Mother Davis looks at the accounts of her America’s third party, as she notices a particular deficit and remarks,

The Green Party of the United States is formally centered around ten “key values”, but operationally, much of the Green Party’s identity is focused on celebrity. There are plenty of good Green Party activists who are building their party from the local level up. However, every now and then, the Green Party as a whole gets tripped up in the sticky stories of individual personality.

This week, the Green Party’s personality trap has been sprung by Israel’s seizure of a boat of activists bringing humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip. The boat contained last year’s Green Party candidate for President, Cynthia McKinney. The capture of Cynthia McKinney has created a pivotal moment in which the Green Party can demonstrate a commitment to communicating in an effective way to recruit new members, or that it understands nothing more than its own troubles.

Cynthia McKinney is a member of the Green Party, but she is not the head of the Green Party, and she was not acting on behalf of the Green Party in joining the independent relief mission on board the ship Spirit of Humanity. Yet, Greens in the US have seized upon this event with a special fervor, writing articles and engaging in activism at a rate we haven’t seen since Election Day 2008.

Activism is good, but activism ought to be focused on what will get results. What results will a Green Party obsession with Cynthia McKinney’s experiences on a boat lead to? Cynthia McKinney will get some attention, and perhaps the ship Spirit of Humanity will be freed. Perhaps some people will think about Gaza and Israel for a few moments more than they otherwise would. In the large scale, however, these events are not the most important issue of the day.

I don’t think that the story is without merit. There’s reason to believe that Israel’s actions in seizing the boat and its passengers could have violated international law. The situation in Gaza is an important foreign policy issue, and deserves some attention.

However, I don’t believe that the Green Party’s tenacious coverage of this story is called for. Green media has become obsessed with the story of Cynthia McKinney’s capture in a way that it hasn’t been focused on any issue all year - and there have been plenty of issues that Green Party writers ought to have been communicating about, but weren’t.

I’m worried that the Green Party is focused on McKinney’s adventure not because of the story itself, but because McKinney is a prominent Green politician. There are plenty of other stories of comparable magnitude that Green Party media hasn’t discussed at all, because there were no Green Party politicians involved.

I’m extremely sympathetic to the ideals that the Green Party purports to hold. I am not very sympathetic to the Green Party’s whining about its own troubles, and otherwise talking about itself all the time. If the Green Party wants to be taken seriously, it needs to become less self-referential, and learn to tell the stories that progressive Americans in general will respond to.

Taking the green shade off her office lamp,
Mother Davis

The Maine Green Independent Party, which recently saw two of its members elected to the Portland City Charter Commission, is moving upward in scale with Green Party member Lynne Williams running for Governor of Maine in the elections of 2010.

Lynne Williams shares her life story here, one with many moves in many places and through many institutions and counter-institutions. With electoral work for Tom Hayden and Gary Hart, a PhD in psychology and a legal degree, residence from New York to California to Maine. Considering that Williams is someone who has come to Maine from “away,” it is interesting to me that she ends her biography with a proclamation against “interlopers who seek to colonize Maine.” A more complete introduction to Williams’ campaign principles is here.

A reader may be surprised to learn that Williams does not back the current expansion of wind farms into Maine by corporations such as First Wind. Indeed, her current line of work as a lawyer has been to advise the rural communities of and surrounding the town of Lincoln in social movement organizing against the erection of wind farms. Her arguments regarding “the impact of noise, vibrations and light flicker on people and wildlife” has some critics belittling Williams for NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) activism that promotes green industry… just not the sort that smirches residents’ own pretty view and property values. But Williams clearly promotes other forms of wind farm development, highlighting this year’s successful arrangement for cooperative windfarm development on Vinalhaven, community owned, community researched, community developed, providing local power and local income.

If a Maine progressive is looking for other indications of Lynne Williams’ bona fide status, a look to the Bangor Daily News supplies detail of Williams’ recent work as a legal backbone for Maine activists in trouble:

As an attorney, she represents Forest Ecology Network and RESTORE: The North Woods in their roles as intervenors in the permitting process for the Plum Creek development proposal on Moosehead Lake. She represents the Wildlife Alliance of Maine and Animal Welfare Institute in their efforts to protect endangered lynx by increasing restrictions on trapping in the state.

