Sam Smith - Attended the Maine Independent Green convention which ended with an hour plus debate over whether Greens should be backing Bernie Sanders. To some it's disloyal or futile, to others a rational form of fusion politics. Ben Meiklejohn called it "a very constructive discussion ... where Greens who support a Green nominee, Greens who support no
nominee and Greens who support Mr. Sanders all had dialogue with each
other in a respectful manner where nobody was made to feel like they
should leave the party." . . . Some Maine Greens have started a Greens for Sanders Facebook page which caused some controversy as did what some saw as censorship of debate on the state party's Facebook page. Nothing was settled at the convention but it was another reminder of the impact that Sanders is having.
My own view has been that the Greens have spent too much effort on unsuccessful presidential campaigns that mainly show the party as politically weak. Others believe these campaigns bring in money that can be useful to state and local candidates as well as the presidential one. But the last thing the Green Party needs - especially in a state like Maine where it has a significant impact - is to be torn apart over the issue.
3 comments:
Raising money for a presidential campaign is different than raising money for a local race. Just because someone gives to the Stein campaign does not mean they will support a local Green.The candidate raises their own money, the Green Party provides almost nothing to presidential candidates.So, I don't get your concern. Funding a presidential race has little to do with funding a local race, unless the presidential candidate can create enough energy to help local efforts.
If the Greens endorse Sanders they would be finished. They almost committed suicide in 2004 with the "safe states" strategy -- only running in states where the result was pre-ordained. This mistakend strategy of protecting the Dems compounded their error of not having Nader as their 2004 candidate. The Greens need to be a party that stands separate from the corporate duoploy, especially the Democrats. Sanders should have done the same. Instead he entered the rigged Democratic primary -- rigged to make sure no insurent wins. A lifetime of being an independent sold out to run in a corrupt primary for a the nomination of a corrupt party -- and doing so at the time when independents are nearing majority status among the American electorate.
How did the Dems rig their primary? Here are three ways:
- 20% of the delegates are superdelegates who are party officials and elected Dems. They are there to make sure the people do not go crazy and nominate a decent candidate. So, an insurgent starts out with a 20% deficit. It would take landslides all over the country to make up that deficit.
- In the last contested election in 2008, the Dems had two dozen debates, this time they have six and four of them are before Iowa. This prevents any free media for candidates who do not have the money for mass TV advertising, especially during the time period where there are a lot of votes.
- The Dems have jammed all the primaries to the front of the calendar. By April 1 more than half the states will have voted; 23 states vote in March. Unless you are a big money candidate (i.e. corrupted by big business) you cannot afford the mass TV, radio, mailings, phone calls etc. to compete in 23 states. A candidate cannot physically campaign in 23 states.
All of these steps were designed to stop an insurgent like Sanders. If Sanders or circumstances wound Clinton, expect to see Biden or some other corporate Dem to step in and get the nomination.
The Greens should mind their own business, stay out of the corrupt Democratic Party corrupt.
Kevin Zeese is so correct about this! I remember the bitterness I felt when the Greens adopted "safe states" to protect the Dems. Why the hell should you work your butt off for a Green candidate when the party doesn't even back their candidate wholeheartedly?
Suicide is exactly what it was and if the screw around again with Bernie Sanders, the faux socialist democrat they will finish the job!
Because the system is broken and 90 % know that, all politics revolves around the issue of corruption, ever since Perot got 19 %. Since all of the Green issues are blocked by corruption, the Greens at a state and federal level should rebrand as the anticorruption party and propose omnibus legislation, but not run candidates, rather endorse the candidates who pledge to pass the legislation. Bernie Sanders has run out of time on this issue and is unlikely ever to do anything productive but for the Greens moving him to act. It might be that Greens could never endorse him given his ongoing resistance to having Congress overturn Buckley.
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