Friday, Sep 5, 2008
National Republicans have stuck a bulls-eye on Wellstone because they don't like his independent attitude and they believe his progressive politics will make him vulnerable. Instead of endorsing him, however, the state's petulant Green Party leadership is cooperating with Karl Rove by nominating their own Senate candidate. They reportedly balked at the pressure from Minnesota Democrats -- and their own wiser members, such as La Duke -- to join in an endorsement of Wellstone.
The Minnesota Greens suffer from the confused mental state that leaves them and many of their comrades unable to distinguish between Democrats and Republicans or liberals and conservatives. They cannot comprehend that wrecking Wellstone will only advance the most environmentally destructive Republican schemes, while tilting the Democratic Party to the right.
But the Greens tend to welcome such disasters as confirmation of their own moral hygiene. What matters to them is that Minnesota voters will be able to vote in good conscience for a left candidate still purer than the very principled Democrat who now serves them.
The Progressive magazine, a publication ordinarily sympathetic to Nader and his supporters, recently exposed the weird conduct of the Minnesota Greens in a fascinating article by editor Ruth Conniff. She quoted a party official saying that they oppose Wellstone because of his votes on terrorism and military issues: "We want to give people in Minnesota the opportunity to vote their conscience. If they're opposed to military actions in the Middle East, the Patriot Act, the sanctions on Iraq."
Unfortunately Ed McGaa, the mystically minded Senate candidate nominated by the Minnesota Greens, is barely able to formulate any coherent position. He is certainly no Green purist. (Among other offenses, he hunts and eats meat.) When he articulates his opinions on foreign policy and defense, they are often to the right of Wellstone's. He appears to have been selected primarily for his Native American ethnicity, because he is otherwise an utter embarrassment to his political sponsors.
On foreign policy issues McGaa, an author of books about ecology and spirituality, is closer to George W. Bush than to the party that nominated him. He is a military veteran who "remains proud of his 110 combat missions in Vietnam" and feels that an armed response "was needed to Sept. 11."
According to Conniff, McGaa hasn't really considered how his candidacy might affect the bigger national picture. "It will be a shame if the Republicans get in. On that I have to agree with you," he told her. "I'm not enamored by George Bush's policies. I think I may draw a lot of people, though, because I'm uniquely different, and I have a lot of knowledge, and plus I'm a veteran and right now people are very, very patriotic." As for the political geniuses who chose him, they admitted to Conniff that they knew almost nothing about McGaa when they picked him at their nominating convention.
"Unfortunately, we're just now finding out," sighed one of them.
In keeping with their infantile style of politics, the Greens have nominated a joke candidate against a serious public servant. This fiasco demonstrates their disrespect for the democratic process and for an opponent who deserves better. Such is Wellstone's reward for a lifetime of activism and an outstanding record in the Senate. Such is the gratitude of Nader and his followers toward one of the very few Democrats who publicly praised his role in the 2000 election.
Right now, Nader seems more concerned with silly posturing, complaining about the officiating in Game 6 of the Western Finals to NBA commissioner David Stern. But if the Green assault on Wellstone succeeds, the Minnesota Democrat won't be its only casualty. Nader can still prevent this debacle, which will complete the pointless and ruinous process he began two years ago. Otherwise, what will he say when, thanks to him and his party, the Republicans gain control of the Senate?
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