THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA NEWS RELEASE For immediate release: June 30,
2003

Contacts: Beth Moore Haines, GPCA Spokesperson, 530-277-0610,
beth@greens.org Ross Mirkarimi, GPCA Spokesperson, 415-412-7526,
rmirk@msn.com John Strawn, GPCA Spokesperson, 805-689-2840,
jcs_arts@yahoo.com

GREEN PARTY SETS SITES FOR 2004 PRESIDENTIAL RACE - ENDS MYTH OF DEMOCRATIC
CANDIDATE SUPPORT

SACRAMENTO - Following weeks of media speculation and misinformation
regarding the Greens' 2004 presidential election plans, the Green Party of
California (GPCA) is setting the record straight: the Green voters decide.

"The corporate parties maintain a top-down, smoke filled back room tactic
for anointing their candidates, usually those with the most money," said
John Strawn, a GPCA Spokesperson and member of the USGP Presidential
Exploratory Committee (PEC). "The Green Party of the United States (USGP)
has a novel democratic process which has included Greens' grassroots input
from the start, and it is Green voters across the country who will make the
decision in the end."

That decision will be the culmination of months of grassroots surveys,
letters to candidates, response analyses, Greens' feedback, and finally, the
PEC report to the USGP national convention next month in Washington D.C.
States will then inform a final PEC convention report, after which Greens go
home and decide in their respective states which candidate(s) to support.
State Green Parties will then form candidate committees to support their
candidate choices. Finally, Greens will choose their candidate next year
during the primaries (in states where Greens participate in primaries) and
at the national convention, with the participation of all state parties and
the Green national membership.

"Aiming to oust President Bush, progressives of all stripes - Green,
Democrat, Independent and others - are plotting an effective course of
action for a successful presidential contest in 2004," said GPCA
Spokesperson Ross Mirkarimi. "The Green Party, the only major party to
denounce the war in Iraq and the excessive reach of the Patriot Act and the
Homeland Security Act, is poised to electrify a voter orbit unlikely moved
by other parties."

OK, but what about Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D. -Ohio) or former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean?

"If progressive Democrats like Kucinich or Dean win the nomination then
opportunities for collaboration may arise," said Mirkarimi. "However,
unless Democratic Leadership Council strategies change, it's doubtful that a
progressive Democrat can win the nomination, even with the assisted math of
Greens re-registering Democrat."

Santa Monica Mayor pro tem Kevin McKeown urges Greens to put their efforts
into Green candidates. "Worrying what to do if Kucinich becomes the
Democratic nominee," he says, "is like worrying what color ice skates to buy
if hell freezes over."

"There are many ways that Greens can help a Democratic contender beat
President Bush, but advocating that Greens re-register as Democrats isn't
one of them," said Strawn.

The Green Party of California http://www.cagreens.org P.O. Box 2828,
Sacramento, CA 95812 Phone: (916) 448-3437 gpca@greens.org

The Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org/

- END -

If (and it's a big if) Kucinich wins the nomination and Greens don't support him, that would be the ultimate in stupidity. Yeah yeah, I know all about the corrupt 2 (I mean 1) party system. Spare our eyes with those true (yes true) arguments. But Kucinich is pretty much a green on an issue-by-issue basis. Even Ralph Nader said he'd endorse him if Kucinich won the nomination

This would be great.

Imagine Bush trying to keep up with Ralph in a debate.

It would be fantastic!

It's always the Greens making concessions to the Dems, never the other way around. The Dems are still PO'ed at the Greens for, as they see it, giving Bush the election by voting Nader in 2000. The Dems hate the Greens for that. Forgiving them is not part of the equation. The only way to even begin redemption in their book is to turn your back on the Greens and vote Democrat.

Perhaps if the Institutional Democratic Party wasn't such a Fascist organization its members wouldn't have to worry about Progressive Greens "stealing THEIR" votes! Isn't it ironic that the so-called liberal of the two "major" political parties despises Democracy so? Go Green!