Louisiana Congressional Candidate Honored for Commitment to Humanity

Distributed by the Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release

Contact: Pat LaMarche, Malik for U.S. Congress, 207.671.0190
Miles Dinnen, Thomas Merton Center, 412.361.3022

Malik Rahim: 2008 Thomas Merton Award Recipient


[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania] -- Thomas Merton, philosopher and noteworthy catholic author and theologian once said, "We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves." Even though he died 40 years before last night's award ceremony, honoring Malik Rahim for his work; one might have imagined that Thomas Merton said those words with Malik in mind."

Malik Rahim is the Green Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana's District 2 (http://www.votemalik.com).

Miles Dinnen, spokesperson for the Thomas Merton center explained the choice that they made this year when selecting their honoree: "This year, we honor longtime housing and prison activist Malik Rahim. Malik gained publicity as a community organizer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when he stayed in New Orleans to assist the community and co-founded the Common Ground Collective."

Since then, Malik has been speaking out about racism and the failures of government exposed by the Katrina disaster.

Dinnen continues, "We honor a man who took fifty dollars and with the help of three friends worked for social justice at a time of great crisis. We find his work so valuable, and the fact that he could do this work in the wake of Hurricane Katrina really caught our attention."

Rahim took time from his U.S. Congressional campaign to travel to Pittsburg to receive this award. With only weeks left before the special election which has been rescheduled because of Gustav, another hurricane that has challenged New Orleans and proven the flexibility of her residents.

"My campaign for Congress is about promise for the future," said Rahim. "This award was about the past we are building on: the past that has set us on a course for this future. I had to go, I needed to go and accept this award on behalf of the 20,000 volunteers who made Common Ground Relief happen."

"I am against war, against violence, against violent revolution, for peaceful settlement of differences, for nonviolent but nevertheless radical changes. Change is needed, and violence will not really change anything: at most it will only transfer power from one set of bull-headed authorities to another." -- Thomas Merton

More information:
Malik Rahim, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, Louisiana http://www.votemalik.com
Thomas Merton Award http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org
Common Ground Collective http://www.commongroundrelief.org

Greens focus on electing Malik Rahim, Louisiana Green Party candidate for the US House on Dec. 6

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, November 17, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Christian Roselund, Media Contact for the Malik Rahim campaign, 504-905-5676, c.roselund@gmail.com http://www.votemalik.com

Rahim, co-founder of the Common Ground Collective, receives Thomas Merton Award for his relief work in the aftermath of Katrina

Video clip: Rahim's keynote speech at the Green Party's 2008 National Convention, July 12 in Chicago http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7226475852159421918


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders are focusing on the campaign to elect Malik Rahim, Louisiana Green candidate for the US House in New Orleans (District 2) (http://www.votemalik.com), urging local and national support and assistance for Mr. Rahim.

The election for the 2nd District US House seat will take place on December 6 instead of November 4 because of election delays caused by Hurricanes Gustave and Ike. District 2 is currently represented by William Jefferson, who is facing trial on 16 counts of corruption.

"Malik Rahim is more than just a welcome change from Rep. Jefferson and the corrupt political culture he represents. New Orleans voters have a chance to elect a hero who organized thousands of Common Ground volunteers to provide food, health care, and other basic services to hurricane victims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," said Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States. "We're encouraging Greens and friends all over the US to donate to his campaign, and those who can get to New Orleans to work on his campaign."

Mr. Rahim is co-founder of the Common Ground Collective (http://www.commongroundrelief.org), an organization that provides short-term relief to victims of hurricane disasters in the Gulf Coast region. Mr. Rahim is a former Black Panther and ran for New Orleans City Council in 2002 as a Green Party candidate.

On November 12, Malik Rahim received the Thomas Merton Award (http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org) for his work in community organizing and providing relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Under Mr. Rahim's leadership, the Common Ground Collective opened the first free health clinic in the city of New Orleans, helped reopen schools, gutted over 3,000 homes that needed repair in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and provided direct services to nearly 200,000 returning residents.

