SECTION
SIXTEEN
EMAIL PAGE NINETEEN
sm
COLUMN
SEVENTY-FIVE, SEPTEMBER 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)
FROM PORTSIDE
Portside
(the left side in nautical parlance) is a
news, discussion and debate service of the Committees
of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It
says it aims to provide varied material of interest to people
on the Left.
* * *
PLEA TO GREENS: DON'T GIVE SENATE TO TRENT LOTT
Subject:
The Greens Versus Wellstone... A Gift to Trent Lott
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 07:40:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: portsideMod <portsidemod@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: portside@yahoogroups.com
To: ps <portside@yahoogroups.com
The
Greens Versus Wellstone...
...Or, Handing The Senate Back To Trent Lott
by
Steve Cobble
Published:
Jul 17 2002
<http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6014>
Steve
Cobble is director of the Campaign for a Progressive Future.
I
admire Green Party Presidential candidate Ralph Nader. I also admire Democratic
Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. That might mean I'm principled. It might
just mean I'm confused. It does mean that I feel obligated to do my small part
to avert the loss of one of the few progressive Senators worth worrying about, a
loss that could put the U.S. Senate back in Trent Lott's hands.
Thus,
my plea to the Minnesota Greens: take a breath, put aside your anger at the
Democrats, and act in your own best interests, as well as the nation's---please
reconsider your challenge to Senator Wellstone. And my plea to the Democrats:
stop pretending the Greens do not exist; it's time to talk to them.
The
most unusual spectacle in politics is for a political party to admit a mistake.
We'll all asphyxiate if we hold our breath waiting for the Democrats to admit
the blunder they made not passing full public funding of campaigns back in 1993,
when they had complete control of the government; and certainly the
President-Select, Tom DeLay, and the tax cut lemmings who make up the modern GOP
will never admit that their reverse-Robin-Hood tax cuts for the rich have
already put us back into massive deficits.
So
I know I'm asking the Minnesota Green Party to do something politically brave
and unusual---to acknowledge a tactical error, and to reverse course while there
is still time. Drop this Senate challenge.
Do
it not just because it's in the country's best interests, but because it's in
your own best interests as a new, small party. The strategic move for your party
in 2002 is to put all your statewide energies into the Ken Pentel for Governor
campaign, where you have a known candidate, a four-way race, public funding, and
likely access to televised debates. Bolster that statewide candidacy with
diverse, issue-oriented, energetic Green candidates for the statehouse and city
councils---campaigns that can be won by candidates willing to knock on every
door, in districts small enough that money is less important.
The
strategic way to build your party this year is for your gubernatorial candidate
to do well---and there is absolutely no way for him to break into double figures
without a significant chunk of Paul Wellstone supporters. The obvious strategy,
then, is not to limit Pentel's potential by linking it with an underfunded
Senate effort that will never break out of the low single digits, especially
against a recognized progressive like Wellstone.
Instead,
Ken Pentel should be making a credible argument to the half of the Minnesota
electorate that supports Paul Wellstone that he is closer to Wellstone on the
issues than the Democratic nominee, that he is the Wellstone of the Governor's
race, and that he would govern in the organizer's tradition that Paul brought to
the U.S. Senate. This argument might have a chance with many voters, except that
the race is now locked into a "Green team vs. Democrat team"
top-of-the-ticket strategy, which will severely limit the Green vote in all
races.
So
put aside your anger at the Democrats. You should do this not just because it
helps Paul Wellstone win re-election---which it will---but because it's in your
own best interests.
The
surest path to a stronger Green Party future in Minnesota is a credible
gubernatorial campaign this year. Your Senate challenge to Wellstone gets in the
way of that. It's as straightforward as that.
I
suggest putting together a Green delegation to respectfully ask Ed McGaa to step
aside as an official Green Senate candidate, or at least to pull back any
campaigning, for the good of your party. I think McGaa deserves to be praised
for his willingness to take on the extremely difficult task of running for
office on a third party ballot line.
And
I think the Greens would be wise to nominate him for another office; he is,
after all, an author and a Native American who has served in the armed forces
with distinction. This Senate race is just not the right race strategically. I
also suggest that the Greens put together a group of party members and voting
reform allies to ask Paul Wellstone to lead the national fight for IRV (instant
runoff voting), a win-win voting reform that eliminates the so-called
"spoiler" problem.
