Native American Democratic Caucus Chairman Wants New Deal for Tribes By Tanya Lee DENVER, Colo., Aug. 25 -- Frank LaMere (Winnebago), Nebraska superdelegate and chairman of the Democratic National Committee's Native American Caucus, said that the 2008 presidential election could turn on the Native vote. LaMere told NewsWatch, "Native people will make the difference in this election. That's how important our vote is and how close this race will be." If Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is elected president of the United States, LaMere wants to see "a marked change in the way we deal with Native American issues, a new era in relations between the U.S. and tribes." He said he hopes that Obama will provide a New Deal to Native people. "No other approach to the problems that beset our communities will work," he said. LaMere pointed out that "many more Native people are engaging today in national politics than in 2004." In fact, 140 Native American delegates are in Denver, 40 percent more than were in Boston for the 2004 convention. "Look at the attendance and see who is represented," he said. "People from the four directions are here, from office holders to first-time voters. Obama can generate interest and new energy in Indian Country. It's a red-letter week in Native American political history and it starts today." His assessment of President Bush's tenure in the White House: "A failed presidency." He said the failure of leadership "hurts Native people more than anyone else. Native people are like the miner's canary. What troubles the public devastates tribes. The economic impacts of war and budget cuts lead to a failure to fund programs for Native people." LaMere was emphatic about the importance of empowering young people, not only to vote or to work for political candidates, but to be the candidates themselves. "All politics is local," he said, urging young people to run for elected offices in their towns, counties, and states. Native American children will fare better in public schools if there is someone on the school board to represent their interests, he said. Local governments will respond better to Native American concerns if there is a Native American on the city council or in the state legislature to speak for them. LaMere urged the delegates and the communities from which they come to acknowledge the importance of their work. "The delegates came here at great expense and they are taking time apart from their families because they know how things could be, how things should be. They carry a great burden for the people back home and their communities should not be asking why they went to Denver to participate in the white man's political process, but should be thanking them for the burden they carry. Delegates have a sacred right and responsibility to Native American communities, LaMere said. "All of us who came here stand of the shoulders of our young Native men and women who are in harm's way as we gather here. Let us acknowledge them and our forebears who have given us a place at the table." He explained that his younger brother, only 20, was killed in the Vietnam War. "Not once had he cast a vote. That's why I'm here." He told the delegates, "The great burden you carry today was carried by someone before. We carry the burden and it will lessen the burden for those in the future. "Today we prepare the way for our young people to take their rightful place."