Malik Rahim's political agenda include support for a national health care program (with an endorsement of HR676, 'The United States National Health Insurance Act'), federal money to rebuild the Gulf Coast region's healthcare infrastructure, federally funded Category 5 flood protection, and comprehensive storm protection by maintaining and preserving ecosystem services, including rebuilding the region's cypress swamps.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Running tally of Green election victories http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for the White House
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com

Greens urge Obama to appoint Cabinet members dedicated to real change, not more corporate operatives and warhawks like Rahm Emanuel

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, November 20, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

A Cabinet full of corporate honchos, lawyers, and shills will not "look like America," say Greens

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders called on President-elect Barack Obama to appoint a Cabinet that will pursue real reform, in accord with Mr. Obama's promise of change in the new administration.

"Democratic and Republican presidents alike have a record of naming industry chiefs, corporate board members and lawyers, and others loyal to wealthy, elite interests," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States. "If President Obama truly believes in 'change we can believe in,' he'll appoint a Cabinet that looks like America -- not just in ethnic and gender diversity, but in its dedication to the needs of working Americans and the goal of international peace and justice."

Greens called Mr. Obama's choice of Rahm Emanuel for White House Chief of Staff especially unfortunate, citing Mr. Emanuel's position as managing director of investment banks Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, earning him $18 million between 1999 and 2002 and his track record in Congress since 2003.

The appointment of Mr. Emanuel confirms Mr. Obama's pledge to AIPAC that he will maintain the same uncritical support for Israel as the Clinton and Bush administrations, whose policies resulted in increasing human rights violations against Palestinians and greater instability in the region. Mr. Emanuel was also one of the original drafters of NAFTA and now favors similar antidemocratic 'free trade' pacts with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, which would cost more US jobs and suppress environmental and labor protections.

Green Party leaders said that Rahm Emanuel's appointment was consistent with Mr. Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his Vice President. Despite his reputation in the media as a defender of working people, Mr. Biden helped draft a law signed by President Bush that relaxed regulations on financial institutions, giving them more power over Americans facing financial problems and transferring risk from predatory lenders to borrowers. As an architect of mandatory minimum drug laws (including the RAVE Act), Sen. Biden helped put the children of working families behind bars.

Among the corporate-connected names on the list for the Obama Cabinet are Eric Holder, Jr. for Attorney General and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. Holder is a partner at Covington & Burling, which represents the National Football League, Chiquita, and Merck, and Gov. Vilsack is an enthusiastic advocate of genetically engineered crops and corn- and soy-based biofuels, with ties to Monsanto, whose products and policies have destroyed independent and family farms around the world.

"Barack Obama's mantra of 'change' is already a lie. With Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff, and with Hillary Clinton rumored to be Secretary of State, the Obama White House is ready to pursue much of the same agenda as previous administrations," said Cliff Thornton, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "It's a twisted irony that some tried to tag Obama as a socialist, a perception that will make it that much easier for his administration to continue the practice of redistributing wealth from middle- and low-income Americans to America's wealthiest. Bill Clinton was denounced as a liberal by the same right-wing pundits whose corporate buddies he was handing America over to. The same sell-out is going to happen all over again."

"Voters who elected Barack Obama because of his promise of change and the hope of a progressive administration need to wake up and realize they're in for yet another fight. Only if the voters hold Obama to his promises can we avoid the same pro-corporate and warhawk policies that came out of the disastrous Clinton and Bush White Houses," added Mr. Thornton.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Running tally of Green election victories http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html

Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php

Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml

Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml

Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers

Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for the White House
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com


~ END ~

Green Party racks up Election Day 2008 victories, new percentage records

Green Party racks up Election Day 2008 victories, new percentage records

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Brent McMillan, National Political Director, 202-319-7191, brent@gp.org

Richard Carroll elected to Arkansas statehouse; new Green records set in congressional races; third Green mayor elected in California

Running tally of Green election victories:
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html

Green candidate news: http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
Green Party elections database: http://www.gp.org/elections/candidates/index.php


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party's 2008 candidates for the US House doubled the number of votes they received collectively from the number received in 2006, while over one million US voters voted for at least one Green candidate in the 2008 election.

