[WB-Discuss] Jill Stein

[Edmund R. MacKenty]

musicandarts writes:
>I spent most of yesterday working with Jill Stein at
>the primaries.  ...
>... She
>doesn't support running candidates at national level,
>which she believes will alienate progressives who are
>also our base.  In this issue, I agree with her
>wholeheartedly.  ...

I agree, to some extent.  We can't alienate progressives, because we'd
probably kill the party.  Fortunately, today's third rail of politics,
Mr. Nader, has chosen to run independently.  That's good for us, but only
if we capitalize on it.  We need to do *something* at the national level
that a) helps to build our party, b) doesn't help Mr. Bush, and c) clearly
distinguishes us from Mr. Nader,

Running our own candidate might help a little with (a),, but it certainly
doesn't do (b) and won't do (c) without a lot of careful media work.  We
may gain valuable experience in the process for the next time around, but
we won't gain any political power or much general public awareness.

Here's an idea that accomplishes all three goals: run an intensive media
campaign promoting our candidates in state elections and our Green values.
Focus primarily on the environment, security, and social justice.  And
(this is the kicker): put Mr. Kerry on the Green ballot.  I know, lots of
people within the party will scream at that idea, but take a look at what
it would do for us:

1) Builds the party.  We'll get tons of media attention.  We will have to
   be ready to manage it carefully.  Voters unhappy with both major
   parties, but mostly with Bush, will vote Green.  We must turn these
   folks to voting Green in their state and local elections too, by
   educating them about our party.

2) Puts an end to any "spoiler" argument, and helps defeat Mr. Bush.  A
   Green vote would be clearly an anti-Bush vote.  Period.  People who want
   to vote for a third party but don't want to help Bush can now do it.

3) It puts Mr. Nader out of the picture.  The media will drop him and pay
   attention to us.

4) We will gain political influence in the Kerry administration.  If we can
   pull a decent percentage of voters, Kerry's win will be clearly due to
   us, and we'll be a third party with some real clout in Washington.

There are three main obstacles to doing this:

A) I don't know if this is legally possible, but I recall some NY state
   elections in which minor parties put major party candidates on their
   ballots without permission.  Of course, if votes for Kerry on a Green
   ballot don't count as Green Party votes, this whole idea is useless.
   It's main purpose is, after all, to get more Green votes and thus
   increase our percentage of voters.

B) Many Green members won't want to help the Democrats, and won't support
   Kerry at all.  I think this should be a clear part of our media message:
   we should make it very clear that we are all holding our noses and
   voting against Bush.

C) The Democrats will try to spin this to position the Greens as being
   under the wing of their party, and we must prevent that.  We must make
   it crystal clear that we are independent and where we differ from the
   Dems.

I would like to see us craft a media plan that appeals to everyone who is
not happy with politics as they are now, no matter where they are on the
accepted "political spectrum".  I've been told by ardent Republicans that
there's no way in hell they'd vote for Bush again, because his policies
are destroying the environment.  Hunters are up in arms (sorry!) against
Bush's trashing of the lands they've protected and used for generations.

True, most folks on the right wouldn't vote Green right now, but that's
because they think of it as being leftist, if not Communistic.  A strong
media message promoting our core values in a "non-partisan" manner can
change that.  If we go this route, we would have to be vocal.  VERY vocal.
We'd have to be in the streets with signs, writing letters to newspapers,
and flooding the media with press releases.

If we're going to build our party, we have to get attention, and lots of
it.  This would sure do that, especially if announced relatively late in
the campaign, like September.

Well, I may not have presented this idea all that well, or even
completely.  There's lots of aspects of this I haven't mentioned, I'm
sure.  Let's rip this idea to pieces and see what the good parts are.
	- MacK.
-----
Edmund R. MacKenty
    <mack at mackenty.com>     http://www.mackenty.com/mss/
    Voice: +1-617-926-2131  Cell: +1-617-899-7653

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards,
        for they are subtle and quick to anger.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
        for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.