,” Pope said. “But I believe Gore’s heart is in this.”
At one point, a protester asked who Pope would vote for if the race was between only Gore and Nader.
Pope replied his vote would go to Nader.
But because that is not the situation, Pope emphasized people must use their votes wisely.
“A vote for Nader is effectively a vote for Bush, or at most a protest,” Pope said. “It’s fine to protest, but election day is not the time to do it.”
Many people at the press conference were supporters of both Nader and Gore, said Don St. Clair, a coordinator with the Greens for Gore Coalition (GFGC). A great deal of them, however, are “making strategic decisions” with their votes.
One of those voters is Steve Herman, who said he is sticking with Nader because he is an “honest, committed individual who’s dedicated his whole life to help people.”
Herman, who is a student coordinator with Lane Victory 2000 — the coalition formed to support Nader — said his parents taught him that “when you want something, you go for that something. You don’t settle.”
He said he doesn’t think voting for Nader will make much of a difference in the Bush vs. Gore race — adding that Oregon’s electoral votes are insignificant in the larger scheme of things. And Nader, he said, does need the support: In order to receive funding for future endeavors, he must obtain 5 percent of the vote.
David Resseguie, co-founder of the GFGC, said his group is encouraging people to hold their votes until the last minute. If it looks like Gore will win, they can still vote for Nader — thus giving him a voice — without worrying that Bush will be president.
“I’m very concerned that my fellow Greens will act as spoilers and push the electoral votes to Bush,” he said.
There are those, however, who believe the warnings that voting for Nader will harm Gore are exaggerated. Nader supporter Sarah Charlesworth said she thinks the situation may actually be the reverse: So many people in Oregon support Nader, she said, that voting for Gore would probably give Bush more votes.
“I’m scared that every one of our votes are going to go for Bush,” she said.
Camilla Feibelman, national director for the Sierra Student Coalition, expressed frustration that environmentalists were dividing themselves when they should be sticking together.
Outside the debates in Boston, she said, Nader and Gore supporters clashed both verbally and physically — a situation that scared her.
“The reason that scares me is that come Nov. 8, we’ll have to come back together,” she said. “We’re on the same side of the fight.”