She also represents groups that oppose the development of liquefied natural gas terminals in Washington County and southern Maine towns that are concerned about Poland Spring’s use of groundwater in its water-bottling operations.

Former clients include anti-war protesters charged with criminal trespass after refusing to leave the Bangor offices of U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and Friends of Magurrewock, which sought to halt construction of a new border crossing in the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in Calais. She also represented Deane Brown, an inmate at Maine State Prison in Warren who unsuccessfully sued prison officials for barring him from speaking to the media.

Williams has advocated for repeal of Maine’s school administration consolidation law, favors impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and briefly represented two men who were accused of trespassing on Martha Stewart’s property on Mount Desert Island. She has helped gay and lesbian couples in Maine register as domestic partners and has been honored by the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine for representing nonviolent protesters of the Iraq war.

Lynne Williams will not be running against incumbent Democrat John Baldacci, who must step down due to term limits. This will be an open election for an open seat. Ongoing evidence of the Green Party’s viability in Maine will make this a good race to watch.

From the recent success of the Green Party in Maine, we hop on over to the Pacific Coast. In California, a special congressional election now seems certain. U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher got kid gloves treatment in her confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week. She has been nominated to be the Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security in the State Department.

Tauscher will resign her seat in Congress when she is formally confirmed by the Senate, and at that time, a date will be set for a special election to determine her replacement. Among the candidates for the seat is Jeremy Cloward, a member of the Green Party of California.

Cloward is clearly a strong liberal, matching the political values of California’s 10th congressional district. Cloward proposes expanding public education to include free, universally available day care. He supports full funding for education through graduate school. He calls for cuts in wasteful military spending, and nationalization of the auto industry and banks receiving bailout money. He also proposes a national living wage of 20 dollars per hour.

Cloward doesn’t offer just the typical ideas for nibbling around the edges of the status quo. Whether you agree with all his ideas, it’s clear that his candidacy is expanding the range of political debate, and that’s an achievement in itself.

Jim has joked about the relative success of the Green Party of Maine (officially the Maine Green Independent Party). Actually, it’s no joke. As mentioned by Peregrin, Green Party candidates for the City Charter Commission in Portland, Maine had their election this week, and two out of three won.

Ben Chipman and Anna Trevorrow were the Green Party victors, but there’s a positive story in the votes for the Green Party’s other candidate too. Dan Jenkins lost, but with a very healthy percent of the vote: 45.49

Is the Green Party done with? Some might say so, focusing on conflicts between different factions when it came to last year’s presidential campaign. However, such conflicts are an inherent, important part of democracy. Take a look around this year, and you’ll see that on the most important practical level, the Green Party is very much alive. All across the United States, candidates are running for public office as members of the Green Party.

In Portland, Maine alone, three Green Party members are running for seats on the City Charter Commission this year: Ben Chipman, Dan Jenkins, and Anna Trevorrow. They’re running as Greens because they believe that the ideals of the Greens are worth more than just a flash in the pan effort for change. Those ideals are:

- Grassroots Democracy
- Social Justice and Equal Opportunity
- Ecological Wisdom
- Non-violence
- Decentralization
- Community-based economics and economic justice
- Feminism and gender equity
- Respect for diversity
- Personal and global responsibility
- Future focus and sustainability

(Thanks to Green Party Watch for taking note of these candidates’ efforts)

By the end of this month, marriage equality may finally come to New York State. The state Assembly has already passed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, and the Senate is considering similar legislation. New York’s governor has indicated that he will sign the legislation into law if it is passed.

So, everything looks good for the marriage equality bill, right? Democrats form a majority in the state Senate, after all.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Some Democrats are supporting marriage equality, but others are working against it. The Democratic majority leader, Malcolm Smith, is working to block the bill from coming to a vote. Democratic senators Darrel Aubertine, Shirley Huntley, George Onorato, William Stachowsky, and David Valesky say they will oppose the bill. Eight other Democrats have not cosponsored the legislation, but have not indicated how they will vote, either.

While this disconcertingly large number of Democrats in the state Senate are waffling or drifting off in the wrong direction, local activists are rising to push back. For example, in New York City, Lynne Serpe, a Green Party candidate for the city’s 22nd district council seat in Queens, not only has given her verbal support to the marriage equality bill, she actually joined in a public demonstration supporting marriage equality last week.

