Please

Apparently the Green Party is leaning toward running a presidential candidate in 2004. I would like to beseech the Green Party to lean the other way. I can understand what would motivate many Greens to think this is a viable or wise course to follow, but I think they're wrong. Despite the fact that, yes, the Democratic party isn't as far left as many Greens would like it, and, yes, the Dems are polluted with corporate money, Ralph Nader is not going to be president in 2004. Nor is any other Green. And unless those things happen, voting Green is just a protest vote.

If the Greens think that such a protest vote is going to move the Democratic Party leftward, I feel this too is wrong. If the Greens succeed in becoming a distinct constituency, that will be another constituency the Dems don't have to represent. Ie., this will move the Dems right.

But the Dems moving right or left doesn't mean that much right now. What matters now is getting rid of Bush. I've read a lot of Greens whining about how, gee, Clinton wasn't all that great, he didn't represent me, he's corporate, etc. It's fine that you feel that way. See, you're probably further to the left than Clinton was when he was governing. But just think about the gulf that separates Clinton from George W. Bush. Would a Democrat have Gale Norton, John Ashcroft, or Donald Rumsfeld in his or her cabinet? Our current president is a radical rightist, in fact if not necessarily in principle. He has done little that has improved this country and much that has poisoned it. His foreign policy threatens America and the world. He has invaded Afganistan and Iraq. He has harmed our economy. Millions of jobs have been lost. His tax cuts have given away billions to wealthy Americans at the expense of fiscal health and exploding debt passed onto states. He must not keep his office through 2009.

We must find a successor to Bush. And I don't think it will be a Green. Not many people share your agenda that wholeheartedly. Like it or not, far less that half of Americans think of themselves as either progressive or liberal. In order for any candidate to become president, he or she must court the vote of moderates and swing voters. I have zero confidence that a Green will be elected president in 2004, and I'm not saying that because I'm unsympathetic to Greens, but because I honestly think it's unrealistic to imagine the Greens will pull more than 5%.

If that's the case, I think the best bet for Greens is not to give up, but to join Democrats in defeating Bush. No matter how you feel about the Dems, there is no progressive cause more pressing than putting Bush out of business.