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State News Release |
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| Green Party of the United States Nominates David Cobb; Vermont Green Party Members Still Support Nader. |
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Vermont Green Party June 28, 2004 Although the Vermont Green Party will not be making a final decision on a Presidential Candidate nomination until September 11, many Greens are supporting the inclusion of Nader on the ballot. Unlike the major parties' crowning ceremonies, the Green Party convention featured a real debate about is candidates and its future. The Vermont Green Party's presidential choice of Ralph Nader was not selected at the National Convention this past weekend in Milwaukee. However, there is a proposal before the national coordinating committee of the Green Party of the United States that would allow for individual states to name the candidate of their choice -- which is something the Vermont Green Party has said it would consider all along. The Vermont Green Party candidate will be named officially at their state committee meeting in September. In the meantime, individual Greens will be leading the effort to gain the 1,000 signatures necessary to ensure Ralph Nader gets on the ballot in Vermont. The Vermont Green Party sent its delegates to vote for "none of the above" at the national convention. It held its state convention on May 1, and its members voted in a majority to support no candidate for President, which could have opened the way for a Nader endorsement. Ralph Nader came in second, Peter Camejo third, and David Cobb fourth; the Vermont delegates were instructed to vote for candidates in that order, depending on which options were open in the elimination round voting. "The position of the elected officers of the VGP has consistently been one for an endorsement of Nader, based primarily on the idea that Greens should only support him because of his long history of working for social and environmental justice," said Craig Chevrier, VGP Chair. "Splitting the progressive vote nationally among Nader, Cobb, and of course the Anybody-But-Bush Kerry supporters, seems like a bad idea to many Vermont Greens, particularly since a Green endorsement would have guaranteed Nader's presence on ballots in states where he otherwise might have difficulty getting a ballot line." The lack of a Green endorsement could also endanger the chances of Nader being in the national presidential debates in the Fall. Elected officers of the Vermont Green Party have argued that a true progressive presence in the national debates is a must for the Green message of democratic reforms. They have not been convinced that David Cobb will effectively participate in the national discourse, and are also skeptical of Cobb's "safe states" strategy that precludes direct opposition to Kerry's centrist, pro-war, big-money positions. "There's an argument to be made that it doesn't matter whether Nader or Cobb gets progressive and oppositional votes in this election, and that both will offer growth opportunities for third parties, and for helping to bring disenfranchised and disenchanted voters back into the democratic process," said Chevrier. "Without the Greens in the debates there will be no political voices that represent social justice, ecological wisdom, democracy and nonviolence heard in the political discourse in the U.S. in this critical election." The VGP steering committee will be deliberating this issue on July 6, and will state its recommendation to its members on July 7. In the meantime, the Vermont Green Party will continue to recruit candidates for state and local office, where there is real growth opportunity for the Green Party. -end-
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