Marriage equality for same-sex couples is coming in New York State’s future. A strong majority of younger voters supports the issue, and as older voters fade away, the law will be changed. New York State Democrats can choose to work to help make this positive change now, or they can hold on to a restrictive, regressive vision, and allow leaders like Lynne Serpe to show that the Green Party is a better voice for New York’s progressive values.

Organizations like Marriage Equality New York will note the difference, and place their support where it is worthwhile.

It may seem like an early time to start thinking about major political elections again, with Election Day 2008 just a little more than half a year behind us. However, successful campaigns for 2010 will begin their planning now, even if that planning often takes place for the most part behind the scenes.

The map you see below is a bit sparse, but think of it as a baseline for things to come over the next year. It’s just next year, after all, that mid-term congressional elections are coming.

The following is a map of states where there are Green Party candidates for Congress or for a statewide elected office.

California currently has the only congressional Green Party candidate, with Political Science instructor Jeremy Cloward in the running to succeed Ellen Tauscher once Tauscher joins the Department of U.S. State.

The other states have Green Party candidates for Governor, with rival Green candidates in Maine and in Minnesota, and one candidate in Illinois. We’ll come back to this map over the next year or so, to see which states have the opportunity to vote Green instead of voting Republican or Democrat.

The Maine Green Party is arguably the most successful state-level Green Party in the United States. The latest available data from 2006 shows about 30,000 Maine voters registered with the Green Party. That may not sound like much, but the same data show about 300,000 Maine voters registered with the Democratic Party. Not a bad ratio at all — and since then membership in the Maine Green Party has grown.

What’s the secret of the Maine Green Party’s success? I think I’ve figured out. Here’s a recent picture of their steering committee:

And here’s another picture:

A bit of the timeline between TOS and TNG is unearthed. Take two dilithium crystals, add water, stir, and anything is possible.

Are you a committed progressive or liberal? Does neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party represent you in its policy behavior on torture, on warrantless surveillance, on discrimination, on the economy, or on environmental protection?

Are you 35 or younger and tired of watching the fogies run the show?

Consider joining the Young Greens of America and joining up with young Green Party members in your neck of the woods. If there isn’t a chapter of the Young Greens where you live, all you need to do is find two other young greenies and declare yourselves and you’ll have a party all to yourself.

When you believe in accountability for torture but your party doesn’t pursue it, what do you do?
When you oppose warrantless search and surveillance but your party doesn’t, what do you do?
When you believe in universal health care but your party doesn’t enact it, what do you do?
When you believe in enforcing the Endangered Species Act but your party doesn’t, what do you do?
When you oppose using government to establish religion but your party doesn’t, what do you do?
When you believe in ending marriage discrimination but your party doesn’t, what do you do?
When you believe in ending wars but your party doesn’t, what do you do?

A) Believe it when your party says it’ll start work on these matters, really soon, just after the next election
B) Leave the party
C) Find another party

The Democratic Party has been asking its followers to go for Option A for many years now. Just wait until the Democrats get back control of Congress, we were asked. Just wait until the Democrats get the Presidency, the request was amended. Those party tasks have been accomplished… but all the policy priorities listed above are still on the Democratic Party back burner, and in many cases rejected outright.

The Democratic Party is asking you to be patient, to put your policy priorities away, for the sake of the party, again, to just wait for…

… to wait for what? The Democratic Party has control over two houses of Congress and the presidency. If not now, when? On all of the above issues, the Democratic Party insists “not now” or “not ever.” Option A, just sticking around and waiting and hoping, looks to me like a non-starter if you’re a liberal Democrat.

I’ve never been enamored enough of the Democratic Party to be a member of it, and I’ve never joined another party either. My choice has been Option B, to remain a perpetual independent.

If there’s another political party that better represents your ideals than the Democratic Party, then Option C (joining that other party) might make sense, too. The Green Party stands in favor of pushing forward on all the points which the Democratic Party has neglected. It’s a small, underfunded party with all the issues and drama surrounding small, underfunded parties, the kind of issues that fade away with success.

The Green Party USA is holding its annual national meeting soon, from July 23-26 in Durham, North Carolina, with meetings on party issues and also seminars on policy topics and organizing for issue-centered political activism. If you’ve found yourself perennially disappointed with the Democrats, would you consider a trip down to Durham to check out an alternative?

