Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?

With only 50 weeks to go until the midterm election, I've been rumaging through the lists of political parties trying to decide which one suits me best. For the past few years, I've been registered as a Green Party member, but I've primarily voted the Democratic ticket, with the exception of that 2000 Presidential race when I voted for the big spoiler. Luckily, Pennsylvania was won by Gore, because if my vote had mattered enough to sway the election, like the Florida & New Hampshire Green voters, I would have had to take my own life (or at least inhaled next to an Amish man). Luckily, my vote meant nothing.

At the same time that the 2000 race was too close for such silly vote-wasting, I have a soft spot for 3rd party candidates. It's that underdog kind of thing. Granted, very few of the minor candidates believe they will win, except in those really wacked-out cases, but their spirits and desire to have their voices heard is really a testament to what makes this country great... besides our "all you can eat" buffets.

In tribute to that underdog spirit, I'm going to attempt a "Party of the Week" entry every Tuesday until the 2006 elections. We are 50 weeks out now, and there aren't nearly that many parties (without getting into the Nazi and Klan parties that I refuse to link), but I'm going to find a way to make this work. This week, I will explore my own party: The Greens.

We'll start with information stolen from Wikipedia.

There are Ten Key Values of the Green Party (expanded from the worldwide Greens' Four Pillars)

1) Community-based economics (Sounds a little like communes of the 60's)
2) Decentralisation (i.e. the end of BoxMarts and the return of local made & consumed)
3) Ecological Wisdom (another phrase for love yer mother)
4) Feminism (Which works for me because if a woman is making less money than me, she must be making minimum wage)
5) Grassroots Democracy (like the old adage "all politics is local... unless you have a couple million to spend)
6) Non-violence (let your body go limp and you might not smash against the pavement so hard when the mobs trample you)
7) Personal and Global Responsibility (Sounds suspiciously like a Catholic "you made your bed..." kind of thing)
8) Respect for Diversity (because we're all God's weirdos)
9) Social Justice (this really means a step toward Socialism)
10) Future Focus/Sustainability (Saving our oil so future generations can continue to polute where we leave off).

This list explains why the Greens have my heart, if not necessarily my vote in the next election. I love the idealism, but are all ten points really so practical?

The Greens are world-wide, and in the USA there are actually two factions: The larger, more official of the two, Green Party of the United States, and the more radical Greens/Green Party USA. In 2000, Nader ran with the former. The disorganization that gives us two Green Parties is a clue to why there will probably never be as big an impact on American politics as the group had in 2000. I wouldn't bet my own money on a Green candidate winning that magical 3% in a general election that is needed to get Federal matching funds. But again, the spirit is a hell of a thing.

Again from Wikipedia:

"The Green Party has shown its strongest popular support on the Pacific Coast, upper Great Lakes, and northeastern United States, as reflected in the geographical distribution of Green candidates elected. Californians have elected 67 (all of them in nonpartisan-ballot elections) of the 204 office-holding Greens nationwide as of January, 2004. Other states with high numbers of Green elected officials include Pennsylvania (27), Massachusetts (23), Maine (13), and Wisconsin (19). Wisconsin has the highest per capita number of Green elected officials in the country, and the highest victory rate at over 60% over the state party's 20 year history."

At the same time, the numbers for Presidential elections has remained below 3% every Presidential Election year. In 1996, Nader & the Greens won 685,297 (0.71%). While the 2004 election saw 119,859 votes (1%), it was down from the 2,883,105 (2.78%) of the 2000 election. Of course, everyone was so afraid that Bush could win again (tell me he didn't), that many who would have voted Green at the turn of the milennium (including myself), avoided "the throw-away vote" with hopes of getting Bush out. Still, I have doubts that the numbers will ever rise to the 2000 levels again. Greens are a party of local politics primarily. If you join the party, prepare to stay focused on your hometown.

Learn a little more about the Green Party in your own state with links here. Personally, I'm too lazy to go to a meeting, so let me know if there is beer involved if you join your local chapter. That might make me a more active member. In the meantime, I'll keep looking at other minor parties.