BOSTON - September 23 - Pat LaMarche, several homeless people, and some Massachusetts Greens slept outside last night after spending the day trying to get in to a shelter in Boston. "I have a new respect for the word lottery now" said LaMarche. "The homeless come early to the shelter, stand in line for a number, and then must come back to watch the drawing to see if they have a bed. It is impossible to look for work if you spend your day waiting for the left out lottery", she said.

After her companions did not get a winning number the group set out to find a place to sleep. They settled on a muddy area, to get away from pavement, near Harvard. At 12:30 A.M. a cop told them to leave and they told him they were not all homeless that Ms. LaMarche was running for vice president. He told them to not make a mess and clean up their trash. Ms. Lamarche said, "I can see how this kind of hassle makes for a major discouragement dose".

After a few hours sleep a security guard came to scream at them to leave and did not believe the vice presidential candidate and threatened to call the police. The same policeman returned and told them he was being hassled by a security guard and they had to leave. Ms. LaMarche said, "Protecting buildings seems to be more important than the needs of the homeless. Experiencing the real world of homeless people is something I will never forget. All candidates who want a dose of reality ought to live on the streets like this for awhile. It is time for the needs of desperate Americans to take a higher priority."

Ms. LaMarche will hold a press conference at 1 P.M at the Chad Brown Housing Project on 37K Berkshire St. in Providence, Rhode Island on Thursday September 23.

LaMarche said she will return to the Chad Brown Housing Project in Providence, Rhode Island where her family was living when she was born.

LaMarche will be joined at the press conference by Jeff Toste, Rhode Island Green Party candidate for Senate District 5, and Green Party member and Providence City Councilor David Segal. The press conference will focus on the need for universal health care. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation which does not provide health care for all its citizens.

LaMarche's visit to Rhode Island is the third stop on her two week Left Out Tour.

The itinerary for the Left Out Tour is:

September 21, Augusta, ME

September 22, Boston, MA

September 23, Providence, RI

September 24, New York City

September 25, Washington, DC

September 26, Knoxville, TN

September 27, Fayetteville, AR

September 28, Denver, CO

September 29, Napa Valley, CA

September 30, Los Angeles, CA

October 1, Portland, OR

October 2, Chicago, IL

October 3, Detroit, MI

October 4, Cleveland, OH

The "Left Out Tour" is typical of the way that LaMarche approaches activism, life and politics. The single mother of two secured ballot access for the Maine Green Party when she ran for Governor in 1998. A nonprofit foundation director and one of the most popular radio broadcasters in Maine, LaMarche has found kidneys for dying children, raised money for poverty-stricken youth, and helped to garner support for relief crews after September 11, 2001.

For more information about the Cobb-LaMarche campaign, see http://www.votecobb.org. Information about the Green Party of the United States can be found at http://www.gp.org.

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