The Green Party USA is showing itself to be a different kind of political party from the Democrats and the Republicans, who as national organizations stick to the election of candidates as the goal and, once every four years, the drafting of a national platform with abstract policy position statements. Last Wednesday, May 13, the Green Party USA formally endorsed a line of activism, the May 30 National Day of Action for Single-Payer Health Care. On May 30, marches and rallies and lobbying days and other visible demonstrations of support for H.R. 676, a bill to implement health care coverage for all Americans by expanding the Medicare system. At each action, demonstrations will be accompanied by coordinated citizen contact with members of Congress to press for support of the bill (which already has 75 cosponsors).

When the Green Party announced its endorsement of the Single-Payer National Day of Action, it activated the power of bloc recruitment for that social movement, not only using its resources to send out a news release to the press, but also to send out communications to its members encouraging them to take part. By taking part and lending its organizational resources to a social movement, the Greens in turn remind activists of an electoral alternative. Is this a path for the the Green Party’s growth, to let itself be used as a nexis for the coordination and encouragement of a new wave of activism, while converting some movement participants into new party members?

It’s a pretty fair bet that the Unity08 experience — aging political consultants using their media contacts to whip up a hypestorm and engineer their own presidential candidate — will not be repeated as Unity2012. I say this with confidence because the website Unity2012.com has already been claimed — with a rather different agenda:

Even before the election took place it was very inspiring to hear that Tobias channeled through Geoffrey Hopped of the Crimson Circle, gave some interesting insight into Barak Obama being.

Tobias reveals - “Abraham Lincoln comes back as Barack Obama to help take not only this country, but the world on to a new level.” (source)

This happened on August, 2, 2008, and at first I didn’t think too much of it, but then shortly afterwards, little things started popping up all over the place…

How many ‘New Energy’ Creators does it take to change a lightbulb? (Three - one to screw the new light bulb in, one to describe the aura of the light bulb, and one to channel what the vibration of the change means.)

We are at the grassroots of a spiritual revolution based on our personal awakening and the
transcendence that is created when we connect together with intent, high consciousness, and an
uncompromised, united vision. We are compelled at this time of change to use our gifts for the cocreation
of a harmonious and sustainable cosmic future.

Will you join us? Will you answer the call to join with other lightworkers in Switzerland this February
at the first international GATHERING—an International Conference of Spiritual Leadership?
This conference will be like none others. You, who are already awakening to your personal gifts
and powers, are invited to join others from around the world to create a group alchemy that opens
the potential of human consciousness. Our goal is to give birth to the highest energies possible and
to build a sustainable field of consciousness that enables the rapid growth of human potential. We
cannot predict what the outcomes that emerge from this Gathering will be. Please help us spread
the word! We have 220 people signed up so far, and we envision at least 350—and have room for
500 people!

The organizers of Unity2012.com articulate a vision that does not fit snugly within the 30-minute newscast or 50-minute punditry format, like Unity08’s press releases did. I wouldn’t be surprised if Unity2012 accomplished more than Unity08 did.

Unity08 may be dead, but the tribute band is coming.

AmericanPresident2012 is a website that will, according to its “Mission Statement”:

The purpose of AmericanPresident2012.com is to bring back to the American people the vision that was The United States Of America. We are motivated to identify what is broken in our political system and dedicated to repairing the damage that has been done. We shall at all times stay true to our core values and always strive to maintain the strong moral principles that our country was built on; by promoting constitutional freedom, by educating our communities, by encouraging our neighbors, and by providing a venue for common everyday people to voice their beliefs, and a means to get the job done. By doing these simple things together, we will return American Government back into the hands of the American People where it belongs by the next presidential election in 2012.

Er, what is AmericanPresident2012 going to do again? The About Us page says it will, er:

It was during a spring get-together in early 2008 that the plan to create a new way to get people involved in politics was first conceived. A wise crack, a spark of brilliance, and a toast spawned the original idea that Mona Burtz just couldn’t let go.