Instant
runoff voting works exactly like it sounds. Invented by an American in 1870, IRV
allows voters to rank their preferences (1, 2, 3, etc.), rather than merely
punching out one chad. Then, if no candidate wins a majority on the first round,
the weaker candidates are eliminated, and their votes redistributed among their
supporters' second choices. This process continues until one candidate gets a
majority.
Why
should we care? First of all, because IRV is more democratic. Second, by opening
up our increasingly stagnant political system, IRV would encourage small
parties, inject new ideas and new voices into elections, and help increase voter
interest. Third, IRV increases the incentives for positive campaigns, since
major parties must also compete for small parties' second-choice votes. Fourth,
through its "instant runoff" feature, IRV leads to a majority winner,
thus eliminating the so-called spoiler problem, a feature the major parties
should like.
I'd
argue that Senator Wellstone should also press for cross-party endorsement, aka
"fusion"; continue his long fight for "clean money" style
public funding; and try to push the rest of the country into joining Minnesota
by opening up television debates and using same-day voter registration. Given
the current progressive Democrat v. Green split, though, I contend that IRV
should be a no-brainer on both sides.
I
would be remiss if I left any impression that the current poor state of
relations between the Democratic Party and the Green Party is all or mostly the
Greens' fault. The national Democratic Party, or its wiser state parties, needs
to move quickly on several fronts to begin to defuse the current split in
progressive ranks. Since the Democrats control the U.S. Senate, they can take
action right away. If they are concerned about possible "spoiling" by
the Green Party, one immediate legislative strategy is obvious---pass an instant
runoff voting bill. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., has already introduced a
bill that creates strong incentives for states to adopt IRV in Presidential
elections, a means of inducing reform without resorting to a Constitutional
amendment.
In
addition, the Senate Democrats could unite behind a bill requiring instant
runoff voting in all Federal races, and offering incentives to states to move
towards IRV in state races. In addition, holding regional hearings and taking
testimony on IRV, fusion, same-day voter registration, and other post-Florida
voting reforms would be an excellent way to start addressing the split among
progressives.
Party
leaders could also put together a committee of credible progressive
Democrats---leaders such as Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Rep.
Barbara Lee, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. Henry Waxman, Rep. George
There
is no miracle cure here---nevertheless, it seems to me that everyone is better
off talking directly than firing rhetorical warning shots over the other party's
barricades. Clearly, we're better off beginning to talk now, rather than waiting
for the heat of the next contest. And it seems to me that there are political
strategies that are win-win, that could increase the power of progressives both
inside and outside the Democratic Party, if we began to talk. After all, in
Europe, where the political center is in a place that American progressives can
only fantasize about, serious discussions, negotiations, policy and political
trade-offs among left-leaning parties are the norm.
Not
to mention that the DLC, the pro-corporate-power wing of the Democrats of the
1990s, is still there, still funded, still waiting for Senator Joe Lieberman's
ascendance. I think it would also be wise to stop the heavy-handed rhetorical
attacks from prominent liberals. They are not scaring Greens away---and as has
surely been obvious since at least 35 years ago when General Motors foolishly
tried to intimidate a young Nader, such attacks certainly do not work on
Ralph---instead, they are stiffening Green Party resolve, especially among the
young.
Finally,
why not make a serious attempt to fight for Green Party voters by pressing for
some of their issues? The Democratic Party has been unwilling to investigate a
stolen election in Florida; ineffective at holding hearings on obvious and
massive corruption involving Enron and Halliburton, with tracks leading right
into a stonewalling White House; and unable to force a serious, independent
investigation of the events that led to the tragedy of 9/11 (much less the
conduct of a war that looks less impressive every day).
Health
care is not just about prescription drugs for seniors---what about the 44
million Americans with no health care at all? Affordable housing is in a crisis
state---why not propose a variation of the G.I. Bill, the most successful
housing program for average Americans ever invented? Global warming is a reality
that even the Shrub has finally woken up to---but where is the "Global
Green Deal" program that would actually make a dent in our carbon
emissions?
If
you want to convince young people that they are better off voting for the
Democratic Party than the Green Party, it might be smart not to wait until
August of 2004 to begin fighting for the people against the powerful. We have a
rare "anti-corporate moment" here, and we should take full advantage
of it. ##
* * *
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX OF COLUMN SEVENTY-FIVE
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX
OF COLUMNS
The
Blacklisted Journalist can be contacted at P.O.Box 964, Elizabeth, NJ 07208-0964
The Blacklisted Journalist's E-Mail Address:
info@blacklistedjournalist.com
THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST IS A SERVICE MARK OF AL ARONOWITZ