Green Party Presidential Goals

We know that the media is all abuzz about the Democratic / Republican presidential ambitions of a wide range of folk. It easy fodder for Jay Leno who quipped that Hillary had to return early from Iraq because of a big problem at home.... Obama.

In the middle of this, there a bit of discussion going on about the 2008 GP nomination. It generally takes one of several well known paths.

Many people believe the the GP has no leadership with national name recognition and any charisma at all. So, they are constantly looking elsewhere for a candidate to support. Two name keep coming up: some want to forget the GP and support Ohio Rep. Kucinich. Other want to recruit Cynthia McKinney into the Green Party as a true candidate.

There are still some Greens who lack the name recognition, but who would like to use the race as a platform for their ideals. I've heard that Kent Mesplay is considering another attempt but would need to find a way to better fund his campaign than he has had in the past where lack of an organized staff has hurt his chances.

As for 2004 candidate, David Cobb, there are enough comments left on this blog to understand that he faces strong opposition from some in his own county. That fact, coupled with the emotional baggage we all have faced since the 2004 campaign would indicate that another attempt from Cobb is probably not a good idea. It would surely find people taking sides based on whether or not they originally supported either Nader / Camejo in 2004.

The final take is that we should focus on building the parties at the state / local level and just forget about a national race in 2008. I am not sure that this is a good idea either. The rationale for a national race is that the right candidate can bring many people into the Green Party.

We always have the arguement about "self-selected elitists" whose ego drives this. Well, let me name a few "self-selected elitists" who are busy right now: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, Rudy Giulianni, Sam Brownbeck, John Edwards, etc. To actually participate at this level, you must be willing to make a lot of sacrifices: work, family, time. You have to want to do it. So, that complaint does not carry much weight.

As for the GPCA, there are 7 seats available to us on the national Presidential Campaign Support Commimttee and only 5 of them are filled: Forrest Hill, Larry Cafiero, Susan King, Starlene Rankin, Jared Lahti. So, I will guess that we will have most of our say, even though I am not sure that we will get all of the votes we need on that committee.