Green Party Candidate For President Says He'll Help Kerry!

[Solidarity]

Green candidate raps Bush — Nader, too
Joseph Spector
Staff Writer
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
May 20, 2004

David Cobb isn’t trying to fool anyone. He knows he’s not going to win the presidency. But as a Green Party presidential candidate, Cobb hopes to build the growing party while not taking votes away from John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee. In 2000, Democrats blamed Green Party candidate Ralph Nader for pulling votes from Al Gore and helping George W. Bush win the election.

Nader and Cobb appear to be the front-runners to get the Green Party’s nomination at its convention June 24-27 in Milwaukee.

Unlike Nader, Cobb doesn’t want to step on the toes of Democrats as they try to oust Bush. He said he’d stay clear of campaigning in swing states.

Kerry and Nader were scheduled to meet to discuss their campaigns. If nominated by the Green Party, Cobb said he’d be willing to help Kerry.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/forprint/0520CG4AM4S_news.shtml

[Cheswick2.0]

1. Good for him

I don't think the Green party can take another hit from Nader.

[JI7]

18. is it true ?

that nader didn't run on green party ticket because they would probably nothave picked him ?

[pezcore64]

25. Im pretty sure.

I had heard they werent interested in him anymore and weren't going to ask him too.
they realise what they hafta do, and thats campaign on local levels and build their party before they go leaping into national elections.

its the smart thing to do, make the organisation strong before going to battle.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I like Camejo, but he is bowing out in favor of Nader

Like Cobb too, but I am wary of playing "safe" this year. All my Green votes are going to the local candidates. Anyone I vote for on a federal level will be Dem.

[sangh0]

3. Typical Green elitism

He said he’d stay clear of campaigning in swing states.

He thinks people are stupid enough to forget that that is EXACTLY what Nader promised in 2000.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Typical Green grudge from Sangh0

*lol*

[sangh0]

22. I guess I shouldn't expect a defense for Nader's lies

and how Nader broke his promise to not campaign in swing states.

That would interefere with your attacking me personally.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. This coming from someone who called my party

and therefore me, elitist.

Whatever, Sangh. You have an anti-Green agenda. I've known it for months. Why persist in replying to my posts? It's not as though we are going to come to an agreement on anything, except that we don't want another 4 years of Bush. So let's call that common ground enough and ignore each other from here on out, shall we?

[sangh0]

26. You can't help but make stuff up

I said nothing about you

Why persist in replying to my posts?

I respond to posts I disagree with. If you don't want to read my posts, put me on ignore.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rainy]

40. I saw David Cobb in Norfolk VA,

He gave a great speech. He made lots of sense. I ran as a green in VA. Beach for house of del. and am co-chair of Va. Beach greens.

[Forkboy]

30. Is Cobb Nader?

Do you have any reason,besides your hatred of Nader,to assume Cobb is lying? No hunches,no "he's a Green so he must be lying".Real,actual info that would indicate Cobb is lying?

[Forkboy]

32. kick for the people who demand facts

[Forkboy]

42. One more kick for some facts

try answering instead of running to ATA when someone asks you for the same things you ask of others.

[nickinSTL]

14. Greens/swing states

yeah, but did Nader stick to it?

Even if he did, the Green Party affect on the 2000 election won't happen again. Unless they back Nader (and probably not even then)

In 2000, it was the name recognition of Nader that helped the Greens. Without him, they won't be a factor.

And I really think that most people 'on the fence' between Democrat and Green will go Dem this time.

[sangh0]

23. I agree

which is why I said nothing about the effect of a Green candidate on the 2004 elections. I agree that they will have even less of an influence in 2004. However, that doesn't excuse them for the lies of 2000.

[nickinSTL]

33. them?

Was it the Green Party who lied? Or Ralph Nader?

Somehow, I don't think the GP had a d#mn thing to do with anything Nader did. Except get their name recognition.

[Doosh]

4. thanks Cobb

I guess, though I'm not sure how trustworthy he is. After all, he will be on the ballot.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Well, we don't know that he will be on there

Convention is in June. And right now Greens are all at odds over:

1) Backing Nader

2) Backing a different Green

3) Backing the Dems.

I'm in camp 3 myself, and am taking a lot of flak for it from my party.

[trumad]

10. You forgot Backing Bush.

:shrug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Greens don't back Bush.

The voting system is skewed and therefore makes it appear that way.

[trumad]

20. If the Greens back Nader then they back Bush!

[Classical_Liberal]

35. Only in swing states is it a vote for Bush.

.

[debsianben]

39. I wouldn't worry about it

Even a 50-state Cobb campaign (much less Cobb's explicit "safe states" strategy) would only attract the votes of hard-core supporters of the Green Party. Nader, by contrast, is consistently getting 6% in most polls that have been conducted by any one so far that include him, even accross regional and other demographic lines....e.g. 6% of southerners say they will vote for Nader in a Washington Post/ABC poll that ended a few days ago, and even 3% of people who identify as Republicans say they're voting for him. Actually, the best part of the breakdown was that among black voters 79% say if the election were held today, they would vote for Kerry, 6% for Nader and 6% for Bush. Take a minute to soak that in: among a whole section of the population, Bush is in a dead heat with...Nader!

[wryter2000]

5. Wow!

That's great. Spoken like someone who wants to help the country. I'm impressed.

[proud patriot]

6. Great News

:D

[mzmolly]

9. Good for him!

:toast:

[earthside]

12. I'll be voting for Cobb

I am a delegate to the Green Party National convention next month.

