|
Greens Emerge Front and Center
For anyone interested in documenting the
history of Green politics, 2004 would be a remarkable chapter.
January kicked off with an unusual start for the Greens. Ralph
Nader had just announced that he was running for President, but
not on the Green Party ticket. The later point was lost on
thousands of people, many of whom called or wrote to give us a
piece of their mind. Meanwhile, the Greens struggled to discern
what Nader's announcement meant for the Party. By the end of
June, the die was cast when the party selected David Cobb
(President) and Pat LaMarche (Vice President).
After Cobb/LaMarche received the Presidential nomination at the
Green Party convention in Milwaukee, they began a frenetic
cross-country journey to rally the Green Party vote on November
2nd. Along the way they met inspired new Greens and supporters,
angry Kerry supporters, and distracted, disgruntled Greens who
supported Nader. Cobb/LaMarche joined other Green candidates in
their campaign events and tried to boost support for local
campaigns. What a journey. With a Green presidential vote
splintered between Cobb, Nader and Kerry, it is no small feat
that Cobb/LaMarche earned 107,000 votes and Greens emerged from
November 2nd with more elected and registered Greens than in our
history.
Let's take inventory, shall we?
More registered Greens than ever
There are now more than 313,000 registered Greens in 22 states -
a 10% increase since August of 2003. While we are not certain
how many people identify as Green outside those 22 states, we
know that about 511,000 people voted for Nader and Cobb in this
election and just under 3,000,000 voted for Green Party
candidate Nader in 2000. Therefore we can conclude: WOW!, We
have a great opportunity here. Let's get busy.
Sixty-four wins in 2004
Throughout the 2004 electoral cycle prior to November 2nd,
Greens won 30 elections. On November 2nd, we won 34 elections,
with a total of 64 wins for the year. We will launch the 2005
election year with 224 elected Greens in office, a 12% increase
from January 2004.
Maine Greens Are All That
Some of the most exciting Green campaign stories come from
Maine. In spite of re-districting and campaign smear tactics on
the part of illustrious Democrats, John Eder won his seat in the
Maine State Legislature against the "incumbent." Eder
won 56% of the vote in a 3-way race. Eder has become a bit of a
media darling as the "lone Green" in the house, but he
nearly had the company of two other Greens on November 2nd. If
you use the logic of the Democrats, 2 other Greens victories
were stolen by Republicans. For example, the 263 votes that went
to a Republican would have of course gone to Green Jeffrey
Spencer (why, because we say so) and he would have beat the
Democrat. Spencer received 43.9% of the votes in a 3-way race -
just 29 votes shy of a seat in the house alongside John Eder.
Elizabeth Trice and Pamela Cragin both pulled in close to 40% of
the votes in their 3-way races. Perhaps if Maine had Instant
Runoff Voting, John Eder would have had 2 Green colleagues in
the legislature in 2005. Congratulations to the great candidates
in Maine, including Ben Meiklejohn for retaining his School
Committee seat.
The Green Rush Hits California
Greens win 15 seats in California, many of them for city
councils. The big news is that the SF Board of Supervisors seat
being vacated by Green Matt Gonzalez was replaced by Green Ross
Mirkarimi. Mirkarimi is no stranger to the campaign process
having worked on many other campaigns and elections in San
Francisco. The other election victory in San Francisco elections
was Instant Runoff Voting. More about that later.
There Goes the Neighborhood!
DC snuck in 6 wins for Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats.
We're in on the ground floor now. And although Adam Eidinger
lost his run for Shadow Representative, he received more DC
votes than George W. Bush.
Voters Choose Less Representation in Connecticut
In the last issue of GreenLine, we highlighted Calvin
Nicholson's race for Registrar of Voters in New Haven. Voters
had everything to gain by voting for Calvin in the three-way
race. If he beat the Republican or the Democrat, then all three
got to serve - a win-win for everyone. But voters, happy with
how the electoral process is happening in our country, opted for
the status quo. Sorry Calvin, we would have voted for you if we
lived in New Haven.
__________
 |
Thanksgiving means a lot of different things
to Americans, whether it is about family and loved ones or about
honoring first nations. Many break from work and take a vacation
(The "Deeper Shade of Green" article below might be a
good read for those vacationers). For us, it is a time of
gratitude. We'd like to offer thanks to the many Greens that
have given their time, energy and financial support to the
fabulous Green Party. It's been a courageous struggle this year,
and many hard-working individuals made our survival possible
through a tough year. The hard-working volunteers serving on our
Coordinating Committee deserve many thanks. A special note of
appreciation goes to the Steering Committee - they work
extremely hard under very difficult circumstances and with very
little resources. This nearly full-time job is done by
volunteers, and a great deal is demanded of them. Thanks for
your hard work (By the way, it's a different kind of hard work
than the kind that George Bush talks about).