The total number of votes for Green US House candidates (568,791 so far; compared to 252,550 in 2006) will rise further after the December 6 postponed election in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Green candidate Malik Rahim is running in District 2 (http://www.votemalik.com) for a seat currently held by William Jefferson, who is under federal indictment. The Green Party is still awaiting final vote counts in some races around the US.

A new record was set for a Green candidate running for the US House, when Deb McFarland finished second in an Arkansas District 2 race with 64,622 votes or 23.33%. Rebekah Kennedy apparently set a new percentage record for a Green running for the US Senate, with 202,016 votes or 20.59% (results not official) in her Arkansas race. Along with Richard Carroll's state legislature victory (see below), Arkansas Greens showed the most dramatic electoral growth of any state Green Party (http://www.arkgreens.org).

The Illinois Green Party ran 54 candidates, the most of any state Green Party in 2008 (http://www.ilgp.org). 2008 is the first year in which the West Virginia Mountain Party (http://www.mtparty.org) competed in elections as an affiliate of the Green Party of the United States, with Jesse Johnson's run for Governor (http://www.jesse4wvgov.org).

Mr. Johnson's 4.5% is the highest percentage for an alternative party candidate for Governor of West Virginia since 1912, when the Socialist Party polled 5.6% (http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/11/07/west-virginia-green-gubernatorial-showing-the-best-for-a-minor-party-since-1912/).

Green Party leaders thanked and congratulated all 245 Green candidates who ran for public office in the November 4 general election, including the party's presidential ticket, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=137).


Some significant Green victories on Election Day, November 4, 2008:

Richard Carroll was elected to the Arkansas State Legislature, representing District 39 (http://www.newmenu.org/richardcarroll).

Bruce Delgado was elected Mayor of Marina City, Monterey County, California (pop. 25,000) (http://www.delgado4mayor.org). Mr. Delgado joins California Green mayors Gayle McLaughlin of Richmond and Craig Litwin of Sebastopol. The Green Party of California announced at least five victories statewide in 2008 (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-state.php?ID=135).

Ross Mirkarimi was reelected to his District 5 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in California, with 77% of the vote. This is the seat that was occupied in 1978 by Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.

Art Goodtimes was reelected to his San Miguel County Commissioner seat in Colorado (District 3).

Cara Jennings was reelected as Lake Worth Commissioner, Palm Beach, Florida.

James Nicita was elected Oregon City Commissioner (Position 3) in Clackamas County, Oregon

Michael Beilstein was reelected to the Corvallis City Council (Ward 5) in Oregon.

The District of Columbia had the greatest number of Green victories on November 4, with seven DC Statehood Green Party candidates elected to Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats:
Philip Blair, Jr, Single Member District 5A10
Dave Bosserman (incumbent), SMD 1D05
Chris Otten, SMD 1C02
Nancy Shia (incumbent), SMD 1C06
Carolyn Steptoe, SMD 5A07
Rick Tingling-Clemmons (incumbent), SMD 7D05
Bryan Weaver (incumbent), SMD 1C03

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
2008 Green candidates to watch http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for the White House
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com

CT Green Party To File Complaint That Write In Votes Were Not Counted In State Election

This happened in New York in 2004, the New York State Board of Elections never counted Green Party write-in votes despite having filed for write-in status.

CT Green Party To File Complaint That Write In Votes Were Not Counted In State Election

Green Party Of Connecticut

News Release - November 12, 2008 - For Immediate Release

CONTACT:
Tim McKee, CT Green Party spokesperson and National Committee member, cell (860) 778-1304 (best) or (860) 643-2282, timmckee@mail.com
Mike DeRosa, State Co-Chair, (860) 956-8170 or (860) 919-4042 (cell)
Scott Deshefy, Candidate for 2nd District Congress, (860) 642-7066

Voters Told Write In Didn't Count -- Count Ommitted In Some Towns

Green Party of Connecticut officials will file a complaint with local and state election boards that "REGISTERED" WRITE IN votes were not counted in all towns across the state as required by state law, it was announced today. This decision was reached after state Greens checked their own town votes totals showing no registered write in votes for the Green Party candidate for President, Cynthia McKinney and after receiving numerous complaints that town polling places had no list of registered write in lists, were reluctant to show any list, and some local voters were told their write in votes would not count.