I'll be voting for David Cobb because I believe it is in the best interest of the Green Party to nominate a NON-Nader candidate. I also agree with Cobb's "safe states" campaign strategy.

However, I will be voting for John Kerry in November.

All good patriotic Americans KNOW what they have to do - elect Kerry!

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. I myself actually came THIS close to reregistering

as a Dem to support Dennis in the primaries, but it felt dishonest to me. I wouldn't want people from other paties to sneak into our caucuses and try to manipulate our nominations process, you know?

I am not going to the convention, so let me know how it goes? :)

[aquart]

13. What a load of.....

Never mind. If the Greens didn't want to screw up the Presidential election, then they would put their money into local elections and build their party up from the bottom. But, no.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. You are mistaken

We are very much building from the bottom up. Note all the very low-level positions we have run for here: http://www.greens.org/elections/

But we do have to run at higher levels to keep our parties on the ballot. Blame screwy election laws for that one.

[Forkboy]

27. They simply dont care about the facts GPV

Some Dems need their boogeyman like a crackhead needs crack.

[GreenPartyVoter]

29. Yeah. This is very true. And I've wasted enough of my time arguing with

one of them today. *l*

[seabeyond]

15. i will vote cobb in texas then

never seen him and dont know what he stands for, but will help him build green party, as he doesnt step on kerry's toes. good for him

[Solidarity]

19. Green Party Leader Says Cobb Nomination Is Suicide For Green Party

DAVID COBB: THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING
By Joaquín Bustelo



The Green Party is at a crossroads and needs to make a decision. Many
who have been friends and allies of the Greens in the past, and even
members, candidates and leaders, are dead set against political
independence in this election. Nothing the Greens can do will change
that.

But at the same time, millions of people are starting to see the
need to break from the two-party system. They are going with Nader and no one else. The polls are quite eloquent about this. From as low as 2% when he announced, he is getting 5% to 8% in the most recent soundings.

If the Green Party is to flourish as an independent party, among
those Nader voters are the activists the Greens need to take the party to the next level. By nominating David Cobb, the Greens will simply be turning their backs on their own future. It is political suicide.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Joaqu%C3%ADn+Bustelo&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&edition=us&selm=kXUrc.5946%24Tn6.3597%40newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net&rnum=1

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. Yeah, a lot of folks feel that way

but what the heck good is it to save the party but lose the nation? (and world?)

This is an emergency. Gotta vote Dem at the federal level for the kids!

[seabeyond]

31. then maybe the green should do something about it.

maybe they ought to go after people like me in states like mine where my vote for kerry does nothing. and we pledge the vote to green party. they have qenough time to do a grass root

[Classical_Liberal]

38. This guy sounds like the Bush and Kerry apologists

We have no alternative if we want an alternative but Ralph(jump off a cliff like a lemming)Nader!

[AP]

43. Nominating Buchanan, who seemed to want Bush to win, was the death

of the Reform Party.

I'm sure many Greens want to help Kerry win, but recognize that turning their party into the left wing of the Democratic party could send their party the way of the Reform Party.

I think walking that line is incredibly vexatious for party members.

[Classical_Liberal]

34. This is great. The greens have developed common sense

I might just join. I am closer to them politically than the dlc dems. I hope Mr Cobb wins the nomination. We need a smart alternative to the dems just in case they are unreformable.

[SoCalDem]

36. If you have NO chance at winning, and you KNOW it...

STOP running.. It's a no-brainer.. People who get on this self-aggrandizement train, bore me to death..

Hey...maybe I'LL run too.. I'll be secretly supporting Kerry, but meantime, I'll be soliciting money from people for MY little 15 minutes of fame too :eyes:

[Classical_Liberal]

37. He isn't running in swing states, so he won't hurt Kerry

I am antiwar, and Kerry isn't. I'll vote for him because i am in a swing state, and recommend every liberal in a swing state do the same, but I won't be a prison bitch to the prowar people, or the free market fundies. This isn't just self aggrandizement. The dems aren't representing me, or offering an alternative on issues I care deeply about, like middle east peace, National Health Insurance or Workers rights. I favor Green candidates that run intelligent campaigns being mindful of the electoral college constraints. Admittedly Nader didn't qualify. He stupidly and tragically ran in swing states like New Hampshire and Florida, but this Cobb is doing it right. Politics is about winning on issues, not just winning. The reason to run is to build a party and to represent issues that the two parties don't give a shit about. Niether gives a rats ass about the poor, working poor, or the diminishing middle class. Neither gives a rats ass about peace in the middle east.

[Deja Q]

41. I heard Nader was running for the "Reform" Party - you know,

Ventura's political party that he urinated on.

Democrats can make Nader the scapegoat for Election 2000, rancid milk, or anything else. The SUpreme Court and the scandal surrouding Jeb Bush and Kathleen Harris, not to mention a backlash from Monica ad Gore's own pathetic campaign made Election 2000 that much easier for *.

I just don't want to see another thread consisting of "Nader's the one!!" He was, comparatively speaking, the most benign entity of election 2000 and he's still a scumbag and a fraud.

[AP]

44. Wrong. Reform Party nominated him without him asking because they want

to help Bush by getting Nader on the ballots in swing states.

Nader, so far, has said that he doesn't want the nomination.

He can't come out and say that he doesn't really want to be on the ballots in the states that nomination would put him on the ballots (which includes a couple swing states).

Instead, he's said that he doesn't want any party endorsement because that would contradict the essential message of his campaign -- that he's an "I."