There are many Greens completing tasks on various GP-US
committees, including the Coordinated Campaign Committee,
GreenPages editorial staff and Media committee, Bylaws and
Accreditation, Platform, Diversity, International, Fundraising
and Merchandise and Peace Action. Special thanks to the Annual
National Meeting Committee for putting together our convention
in Milwaukee. Our caucuses have had a big year as they've tried
to work through their development and begin or complete their
accreditation process. Thanks to all the staff and those
individuals who have helped us with in-kind support,
professional services and goodwill. And of course, thanks to our
generous contributors who helped us to survive through a most
challenging year. The best is yet to come!
__________ |
|
Like most Greens I know, I always assumed I
loved the earth. In nature, I was safe, silenced and, for a short
while, serene. There was no accountability, no expectations, no
demands. Being outside felt like an inside world, known only to
me. It was intimate, private, mine. When I actually went back
inside, into the indoors, it was there that I girded myself for
battle, put on my armor of mind and intellect and prepared to meet
"the world." For most of my life I lived this split. I
"loved" nature when I was outside; when I was inside,
there was no nature. It was a very fickle and selfish
"love." It was hollow and superficial; it consumed and
then abandoned. It held neither respect nor reverence. Perhaps one
could call it lust.
Yet for more than thirty years I'd been an
activist for the environment-sometimes the human environment as in
protesting the Vietnam War, sometimes the global environment as in
protesting nuclear war. I wrote poems about trees and low tide; I
wrote plays about a dying planet; I fought jet skis and won. I
never completely turned my back on nature; but I never completely
opened my heart either. I never really loved.
This came home to me in 2000 when I was
researching "The Battle in Seattle-The Story Behind and
Beyond the WTO Demonstrations" (Fulcrum 2000). Like everyone
else who was there during that week, I was overwhelmed most of all
with love. Yes, there was violence and police abuse, but the love
between and for one another was palpable and global. It was a
great and passionate convening of the workers of the world-from
South American indigenous farmers to Canadian pilots. And when it
was over, my life was never the same. I woke up to my complicity
in a world run amok. When we love, we don't consume the
"other;" we don't do things that hurt the
"other;" we can't; or it wouldn't be love. Suddenly my
life seemed entirely based on exploitation and I never had a clue.
It was while researching "Battle"
that I started to realize that my relationship with nature was
equally "clueless." During an interview/workshop with
Project NatureConnect's Mike Cohen (he wrote a book about the WTO
called "Einstein's World"), he asked us to go outside
and find an attractive aspect in nature and ask consent to be
there and then ask what it is we were to learn. Suddenly I was
discerning and defining the interrelationship with all of life and
with the way my psyche reflects and is reflected by the natural
world. I saw myself as a child in the lap of nature; I saw how
nature works incessantly to honor all life-even mine; and the way
in which meaning and value, worth and wonder are inherent in every
breath and molecule of existence. It was the beginning of a
transition to real love, grown up love, a deep and sustaining,
enveloping and defining passion.
Just as on the streets of WTO Seattle, it was
a love that woke me up and at the same time brought great solace.
I could finally begin the searing process of growing up and waking
up as a global citizen because the love of, and the love for,
nature-in both place and people-deepened my life beyond measure.
And just as real love for another wrenches us, sometimes to
pieces, so does real love for nature. It breaks open our hearts
and fills us with gratitude; it leads us back to the basics of
natural belonging and away from the corporate consuming culture
that defines our lives.
In A Whale for the Killing, Farley Mowat
writes, "Life itself-not human life-is the ultimate miracle
upon this earth." We are not the miracle; we are part of the
miracle. Reconnecting to this truth every day, in a way that
sustains us individually and collectively is the challenge of
these times. It is not just the ideas of things-the Green policies
and politics of environmental activism-that will save us. It is
from the feelings of reverence and respect for nature within us
and within the environment that our actions will have the greatest
resonance. It is in the celebration of our interdependence-whether
we're out in the woods or out on the streets-that will gain us a
future. It is love of life-all of life-that will draw people into
the web of deep sustainability. And it is a very tender place; to
be fully in our nature is to be fully open to shades of loss and
grief as well as gain and glory. Getting to green is an ongoing
journey of body, mind and soul; but to make brilliant its color
and beauty it must be traveled through a landscape of love. And
the deeper the love, the greener it gets.