Tim McKee, a Green Party spokes person said, "We gave the election officials one week to show us the numbers BUT my town of Manchester shows I did not write in McKinney for President, and State Co- Chair Mike De Rosa did not write in McKinney in Wethersfield accounting to the Sectary of the State's web site."

McKee added "Green's had about 25,000 votes for our 5 CT Congressional candidates, but only 58 write in for President? In 2004, we had 9524 for David Cobb for President, so the numbers do not add up to us."

McKee pointed to New Haven and Windam, as examples were no votes were counted for the Green Party for President, but Greens are elected as town alderman and First Select person and Green Congressional candidates had good numbers this year.

Our position is that all votes should be counted! If local PARTISAIN Democrat or Republicans voter registrars do not count Registered Write In candidates according to state law, then they should be removed from office!" McKee explained.

#end of release#

Greens thank national candidates Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, congratulate Barack Obama on his historic White House victory

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, November 6, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States thanked Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, Green candidates for President and Vice President, for their strong national campaign in the 2008 election.

The party also congratulated Barack Obama on his election to the White House today, and celebrated the election of America's first African American President.

"Even though we competed with Sen. Obama for votes in the presidential race, we're thrilled that voters have elected an African American President, something unimaginable a generation ago. We're just as thrilled that our own presidential ticket -- Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente are two women of African descent, and Ms. Clemente is Black Puerto Rican -- represented the voices of so many Americans who've been shut out of the system," said Clyde Shabazz, Green candidate for Congress in Michigan's 14th District.

Greens noted that voters expressed a mandate for change in the hope that President-elect Obama would follow through on his pledge of "Change We Can Believe In" and reverse the dangerous direction that the country has taken.

"Voters who were motivated by Barack Obama's message of change will now have to fight if they really want change to take place during the next four years," said Jill Bussiere, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "Rosa Clemente, our candidate for Vice President, talked about the Green Party's 'imperative' throughout the campaign. The Green Imperative will move forward during the Obama Administration, as people demand that change be more than a campaign slogan."


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
• 2008 Green candidates to watch http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for the White House
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com

Democracy Now! Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney Responds to Obama Win

November 05, 2008
Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney Responds to Obama Win

We speak with Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. National results indicate McKinney placed sixth in overall voting behind Barack Obama, John McCain, independent candidate Ralph Nader, Libertarian Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party.

Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential nominee. Former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia.

AMY GOODMAN: As we finally turn now, with Manning Marable, to Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential candidate, joining us from California. National results indicate McKinney placed sixth in overall voting, behind Barack Obama, John McCain, independent candidate Ralph Nader, Libertarian Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party.

Last night, former Congress member McKinney held an election party along with antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, who ran against the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Welcome to Democracy Now!

CYNTHIA McKINNEY: Thank you, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: It's good to have you with us. Your thoughts today?

CYNTHIA McKINNEY: Well, of course, I take the opportunity to congratulate Senator Obama, the people of this country and, honestly, the people all over the world who are waiting for a change, a significant change, and who are rejoicing in the fact that the wicked Bush administration will soon end.

But what will come in its place? What kind of change are we really going to have? I wish we could assume a break from the special-interest orthodoxy that seems to have a grip on Washington, D.C. It is this special-interest orthodoxy that has led to war and occupation, civil liberties attacks, social injustice, unemployment, poor yet very costly education and healthcare.

So, we have a lot of work to do. The people of this country have a lot of work to do. The incoming Obama administration is going to have a lot of work to do.

AMY GOODMAN: Where you differ with Barack Obama most, Cynthia McKinney? I mean, you, too, to say the least, broke barriers as the first African American woman to win a congressional seat in Georgia.

