Green Party 2000 Chooses Nader

By Cara DeGette, Colorado Springs Independent. Posted June 26, 2000.

The Green Party and their newfound labor union and Reform pals got together last weekend and decided that Al Gore and George W. Bush make them want to Ralph.

It may not be a sleeper of a presidential election year after all.

In a somewhat peculiar symbiosis, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and a burgeoning Green Party solidified what they hope will become this year's populist rallying cry to reengage disaffected labor union members and environmentalists alike: Turtles and Teamsters Forever!

And in a stunning move, a representative of the 23-state coalition of the Reform Party of America offered a decisive endorsement for Nader at the Greens national convention in Denver on Sunday.

Dismissing the notion that a vote for Nader is a vote thrown away, speaker after speaker attacked Democrats and Republicans as indistinguishable as they satiate their voracious appetites for cash from the same corporate and special interest trough.

"I don't think voting your conscience is throwing your vote away; I think you waste your vote when you vote for someone you don't like," said convention organizer Dean Myerson.

Four years ago, Nader only halfheartedly campaigned on the Green Party ticket. This year he insists he's in it to win.

However, a more realistic goal is to secure that magic 5 percent voting percentage, giving the Greens a massive boost and access to millions in matching federal funds in the 2004 presidential race.

Or, as Jello Biafra, the lead singer of the now-defunct punk band Dead Kennedy's, puts it, "Can you imagine what would happen to American television if people like me get to design the presidential campaign ads?"

Biafra was also drafted to run on the Green Party ticket for president this year, as was Stephen Gaskin, who helped found the Farm in Tennessee in the 1970s -- at the time the largest hippie commune in the world.

Not unexpectedly, Nader easily won the nomination. But both Biafra and Gaskin say they are helping to revive interest in politics among groups that have become disenfranchised and have reeled in disgust away from politics.

Years of Efforts

The Greens Party first organized in Germany as an anti-nuclear, pro-peace movement at the height of the Cold War. United States Greens activists began forming here in 1984, and by 1992 were forming state parties and gaining ballot access.

Now the Green Party USA is formally organized in 38 states, with a high-profile presidential candidate, 78 candidates holding mostly-local public offices, and 118 candidates running this year.

"It's exhilarating for a lot of us; this is a real culmination of many years of efforts," said Oregon delegate Blair Bobier, a longtime U.S. Green Party organizer.

Grassroots organizing and a clean and safe planet are key for Greens, but they are also agitating for universal health care, an end to corporate welfare and legalizing hemp.

Labor unions, angered by Gore's recent support of trade with China, are attracted to the Greens, as are Reform Party activists who have long derided NAFTA. And, the Greens are building on the momentum generated by last year's widespread protests of the World Trade Organization in Seattle and the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C.

"This is a very long term movement, with people of all ages, stripes and designs totally fed up with a corporate monarchy," said Biafra. "Our constitutional democracy has slowly but surely been overthrown in a sugar coated Disney-crusted coup."

Last weekend, Reform Party spokesman Don Torgersen carefully distinguished his branch of the Reform Party -- which was founded by H. Ross Perot in 1992 – from the Buchanan Brigade of 2000. Perot hasn't personally weighed in, but Torgersen said his group's endorsement represents 23 state party affiliates.

"Most of the traditional Reform members have walked away from Pat Buchanan," Torgersen said, and are offended and disgusted by the so-called Buchanan Brigade's blustery emphasis on a conservative social agenda, including damning abortion.

So what does Ralph Nader have in common with the Greens?

"He has an incredible connection, I can't think of a more natural alliance," Bobier said. "He's impressed by our dedication to civic democracy and we're impressed by his commitment to doing it."

The independent Nader said he has no plans to formally join the party that selected him as their presidential nominee. In exchange, the Greens will benefit by having a high-profile candidate in their camp.

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