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Saturday, Jul 11, 2009
The leading candidate for the Green Party's presidential nomination talks about Ralph Nader's latest betrayal, and how to run an independent campaign that would not reinstall Bush in the White House.
Jun 24, 2004 | On Monday, June 14, Ralph Nader was in Cleveland, mugging for the cameras and anticipating a battle with the Democratic Party over his attempts to qualify for the Ohio ballot. In a swing state whose crucial voters are often hyped as potentially deciding the 2004 election, when asked by a reporter, "Aren't you concerned about taking votes away from Kerry?" Nader nonchalantly quipped: "I'm worried about Kerry taking votes away from me."
On the same day, Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, Ralph Nader's main opponent within the party, held a low-profile Q-and-A session with University of South Carolina students and faculty. Unlike Ohio, South Carolina is hardly a competitive race: In 2000, Bush beat Gore by 16 points there, and it is difficult to imagine how the Green Party could "spoil" the outcome of its presidential vote. But the state has a fledgling Green Party, and Cobb was there to court its delegates to the Green Party's 2004 nominating convention.
While only one day in a long campaign, last Monday's events illustrate the differing strategies of the two leading candidates competing for the Green Party's backing. Cobb seeks the Green Party's nomination, while Nader, who has distanced himself from the party in an attempt to reach a wider audience, seeks only the Green Party's "endorsement" of his independent campaign. "Ralph Nader has refused to participate in the Green Party's democratic process," Cobb says. "I don't understand what we would hope to accomplish by supporting Ralph Nader's independent candidacy."
Should Cobb, who managed Nader's Texas campaign in 2000, receive the nomination at the Green Party's convention on Saturday, he will be in direct competition with Nader -- and Nader's running mate, Peter Camejo, an ex-Green Party presidential candidate whose last-minute selection before the convention Cobb sees as an attempt to up the chances of a Nader endorsement. It's a strange situation, Cobb admits. But, he says, "Ralph's decision to launch on his own was his call, not ours."
Before joining the Green Party in 1996, Cobb spent years working for liberal candidates within the Democratic Party. After two stints with Jesse Jackson's campaign in 1984 and 1988, he worked for Jerry Brown's campaign in 1992, the outcome of which, Cobb says, convinced him that "the Democratic presidential primary is the place where genuine progressive politics goes to die."
Yet while Cobb agrees with Nader that America's two-party system is disastrous, arguing that the Democratic Party is controlled by "corporatists and militarists," he rejects Nader's swing-state campaign strategy. If nominated, Cobb intends to run a campaign aimed at building the Green Party in states that are safe for either Bush or Kerry. By focusing on what he calls "strategic states," he believes the Green Party can best recruit new members -- and avoid throwing the election to Bush.
What do you hope to accomplish by running in the 2004 election?
First and foremost, we are going to continue to register more people into the Green Party, we're going to continue to elect more people to local office, we're going to continue to build the infrastructure and institution of the Green Party.
Secondly, we're going to articulate the need to end the occupation of Iraq and bring the troops home, we're going to make the case for universal healthcare, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, the need to publicly fund elections, to end the racist war on drugs, and to provide a fair tax policy that provides tax relief to the poor and working classes in this country.
Lastly, my goal is to run a campaign that will both accomplish the goals of the Green Party and culminate with George Bush out of the White House.
You've been labeled an appeaser by some in the Green Party for advocating that the Green Party try to avoid drawing votes from Democrats in swing states. Why is your strategy controversial within the Green Party?
There are some Greens who believe that we should just go about running our own candidate, and not care whether Bush or Kerry wins.
You don't share that perspective?
I believe the differences between George Bush and John Kerry are incremental, but they are not inconsequential. With the growing strength of the Green Party comes a responsibility to exercise it wisely and intelligently.
George W. Bush is a problem, not the problem. The fundamental problem is a social, political and economic system that's destroying the planet.
But I'd like to see George Bush out of the White House.
