|
|
| Presidential Candidate David Cobb Energizes Michigan Greens. |
|
Green Party of Michigan September 20, 2004 For More Information Contact: Keeps Promise to Visit Battleground State, Kicks Off "Green Tour; Raises Money, Attention for Campaign and for Michigan Green Candidates. David Cobb, Presidential candidate of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS), energized Green candidates and supporters and attracted attention from undecided voters and underrepresented citizens across Michigan while criss-crossing the state Wednesday and Thursday. Speaking among friends and to groups of people just starting to hear about the key values of Greens -- environmental wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy, peace and non-violence -- Cobb reminded crowds in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor/Saint Joseph, West Bloomfield, and Ann Arbor that America owes much to the principled agendas of third parties like the Greens. The end of slavery, votes for women and people of color, Social Security, even the weekend -- these and many other civil and human rights are now taken for granted, he noted. "The bottom line is, the fabric of what we would call a just society was woven by third parties." The two major parties treat all such proposals as either hopelessly naive or dangerous, crazy, the work of socialists -- or, worse yet, terrorists, Cobb noted. "If you want real, systemic change, I urge you to vote for a party that stands for change -- the Green Party -- and I urge you to join the Green Party," he told his audiences. Draws Spotlight to Michigan Green Candidates, Issues Cobb shared the podium -- and the media spotlight -- with a dozen of the Green Party of Michigan's elected officeholders and candidates. At Wednesday afternoon's rally on the steps of the Capitol in Lansing, he was joined by incumbent Mount Pleasant City Commissioner James Moreno and 7th Congressional District candidate Jason Seagraves. That evening in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University's Sangren Hall, Cobb spoke and took questions after speeches by Ben Burgis, who is running for the MSU Board of Trustees; Peter Ponzetti III, candidate for the State Board of Education; James Wilber, running for Kalamazoo County Clerk; and Stephanie Frizzell, candidate for Kalamazoo County Sheriff. On Thursday, Cobb taped two episodes of GPMI's cable-access program _In the Green_ hosted by the Greens' top vote-getter in 2002, U-M Board of Regents candidate Susan Fawcett. In one of the episodes, Cobb talked about state and local issues and campaigns with Ferndale school board member Melissa Hohauser-Thatcher; Lisa Weltman, Green candidate for Congress in the 14th District; and Art Myatt, one of only two candidates of any party on the ballot for Oakland County Executive. That evening, Cobb shared the lectern at U-M's Modern Languages Building with Nathaniel Damren, this year's Green candidate for Regent; Donnelly Hadden, running in Washtenaw County's 7th County Commission District; Seagraves; and Marc Reichardt, on the ballot for the 3rd Ward seat on the Ann Arbor City Council. Outreach to BANCO in Benton Harbor Another Key in Party-Building Tour One major effort of outreach and party-building was Cobb's visit to Benton Harbor and Saint Joseph, to join Rev. Edward Pinkney and members of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO) at their weekly protest against the political leadership of Benton Harbor and Berrien County. Pinkney and Cobb both spoke to marchers, at the Berrien County Administration Building and Benton Harbor City Hall, about the need for BANCO and the Green Party to come together -- and stand up together, and say "no" when the powers-that-be tell them to go away. Indeed, it was Benton Harbor economic developer Pete Mitchell who went away -- from City Hall, in response to marchers' calls to him that it was time to go. Michigan Greens promised to keep working with BANCO -- and to bring more information about Cobb, other Green candidates, and the Green Party platform to future BANCO meetings. Cobb on Elections: Greens "Participating"; IRV Can Stop Spoiling Cobb understands it is unlikely he will win, but says that doesn't mean Greens should support compromise candidates such as Ralph Nader or Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. The party's immediate goal is to promote its message and build support. "I would never vote for John Kerry because he doesn't represent me," Cobb says. But he understands that voters will have to make up their own minds whether to vote, in today's flawed election system, against someone they hate instead of for someone they like. . . . He adds, "I will tell the truth: Kerry is bad, Bush is worse -- and the American people need and deserve much better. And that's where the Green Party comes in." In response to questions from audience members and the media about Greens "spoiling" elections, Cobb emphasized, "What other people call 'spoiling', Greens call 'participation'." He focused on one good way to avoid spoiled elections: Instant Runoff Voting, which he noted was being used by the Utah Republican Party (among others) to guarantee that winners had to have a majority of the vote. Cobb is not concerned that Nader, whose own Green Party Presidential campaign in 2000 Cobb managed in Texas, will cost him votes. More important is that more people are hearing the message of the many values Cobb's Green