CYNTHIA McKINNEY: I reject the continuation of the occupation of Iraq and, of course, reject any surge into Afghanistan. There was silence over the most recent US raid over Syria, the incursions into Pakistan, the virtual blaming of Russia for a provocation that actually was initiated by Georgia, the push to include NATO membership for countries that are right up to the border of Russia and China. Then, of course, I would never have been for the bailout, put out my own fourteen points with respect to the bailout, would never have supported FISA, the illegal spying, the unwarranted spying on US citizens, and at the same time granting of immunity to telecoms that were complicit in that. There are many areas of disagreement with the Obama administration.

AMY GOODMAN: We only have a minute, but I wanted to—we only have a minute, but I wanted to ask Manning Marable, a big supporter of Barack Obama, how you feel about what Cynthia said and what she represents and Barack Obama did not.

MANNING MARABLE: I think Cynthia McKinney has shown throughout her entire career the kind of courageous leadership and progressive vision that we desperately need in America's political system, that we shouldn't be surprised that the left of the possible within the political system that we have in this country produces a progressive liberal like Barack Obama.

It is a breakthrough, in terms of Obama being the first African American, the first person of color, being the nation's chief executive. But it still falls short of the kind of politics that Cynthia embodies, that I also share, that this is not—Obama's victory is a victory over racism, but it is not a victory of the left. And progressives will be—have to challenge the Obama administration on all of these issues.

AMY GOODMAN: And we will have to leave it there. I thank you very much, both, for being with us, Manning Marable and Cynthia McKinney, on this historic "morning after."

Rosa Clemente on Election Night in NYC

Green Party candidate for Vice-President, Rosa Clemente, speaks at an election night event in New York City.

http://www.mogulus.com/greenpartyny

The video is 2.5 hours, and begins with Rosa's speech followed by several Hip-Hop performances from DJ K Salaam, DJ Sergio Vega, UMI, S.O.U.L. Purpose, J Love, Rebel Diaz. N.Y. Oil, Hakim. Khalil Al Mustafa.

December 8th: The 60th Anniversary Celebration of the United Nations

The Green Party of Monroe County is once again proud to sponsor the reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Day celebration. Please join us on December 8th.

The 60th Anniversary Celebration of the United Nations

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

30 ARTICLES that span social, economic, political, and human rights issues
across the world


DATE: Human Rights Day - Monday, December 8th, 2008

PLACE: Downtown United Presbyterian Church
121 North Fitzhugh Street, Rochester, 14614

TIME:

5-7PM Sponsor Tables Staffed
5:30PM Potluck Supper
6:45PM Program and Discussion

THEME: ARTICLE 26: Everyone has the Right to Education

TOPIC: “The School to Prison Pipeline”

What factors push young people out of school and into the criminal justice
system and at what cost? What alternatives are there?

For more information: contact Gary Pudup at (585) 454-4334

Human Rights Day Committee:
Gail Mott, Downtown United Presbyterian Church;
Mary Boite, Judicial Process Commission;
Hank Stone, Citizens for a United Earth;
Gary Pudup, NY Civil Liberties Union;
Rev. Patrina Freeman, Church Women United of Rochester;
Alberta Moss, Rochester City School
District; Steven Jarose, National Coalition Building Institute

Malik Rahim for Congress - Election Day is December 6, 2008

After a century of politicians, it's time to elect a community organizer
www.VoteMalik.com

After Hurricane Katrina, Malik founded Common Ground, an organization which:

* opened the first free health clinic in the city of New Orleans
* helped MLK Elementary and other schools to re-open
* gutted over 3,000 homes and provided direct services to nearly 200,000 returning residents
"Yes we are a rich nation; yes we are one of the most powerful nations. But, the greatness of our nation is not in our government—it is in our people. I have seen the essence of that greatness in those who made sacrifices to come down to help us in our time of need." - Malik Rahim

Richard Carroll Elected Arkansas State Representative

Richard Carroll, a boilermaker from North Little Rock, Arkansas was elected Arkansas State Representative, a first for Greens in Arkansas. Congratulations Richard!

