[Sosfbay-discuss] Lorna Salzman on Chris Hedges

[Tian Harter]

Mark Lause wrote:

>Tian Harter wrote, "The big win for 2006 came from Illinois, where the
>Candidate for Governor got 10.3% in the fall election. That was a tenth of a
>point behind the guy in New Mexico that 10.4% so many years ago. That
>wouldn't have happened if Cobb had really been bad for the Green Party."
>
>If these showings had something to do with a national campaign...by Cobb or
>Nader or anyone else...the impact would have been evident in other states.
>In a coherent national party, our membership in Missouri, Wisconsin and
>Indiana would have taken a jump from the Illinois numbers.  They didn't.
>  
>
It's too early to tell on that. The impact of last falls elections
is only now percolating around to the point where it's having
grass roots impact outside the area directly affected by it.

>I won't be sidetracked into a pointlessly divisive discussion of the Cobb
>campaign.  A nationally coherent party would have some realistic balance
>sheet on the subject, but I don't think it did much for us on either coast
>and it left the Midwestern parties, often not much more than paper parties,
>almost comatose....
>  
>
Illinois isn't on either coast. I have a theory that real green activists
stand up when they see a heavy silence on something they know
that their speaking out can change. Almost comatose is easy to
improve on if you do something. I'm hoping somebody out there
decides they want to make a few sparks fly. It's up to them though...

>Tian further wrote, "I'd rather have a party hack than someone with no
>interest in building a grass roots political Party."
>
>If we accept these as our choices as our options, we may well wind up doing
>so.  That was my point.
>
>And the absence of such a plan to use the campaign to build the party had
>more to do with the party's approach than the candidate.
>
If you have a candidate to drag into the arena I'm willing to listen.

-- 
Tian
http://tian.greens.org
Latest change: Added, low on the page, a picture of a Montana quarter.