Janet Thomas is the author of "Battle in
Seattle--The Story Behind and Beyond the WTO Demonstrations"
(Fulcrum 2000). She has written books about hostel travel in the
West and plays about abortion, sexual abuse, nuclear war, the
Vietnam War and the war against the environment. She is currently
at work on a new book: "Going Global--A Spiritual Guide: How
to Save Yourself and the Rest of the Planet While You're At
It." For further information about Project NatureConnect, go
to: www.ninelegs.com. For
special Green Party NatureConnect training call: 360-378-6313.
__________ |
|
GREEN
SPOTLIGHT:
Kim O'Connor - Supervisor,
Ochlockonee River Soil and Water District #3 Commissioner,
Tallahassee Florida
|
|
|
Kim O'Connor's campaign flyer
|
Kim
O'Connor turned the Soil and Water District race into a
news story when she took on an appointed incumbent and
created some opposition in what might otherwise have
been a low-profile race. O'Connor impressed more than
56,000 voters and garnered 64% of the votes on November
2nd.
O'Connor
has been a long time activist but relatively new to the
Green Party. Like many Greens, she was spurred to join
the party during Nader's 2000 run. She found the 2000
Presidential election disturbing because environmental
issues were not part of the national dialogue. She felt
that these issues had to be brought to the table and
that Greens could be effective in this manner. O'Connor
pushed and pushed for Greens to run for local office so
that many important issues could be discussed. She found
that many Greens were afraid to run because they didn't
feel they could win. O'Connor didn't feel that winning
mattered as much as getting people to start talking
about the important issues. After unsuccessfully trying
to get others to run, O'Connor swallowed her own bait.
With some experience running campaigns after law school,
she thought she might be able to show other Greens how
to run a winning campaign and inspire them to run in the
future.
When O'Connor chose her race, she even tried to make it
fair. Three of the 5 seats were up and O'Connor looked
up information about each of the candidates. One's
experience was with storm water, the other was a
scientist, the third an environmental lawyer. She
decided to run against the lawyer to make the race
lawyer vs. lawyer. O'Connor practiced law from
1979-1996. During this time she gained experience with
land use issues with the Department of Transportation.
In 1996, she was accepted to participate in a program to
teach law in China. While there, she became seriously
ill and returned to Tallahassee where she has since been
on disability. In retrospect she feels certain that she
had SARS, but it hadn't yet been identified at the time.
O'Connor's doctor cleared her to work part-time and she
feels she will have plenty of time to devote to her
non-paying position on the Commission.
O'Connor campaigned by printing up a very simple flyer
(see photo inset) and made herself very visible. She
attended environmental forums and candidate forums. She
checked with everyone she knew to find out about any
public meetings and other events she could attend. She
also made herself visible in places where people
mingled, such as popular lunch spots, where she shook a
lot of hands and introduced herself to many people. She
also attended a campaign training session run by the
Supervisor of Elections.
O'Connor felt that she'd tuned into a strong vibe - she
felt people wanted to talk about the environment. She
got the sense that people were really mistrustful of the
government's ability to take care of the water supply.
This sense guided her through her campaign. There was a
moment, however, in her campaign when she doubted her
sense. She was attending a locally televised
environmental forum waiting for her turn to speak. The
forum, hosted by about 14 local organizations, featured
panels of candidates seeking election - including
congressional candidates. She looked out into the crowd
and counted 26 people. She thought to herself,
"Fourteen environmental organizations could only
gather 26 people? "Am I wrong?" Have I just
been griping to myself? Am I the only one that
cares?" She sat there "thinking, thinking,
thinking." It was only after the forum, when she
was approached by many people who said that they'd seen
her on television, that she received the affirmation
that people did care.
O'Connor is looking forward to taking office in January.
She hopes to have a big party around inauguration time.
She wants to network with other elected Greens in the
country that are working on water issues. She also hopes
to work on re-defining the districts so that regions and
counties are working together on water issues. Her job
will be to make sure that grant monies from a TAPP
Educational Outreach Program are administered
effectively, as well as to pursue other grants.
O'Connor, a native Floridian, feels that potable waters
should be of the highest quality possible, and that
local lakes and rivers must be 100% protected. |
|
|
| Chad Wins Re-election Bid, Hanging Chad, That
is.
