{"article":{"id":68652,"heading":"GREEN PARTY SETS SITES FOR 2004 PRESIDENTIAL RACE","author":"duff","created":"2003-07-01 15:34:44","modified":"2003-07-01 22:49:58","last_modified":"Wed, 02 Jul 2003 05:49:58","article":"

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<\/a> Ross Mirkarimi, GPCA Spokesperson, 415-412-7526,

rmirk@msn.com<\/a> John Strawn, GPCA Spokesperson, 805-689-2840,

jcs_arts@yahoo.com<\/a>

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<\/a> P.O. Box 2828,

Sacramento, CA 95812 Phone: (916) 448-3437 gpca@greens.org<\/a>

The Green Party of the United States http:\/\/www.gp.org\/<\/a>

- END -



<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"GREEN PARTY SETS SITES FOR 2004 PRESIDENTIAL RACE - ENDS MYTH OF DEMOCRATIC\r\nCANDIDATE SUPPORT\r\n","numcomment":4,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/07\/68652.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":68700,"heading":"yeah, but......","article":"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","author":"dude","parent_id":68652,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 17:54:36","modified":"2003-07-01 17:54:36","fileurl":""},{"id":68715,"heading":"ralph, run as a republican!","article":"This would be great.\r\n\r\nImagine Bush trying to keep up with Ralph in a debate.\r\n\r\nIt would be fantastic!","author":"bob","parent_id":68652,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 19:03:06","modified":"2003-07-01 19:03:06","fileurl":""},{"id":68719,"heading":"Dem vs Green","article":"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.","author":"joe","parent_id":68652,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 19:31:48","modified":"2003-07-01 19:31:48","fileurl":""},{"id":68877,"heading":"DNC = Fascism","article":"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!","author":"Borlight","parent_id":68652,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 22:50:14","modified":"2003-07-01 22:50:14","fileurl":""}]}