Party and Nader's independent coalition share. He feels voters' disillusionment with the "Big Two" parties, which are perverting true democracy. Cobb also observes that, while Nader's independent campaign will end in November, the Green Party will go on standing for its principles, "We're the only party calling for an end to the war in Iraq. We could have the troops home in six to eight weeks, but we wouldn't do it in a vacuum. I'd cancel all those contracts we gave to Halliburton and the others, and give the money to the Iraqi people so they could rebuild their own country." "I'm not worried about the credibility of the United States in the Middle East. What I am worried about is ending war as a foreign policy. Unfortunately, the U.S. Army in Iraq is not viewed as an army of liberation. It's viewed as an army of occupation, and the only thing to do is bring the soldiers home." Michigan Green Candidates, Community Leaders Pleased with Visit The visit was more than self-sustaining in several ways -- raising funds to pay for the trip and more (and money for local candidates and parties as well); drawing more media attention than is frequently given to theGreen Party; and energizing party faithful as well as attracting new people to the movement. Green candidate for Kalamazoo County Clerk James Wilber commented, "This week, David Cobb made good the promise he made at our national convention, to help 'grow the Green Party.' He used unflagging spirit and common-sense appeal, not to cut down his opponents, but to spread a message of hope -- that the Green Party is here and getting bigger and stronger every election cycle. "David's reminder that third-party movements have always been the ones to bring true progressive change in our country -- like the end of slavery, the end of child labor, food and drug standards, voting rights for women, and the forty-hour work week -- made me proud to be a Green Party candidate. It made me realize that the ascendance of the Green Party as a major political force is not only likely, but inevitable." Jane Jarlsberg, co-chair of the Green Party of Kent County and organizer of Cobb's brown-bag lunch appearance at Campau Square Park in Grand Rapids, was also pleased by the media's reaction to Cobb. "My impression Wednesday was that the reporters themselves were curious and interested. Some of them stayed with us for the whole 1-1/2 hours! Jarlsberg also cited analysis by Jeff Smith of GRIID saying that coverage of Cobb's visit in the Grand Rapids area focused more on issues than on "the 'horse race' type of reporting" more commonly used on visits by the major-party candidates. "I think it went very well. I saw a number of new faces here in Ann Arbor, all of which came away with a very positive impression of David and the Greens," said GPMI chair and Ann Arbor 3rd Ward City Council candidate Marc Reichardt. Rob Haug of the U-M Campus Greens, who organized Cobb's appearance at the Modern Languages Building Thursday night, agreed that "David did a great job here in Ann Arbor. . . . by the end we were at 40+ in an overflowing class room -- and at least half were new faces. David really engaged the crowd, and I feel like it got a lot of new folks interested in the Greens and local campaigns." Rev. Pinkney describes his meeting with Cobb as "tremendous", and expresses his hope and faith that BANCO and the Green Party will keep working together for social justice and grassroots democracy in Benton Harbor and across the state. The Michigan visit kicked off Cobb's "GREEN Tour" -- subtitled "The Need for Clean". The tour continues this week, with Cobb traveling across the country highlighting Green initiatives -- from environmental issues to alternative-fuel vehicles, wind farms, solar panels, green buildings, wetlands, parks, rivers, brownfield cleanups for economic development, and issues of environmental justice. Cobb, a public-interest attorney with a working-class background who helped organize the Green Party onto the ballot in his native Texas in 2000, was nominated at the GPUS convention in Milwaukee this June. The visit kept a promise made by Cobb to Michigan Greens at that convention -- that he would visit Michigan even though it is considered a battleground state. Cobb pointed out that it also proved he isn't just running a safe-states strategy. "I'm going to spend a total of five days in October sleeping in my own bed. If that isn't running all out, I don't know what is!" Cobb's Vice Presidential running mate, liberal and positive talk-show host Patricia LaMarche of Maine, will be in Michigan next month. As part of her "Left Out Tour", LaMarche will stay overnight at the Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS), a homeless shelter in Detroit, on Sunday, October 3. For more information about David Cobb and Patricia LaMarche, their views on the issues and their proposals for the future of this country and the world, their campaign as the GPUS 2004 Presidential ticket, please visit the campaign Web site: http://www.votecobb.org
The GPUS home page is at: For a full list of Michigan Greens on the November 2
ballot, with the offices they are seeking and campaign contact
information, see: For more information on GPMI, and how you can get in
contact with Green candidates and locals in your area to help offer
Michigan voters a choice and a voice independent of the "Big
Two" parties, please visit theparty's home page: http://www.migreens.org
|
