MONTICELLO -- She's a political novice, but a Monticello nurse is playing a key role in a presidential campaign today.

As Green Party coordinator for northeast Iowa, Linda Fanton has been promoting Ralph Nader's long-shot candidacy. But today, she will be providing his transportation and lodging.

Fanton, 43, her 17-year-old-son, Eric, and about 50 other Iowans are driving to St. Louis today to participate in activities surrounding the third and final debate between Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Gov. George W. Bush.

The two major party candidates will face off at 8 p.m. in a 90-minute town hall meeting at Washington University in St. Louis.

Nader has been excluded from the debates because he hasn't obtained 15 percent of the support in public opinion polls, so he will speak at a rally and press conferences this afternoon and is expected to participate in demonstrations this evening.

Fanton, a nurse and owner of Eastern Iowa Visiting Nurses and Home Health Care, is charged with making sure Nader, who campaigns on a shoestring budget, gets to his engagements. After she gets to St. Louis, Fanton has the task of picking up Nader at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

She also is providing Nader and his staff with two hotel rooms.

"I guess they (Nader's campaign) didn't make reservations soon enough and all the hotel rooms were filled," Fanton said. "I had reserved a block of rooms five weeks ago, so I gave two rooms to Nader."

Fanton, a former Democrat, was attracted to Nader after deciding it's time for a change. "If you keep doing things the same way, they won't change," she says.

It's not always easy to work outside the major parties, Fanton says.

"You have to decide whether you want to be one of those unpopular people who want to fix things or just go with the flow and watch the Earth crash."