The Green Party’s Dilemna

The Green Party nominated Texas lawyer David Cobb for presidential candidate in the upcoming election. Pat LaMarche, the Green independent candidate for the Maine House of Representatives, was chosen as his running mate. But who’s listening?

With Ralph Nader running as an independent in November, the Green Party nominee was up in the air until the Green Convention last month. The field was still fairly large going in, including the Green candidate for mayor in Ithaca last winter, Paul Glover. But perhaps the more importent question that needed answering during the convention, rather than who’s running, is what kind of campaign should they run?

Ralph Nader, the darling of college campuses and progressive nooks everywhere in 2000 – the only Green with real name-recognition – declined the nomination months ago. This severely curtailed the option of running a large-scale campaign in every state.

Nor are many Green’s supportive of such a strategy. With the fiasco in Florida in 2000, it was shown that small numbers of votes can make a difference. So many in the party, including Cobb and LaMarche, are pursuing a different strategy this time around. They’ll only be campaigning in either solidly red or blue states – where they won’t be stepping on the toes of John Kerry. Nader’s rhetoric about the “Republicrats” still stands, but the differences between the “two evils” are much more pronounced this time around, after four years under the Bush administration.

However, the Green Party has never been seen as wholly pragmatic, and this holds true for many of it’s core supporters. A “safe-state” strategy such as Cobb is pursing is seen as a cop-out, a set-back in terms of long-term party growth. Many are still dissatisfied with the Democratic Party, and are still unwilling to step aside for Kerry in the swing states. The last thing these members want to see, is the Green Party become the progressive arm of the Democratic Party, and fade back into even remoter obscurity.

And those detached from the party still question the purpose of running a presidential candidate – regardless of what type of strategy is pursued.

The point of a Green presidential run is to spread the word, to invigorate and energize more local campaigns. To raise awareness and to increase the amount of registered Greens.

The Green Party has faced continual set backs and slowdowns this year, mainly trying to get ballot access in many states. Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, says that the state parties have been slow getting ballot access for their candidates, but goes on to say that perhaps now with the presidential candidate, they will begin to speed things along.

No one seriously believes a 3rd party win in the presidential race will happen anytime soon. But by having a presidential candidate out there, the Green Party raises awareness of the Party platform, and helps the local and state candidates win their elections. A self-sustaining third party movement has to rise and grow from the local and state level – a presidential bid showcases the movement and their gains.

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This article reprinted courtesy of The Progressive Voice