While talking about the presidential campaign, the candidates, their avoidance of the important issues, and the public’s lack of enthusiasm about the candidates, Mona’s brother Curtis made the comment about how the whole campaign might be a lot more interesting if it was put on like “American Idol.” As everyone laughed and nodded in agreement, Curtis spouted, “At least the ratings would be better.” When she heard that statement, Mona, known for her offbeat and successful marketing ideas, latched on to the whole media campaigning concept and refused to let go. A few days later, she was bouncing the concept for AmericanPresident2012.com off of friends and family. It wasn’t long until she had recruited a small team that included her husband Jon, her brother Curtis and a close family friend, Ken. The team met every week, and often several times a week hammering out ideas and details, timelines and legalities. After more than a year, a lot of hard work, and a whole lot of determination, AmericanPresident2012.com is here and ready to positively change the way Americans look at everything political, from the election process to the way we handle the critical issues facing our country and the world.

The scope of this project has been an incredibly huge undertaking. Everyday, each of us on the AmericanPresident2012.com team realize how critically important it is for all of us to get involved in the day-to-day happenings of our government and to play an active role in the administration and control of our government, of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Herm. Come on, let’s give it one more go. What will AmericanPresident2012 do? The FAQ:

We’d like to see what you would do if you were president, vote for our favorite candidates, and support a presidential and vice-presidential team as write-in candidates for the 2012 election. Pretty simple.

Well, there you go. But how do we know AmericanPresident2012 won’t just go down in flames like Unity08?

Well, for one thing, this operation is meant to be profitable. The website is already peppered with advertisements for Beaches, Sandals and the website owner’s marketing business. The website’s terms of service reads:

Members consent to receive commercial email messages from AmericanPresident2012.com, and acknowledge and agree that their email addresses and other personal information may be used by AmericanPresident2012.com for the purpose of initiating commercial email messages and notifications.

That’s right, you’ve got spam!

The terms of service AmericanPresident2012 also reserves the right to kick you off their website and to delete anything you write if, in their sole interest, what you write on the website is “objectionable.” Unity08 eventually did all this, but they made the mistake of first stating openly that their website was open to all to say their peace. AmericanPresident2012 has learned: no open forum this time!

But what about AmericanPresident2012’s privacy policy? Is your personal information protected in any way from commercial use? As of this morning, the following is the complete content of AmericanPresident2012’s “Privacy Policy”:

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Finally, if you read through their website closely, you’ll notice that AmericanPresident2012 nowhere actually promises to run a presidential campaign, provide any resources to candidates, engage in a free or fair or legitimate nominating election or do any of that democracy crapola that Unity08 promised. Nah. AmericanPresident2012 will have an online poll of some sort, and then the winners can go ahead and run as write-in candidates… just like anybody can do already, anyway.

Oh, I’m just a-rarin’ to go on this one. Right after I pick enough lint out of my belly button to knit a nice sweater.

Last year, West Virginia’s Mountain Party candidate for Governor, Jesse Johnson, won with 4.5 percent of the vote. How’s that possible? Well, you have to figure out what victory for the Mountain Party means. Jesse Johnson never entered the race reasonably expecting to actually win office (although he might say otherwise in public). Running for Governor in West Virginia has special meaning for political parties in West Virginia: if your party’s gubernatorial candidate can grab 1% of the vote, then your party has achieved status as an “official political party” and can automatically place candidates for office on the ballot for various offices in the next election. Jesse Johnson’s work has ensured that until the next gubernatorial election in 2012, Mountain Party candidates for office will have a platform not only from which they can try to win office but also from which they can articulate an alternative vision for policy in West Virginia.

And hoo boy, does West Virginia need an alternative vision. Its national politicians are old, entrenched, and suspected of corruption. Its economy is based in no small part on the destruction of its mountains for temporary economic gain, at the cost of long-term toxicity. Its people are plagued by low education and high poverty.

So thank you, Jesse Johnson, for securing the Mountain Party a statewide platform from which candidates can articulate an alternative to the public: an alternative platform opposed to mountaintop mining, in favor of election reform to dislodge career politicians, against the continuation of corporate personhood, working toward the establishment of reformed politics in West Virginia that acts “as if people mattered.”

Now what will the Mountain Party do with its public platform? That’s an open question. No press releases since the month before the election, no press coverage since the election and no newsletter to members for a year. In the meantime, 10 Democrats and 5 Republicans are already registered with the FEC as candidates in West Virginia for the 2009-2010 election season.

What happens next, Mountain Party?