Local Green Party leader joins Democrats to back Kerry

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Sitting at A Cup of Magic in Bend on a chilly spring morning, 25-year-old Amy Terebesi, chairwoman of the Central Oregon Chapter of the Pacific Green Party, earnestly explains how legalizing hemp could solve Oregon's economic woes. Water contamination in third world countries kills a surprising number of people, Terebesi says. She's in favor of logging, but not cutting down old-growth timber.

And just in case you didn't know, the U.S. war in Iraq is "all about oil," she said.

So why did Terebesi, one of 77,357 Oregonians who supported Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential election, recently register as a Democrat and pledge to support Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee? "Basic needs; not spiking trees," Terebesi said. "I mean for real, you can quote me there."

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Could an army of Amy Terebesis help Kerry win?

For Democrats, many who feel that Nader robbed Gore of a victory over Bush in 2000, Green defections represent an opportunity to rescue the country from irresponsible tax cuts, a failing war effort in Iraq and an environmental policy that has set back conservation efforts by decades. "I would think if you hit people with a two-by-four it gets their attention," said Mickey Hiland, a Democrat from Crooked River Ranch, of Bush's policies. "What I fear is that another four years and it will be our old growth trees."

http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=13467