Green Party Presidential Candidate David
Cobb received enough support to file for a recount in the state
of Ohio. In case you haven't heard, there is the possibility
that Ohio is a déjà vu of Florida 2000. Between the lack of
verifiable votes (those crazy computers), hanging chads and
discarded provisional ballots, Ohio voters did not get all their
votes counted. Although Senator John Edwards claimed on national
television that "every vote would be counted," he
forgot to add "not by us of course - we don't believe in
democracy, just ask Ralph Nader. But you can count on the Green
Party to fight for you." Cobb received more than $150,000
to support the recount. The next step is to wait for the ballots
to be certified and then Cobb will file for a recount. Ohio will
have a short time to complete the recount before the Electoral
College is scheduled to vote. What tricks will the state of Ohio
have up its sleeve to stop the recount?
PS: Lots of Kerry campaign donors must be scratching their heads
trying to figure out why John Kerry didn't spend $50,000,000 on
trying to win the election. Oh, what wonderful things the Green
Party could have done with that $50,000,000... For a very good
article on the recount check out the "Greens
Shame Dems" article in The Black Commentator.
Green Party Gets Coverage in the New York Times
The Green Party of the US ran its first
full-page advertisement in the New York Times on Tuesday,
November 16th. The goal of the ad was to remind disenfranchised
voters that there is a credible alternative to the two major
parties. We also figured out if we wanted to get coverage in the
mainstream corporate media, we could pay them. The ad ran in all
regions outside metropolitan New York City and potentially
reached 500,000 people. The national office received a steady
stream of inquiries and donations and many folks were directed
to their local Green Party.
__________
Instant Runoff Voting - At least democracy prevailed in
some elections
For Greens pushing for electoral reform
alongside like-minded organizations, this election proved
victorious. Voters hungry for electoral reform easily passed
Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) measures (also known as ranked
voting) in Vermont, Michigan and Massachusetts communities.
Ranked-choice voting allows voters to rank their first, second
and third choices, eliminating the need for costly runoff
elections. If no candidate receives a majority of first-place
votes in the first round of vote counting, the candidate with
the least amount of first-place votes is knocked out of
contention. Then, the second-choice picks of voters who selected
the eliminated candidate are redistributed. The process of
eliminating last-place candidates and redistributing votes --
moving on to third-choice picks if necessary -- continues until
one candidate exceeds 50 percent of the vote. This type of
voting levels the playing field for third party candidates and
handily reduces the spoiler issue.
Voters in Burlington Vermont eliminated the spoiler problem by
passing IRV for their mayoral elections. Nearly 70% of the
voters in Ferndale, Michigan voted to amend their city charter
so that mayor and city council elections use IRV. Sixteen towns
in Western Massachusetts passed a non-binding motion directing
their state representative to support legislation or a
constitutional amendment to use IRV in all elections for
statewide office. IRV is on the move!
Voters in San Francisco participated in their first election
using IRV. Although they were only introduced to the new process
in the midst of the year, those clever San Franciscans had few
problems navigating through their first Instant Runoff election.
Several other California communities kept a close watch on the
election "experiment" as they consider implementing
similar measures at home. Stay tuned: you can expect to hear
about more IRV measures passed, particularly in communities with
Green officeholders pushing for those reforms.
__________
|
|
Join
the Sustainer Program!
Please
consider joining our “Sustainer Program.”
Your monthly donation to the GP-US means that we
don’t have to focus on fundraising for
operating costs and can turn our attention to
the crucial matters of building the fabulous
Green Party. Please take this opportunity to
show your love for the Greens every month!
|
|
| Top
GP Accomplishments |
-
We survived the "Anyone
But Bush" ruffians and hooligans. You know
who you are!
-
David Cobb attracts $150,000
to demand Ohio recount.
-
Mexican American Political
Association endorses the Green Party.
-
Green Party wins the American
Muslim Alliance 2004 Humanitarian Award.
-
Green candidates win 64 races
in 2004
-
Largest official gathering of
Greens in America at the June nominating
convention in Milwaukee.
Green Stats to Share with
Friends:
-
Number of Greens in office:
224
-
Registered Greens: 313,186
-
Total campaigns in 2004: 428
Highest office now held by elected Green: Rep.
John Eder, Maine State House
|
|
 |
|
Check out our elections
database for updates on 2004 election outcomes.
Time to start thinking about 2005! Support
us today!
The "Anyone But Bush" campaign failed, so you
can't use that old excuse anymore. It's time to come
home to the Greens. Put your money behind the Greens! We're
willing to take a stand for you!
Green Party online shopping just got
easier! Visit our improved online
store.
|
|
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= =
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
All comments, feedback and content suggestions should be sent
to: kara@gp.org.
You've been reading Greenline, the free
monthly e-newsletter of the Green Party of the United States.
Subscribe for free at http://www.gp.org/.
Click
here to unsubscribe.
Paid for by the Green Party of the United
States
|
|
