Greens rebut Mcauliffe about lack of support for Nader

[messiah]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
No copyright

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576,
[e-mail]
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
[e-mail]


GREENS REBUT SPECIOUS CHARGES BY D.N.C. CHIEF
McAULIFFE AND OTHERS ABOUT GREEN DEFECTION AND
LACK OF GREEN SUPPORT FOR NADER


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders dismissed
claims by Democratic National Committee chair
Terry McAuliffe on CBS's Face The Nation (Sunday,
February 22) that Greens are abandoning their
party to support a Democratic nominee for
President.

"The Green Party is growing, while the Democratic
Party has stagnated," said Brent McMillan,
Political Director for the Green Party of the
United States. "Despite harsh attacks from the
Democratic hierarchy, the Green Party's
membership increased by 27% between 2000 and
2002, and by 8.7% between October 2002 and
January 2004, while the Democrats lost membership
. Democratic
officials are also panicked because of Green San
Francisco mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez's
strong showing in the 2003 runoff election."

Mr. Nader announced his independent candidacy on
February 22, but there remains a possibility he
could win the Green nomination at the party's
National Convention in Milwaukee, June 23-28.
Greens in many states have launched a 'Draft
Nader' effort. Mr. Nader's nomination would
depend on the support of state delegates
attending the convention and his willingness to
accept the it. Seven other candidates have
launched presidential campaigns, are attracting
support, and are on some state primary ballots
for the Green nomination; some Greens prefer that
the party not run a presidential campaign in
2004.

"Gov. Bill Richardson's remark that Mr.
Nader is running on ego and vanity is an empty
smear," said Alex Kobrin, co-chair of the
national party. "His remark reveals that some
Democrats can't fathom the motivation to run for
office outside the two-party establishment. If
the Democrats were so serious about their
challenge to Bushism, they might have dissuaded
Senators Graham and Edwards from giving up
perfectly good Senate seats. That's ego at
work."

Some local Green Party chapters are already
reporting an increase in membership due to the
Dean, Kucinich, Sharpton campaigns being
squelched. ""The Democratic Party tries to use
progressive primary candidates to lure
progressive and independent voters to support the
corporate Democratic nominee in the end, but a
lot of these voters are seeing through that
game," said Howie Hawkins, a Teamster and chair
of the Syracuse, New York Green Party who has
been contacted by disaffected local Dean and
Kucinich supporters in recent weeks.

Green membership and votes come from former
nonvoters, independents, third party advocates,
disaffected Republicans and Democrats, and others
alienated by the erosion of American democracy
and the two establishment parties by corporate
interests.

"If they were really concerned about third party
spoiling, Democrats in office at state and local
levels have had four years to implement reforms
like Instant Runoff Voting, and have been
challenged to do so by Greens," said Starlene
Rankin, Lavender Green Caucus delegate to the
national party. "They haven't acted --
suggesting that many Democrats are more
comfortable with Republican victories than with
democracy."

"Democratic Party officials and apologists tell
us it's 'not the right year' for a Green
candidate -- but these critics will never say
it's the right time for a third party candidate,
whether for President or for dogcatcher," added
Greg Gerritt, Rhode Island Green and secretary of
the Green Party of the United States. "They want
the Green Party to disappear. We don't generally
seek advice from Democratic Party officials. The
Green Party is here to stay."


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party Presidential Nomination Convention &
Candidates
http://www.gp.org/convention/process.html
Media credentialing for the convention
http://www.gp.org/forms/media/

Greens respond to the 'spoiler' accusation
http://www.gp.org/organize/spoiled.html

The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax [phone]

Ballot Access News
http://www.ballot-access.org

[lancdem]

1. Yawn

Nader will be lucky if he gets even 1 percent of the vote, Green or not. This is not 2000, and too many people who voted for Nader four years ago won't do it again.

[AmericanErrorist]

2. Probably should trim

to reflect DU copyright guidelines.

[cprise]

3. Right on the money!

"If the Democrats were so serious about their
challenge to Bushism, they might have dissuaded
Senators Graham and Edwards from giving up
perfectly good Senate seats. That's ego at
work."

and

"They haven't acted --
suggesting that many Democrats are more
comfortable with Republican victories than with
democracy."


ZZZZZZING!!!