Green Party Struggle in California
From Counterpunch By Todd Chretien
Crossroads for the California Green Party
Will It Be Nader or Cobb?
Perhaps this would have remained an academic debate about internal Green Party process, but two new facts have re-opened it. First, although it was in motion before the Milwaukee convention, the campaign by the Democratic Party to disenfranchise millions of voters who support Nader/Camejo by employing Florida tactics to keep Nader off the ballot has developed into the most serious attack on democratic elections in the United States since the end of Jim Crow. Second, it has come to light in the past 48 hours that the California state Green Party, according to its own election code, can hold a state nominating convention in order to place a candidate on the ballot. These two facts give California Greens the motive and the opportunity to nominate Nader/Camejo for the California ballot, according to the rules and precedents of previous elections.
The California Green Party has been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dramatically raise its profile. Far from being a burden, holding a highly publicized nominating convention (in the days before the lunatic circus called the RNC) will act as a megaphone for the youth and the disenfranchised to hear what the party has to say about the need for an alternative to the two pro-war parties. The convention would take place just as campuses across California are opening session and could be the launching pad for an aggressive recruitment drive to win thousands of young people to the party. Besides the war radicalizing students, Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Democratic majority in Sacramento are ramming through catastrophic cuts to public education, which led to huge walk-outs and protests of state and community college students last spring. These students are alienated from mainstream politics and they are not enthusiastic about Kerry's Bush-lite program.
hundreds of thousands of pissed of California students are oblivious to the internal wrangling in Milwaukee, they do know that Ralph Nader is the guy who opposes the occupation of Iraq, uncompromisingly fights both mainstream parties and wants to tax the rich to get money for education. But it's not just students who the Green Party can attract in California if it acts boldly. Peter Miguel Camejo is the first Latino vice-president candidate in history. Camejo gained the sympathy of millions of Californians in the six televised debates in 2003. He is bi-lingual and is speaking on Spanish language media up and down the state. He is seen as a champion of one of the key modern civil rights issues for undocumented immigrants, namely, the right to get a drivers license in order to provide food for your family. David Cobb may be dedicated to building the Green Party where he can, but he is even less well-known amongst this fastest growing part of the population.
Ralph Nader's heritage and his principled stand for ending uncritical U.S. backing of Israel's war against the Palestinians has earned him a surge of support amongst Arab Americans. Backing Nader in 2004 shows remarkable courage from this group of people, who are the most direct victims of Patriot Act repression.
Kerry's and Edwards' praise for the Missouri constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage will force tens of thousands of lesbian and gay people in California to wake up from the Anybody But Bush haze and ask, "can we really vote for these bigots?" So too with these folks will Nader be the only candidate to get serious consideration.
READ MORE
Crossroads for the California Green Party
Will It Be Nader or Cobb?
Perhaps this would have remained an academic debate about internal Green Party process, but two new facts have re-opened it. First, although it was in motion before the Milwaukee convention, the campaign by the Democratic Party to disenfranchise millions of voters who support Nader/Camejo by employing Florida tactics to keep Nader off the ballot has developed into the most serious attack on democratic elections in the United States since the end of Jim Crow. Second, it has come to light in the past 48 hours that the California state Green Party, according to its own election code, can hold a state nominating convention in order to place a candidate on the ballot. These two facts give California Greens the motive and the opportunity to nominate Nader/Camejo for the California ballot, according to the rules and precedents of previous elections.
The California Green Party has been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dramatically raise its profile. Far from being a burden, holding a highly publicized nominating convention (in the days before the lunatic circus called the RNC) will act as a megaphone for the youth and the disenfranchised to hear what the party has to say about the need for an alternative to the two pro-war parties. The convention would take place just as campuses across California are opening session and could be the launching pad for an aggressive recruitment drive to win thousands of young people to the party. Besides the war radicalizing students, Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Democratic majority in Sacramento are ramming through catastrophic cuts to public education, which led to huge walk-outs and protests of state and community college students last spring. These students are alienated from mainstream politics and they are not enthusiastic about Kerry's Bush-lite program.
hundreds of thousands of pissed of California students are oblivious to the internal wrangling in Milwaukee, they do know that Ralph Nader is the guy who opposes the occupation of Iraq, uncompromisingly fights both mainstream parties and wants to tax the rich to get money for education. But it's not just students who the Green Party can attract in California if it acts boldly. Peter Miguel Camejo is the first Latino vice-president candidate in history. Camejo gained the sympathy of millions of Californians in the six televised debates in 2003. He is bi-lingual and is speaking on Spanish language media up and down the state. He is seen as a champion of one of the key modern civil rights issues for undocumented immigrants, namely, the right to get a drivers license in order to provide food for your family. David Cobb may be dedicated to building the Green Party where he can, but he is even less well-known amongst this fastest growing part of the population.
Ralph Nader's heritage and his principled stand for ending uncritical U.S. backing of Israel's war against the Palestinians has earned him a surge of support amongst Arab Americans. Backing Nader in 2004 shows remarkable courage from this group of people, who are the most direct victims of Patriot Act repression.
Kerry's and Edwards' praise for the Missouri constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage will force tens of thousands of lesbian and gay people in California to wake up from the Anybody But Bush haze and ask, "can we really vote for these bigots?" So too with these folks will Nader be the only candidate to get serious consideration.
READ MORE
posted by theoneandonly at 9:50 AM
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