Growing Greens

[depakid]

All of the candidate battles (or what one poster called mutually assured destruction) over the last several months on GD 2004 left me pining for a good old fashioned Green/Dem debate. Not that there should be- I suspect most of us basically agree on the substance of the issues and a lot of those threads were counterproductive- few partisans ever really listened to the other side, IMHO, but in the interest of continuity, here’s kind of a follow up:

From Willamette Week (Portland, Oregon’s sort of alternative paper).
“With an environmental law degree from Lewis and Clark College, Mandy Parkinson was a natural fit with the Pacific Green Party of Oregon. Four years ago, she cast her vote for Ralph Nader.
But this year Parkinson has traded in her Green Party registration card for one stamped "Democrat."

<snip>

Such anecdotes may warm hearts and hopes within the donkey party, but they are tempered by some cold, hard facts. Oregon Democrats and Republicans have actually lost registered voters since the 2000 election, while state Greens have nearly doubled their ranks. In fact, although its numbers are still dwarfed by those of the major parties, the Pacific Green Party is the fastest-growing political party in the state, now boasting more than 14,000 voters. Nationally, the Green growth has also been steady though not quite as dramatic, rising from 196,000 registered voters in November 2000 to 303,000 in November 2003.

<snip>

Marnie Glickman, one of two Pacific Green delegates to the national party, puts it more bluntly. "Our numbers are increasing because the Democrats are continuing to fail people that are progressive," says Glickman, a former fundraiser for Oregon Democrats.

But as Election Day 2004 draws nearer, those progressive voters may look at the current resident of the White House and decide that maybe Al Gore wasn't so bad after all. Nader captured nearly 97,000 votes in the decisive state of Florida, where Bush finished with a precarious 537-vote margin over Gore.
Here’s “the rest of the story”.

The way I figure it, we're united for now- Can we stay that way?

[corporatewhore]

1. Good to see some progress!!!!!!

Oregon Democrats and Republicans have actually lost registered voters since the 2000 election, while state Greens have nearly doubled their ranks. In fact, although its numbers are still dwarfed by those of the major parties, the Pacific Green Party is the fastest-growing political party in the state, now boasting more than 14,000 voters. Nationally, the Green growth has also been steady though not quite as dramatic, rising from 196,000 registered voters in November 2000 to 303,000 in November 2003.

[FDRrocks]

2. We cannot stay that way...

I am a progressive who will support ABB. I am truely sickened by Democratic complicity in the past 3 years.

I am only going ABB because the supposed major party of Democrats has failed itself so completely that we face an orwellian world at this point.

After this election, I will not give Democrats my vote again, really, unless they start being... uhm... liberal again. They shouldn't bitch about not having my vote, I am a progressive. I'm cutting THEM the break by voting for thier party that I do not believe in, in this instance.

Say whatever you want to that. I am a liberal. I will vote liberal. That doesn't include a 'lesser of two evils'.