Green Party of Arkansas
http://arkgreens.kk5.org/

DC Statehood Greens to Democrats: Use your new power in Congress and the White House to grant DC statehood

THE DC STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

For immediate release:
Thursday, November 6, 2008

Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org


DC statehood can be enacted by a simple majority, without an amendment to the Constitution

No reason to seek the 'DC Vote' (one voting seat in the US House) when DC statehood will afford full representation (two Senators, one Rep) and increase Democrats' power


WASHINGTON, DC -- In the wake of an election giving Democrats strong control over both houses of Congress, the DC Statehood Green Party challenged the next Congress and President-elect Barack Obama to grant statehood to the District of Columbia.

"Democrats in the US House and Senate now have the power to make DC a state," said TE Smith, native Washingtonian, Vietnam veteran, and DC Statehood Green activist. "Democrats would increase their own numbers in Congress, because the new state would have two Senators and one Representative, and these seats would be occupied by Democrats. The new Congress can enact statehood for the District through legislation requiring a simple majority, and without changing the US Constitution."

Statehood Greens called on Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and DC Vote, who have promoted legislation giving the District a single voting seat in the House, to support the call for statehood.

"Why only seek 'DC voting rights,' which would give DC one vote, when Democrats in Congress can give us full statehood and three new voting seats?" asked Mr. Smith. "Statehood would give us more than representation -- it would give us freedom from control over the District's legislation, policies, and finances by Congress and the White House. We'd get the same rights and responsibilities that all other Americans have."

DC Statehood Green Party leaders stressed that Congress could grant statehood to the District through legislation passed by a simple majority, without having to amend the US Constitution, which requires ratification by two thirds of the states.

Congress would pass a bill altering the borders of the constitutionally mandated federal enclave, reducing it to the federal properties (land occupied by the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court building, Mall, etc., analogous to federal properties in many states). Statehood Greens noted the precedent for redrawing the District's border: in 1846, Congress gave Alexandria, originally part of DC, to Virginia.

The bill would be enacted with at least 51% of the vote in Congress. DC residents would then vote on whether to ask Congress for statehood or some other option. (Poll results have shown that DC residents strongly favor statehood.) After this vote, Congress would vote to admit the new state to the union, by a simple majority -- as it admitted all other states after the initial thirteen that founded the United States of America.

"Statehood for DC is part of the unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement. We can fulfill the centuries-old dream of statehood, but we'll need the voices of everyone in District, including DC Vote and Ms. Norton, to demand that Congress give us our full constitutional rights, equality, and democratic self-government," said Joyce Robinson Paul, Statehood Green candidate US Statehood Representative in the 2008 election (http://www.statehood4dc.com/jrpaul/home). (The DC Statehood Green Party prefers to call the District's 'Shadow' congressional seats 'US Statehood Representative' and 'US Statehood Senator.')

Statehood Green leaders said that statehood for DC would be permanent and irreversible, while Congress would always have the power to rescind Del. Norton's DC vote plan. Statehood Greens also warned that, if challenged in court, the DC vote bill may be overturned, since the US Constitution provides for voting seats in Congress solely to states (Article 1, Section 2).

A decision by the US District Court for DC in 2000 (Adams v. Clinton) held that "the Constitution does not contemplate that the District may serve as a state for purposes of the apportionment of congressional representatives." According to this and other court opinions, only a constitutional amendment will allow the District one or more voting seats in Congress -- unless DC is granted statehood.


MORE INFORMATION

DC Statehood Green Party http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

"Statehood Greens criticize Del. Norton and her fellow Democrats for omitting DC statehood from the 2008 Democratic platform draft"
DC Statehood Green press release, August 20, 2008
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-state.php?ID=93

"Talking Points, Quotes on DC Voting Rights Bill, DC Statehood, and Democracy"
DC Statehood Green press release, March 22, 2007
http://www.gp.org/press/states/dc/dc_2007_03_22.shtml

State Green Party wins mayor spot, may put 2 on SF Board of Supervisors, and amass at least 5 wins statewide after Tuesday's election

News Advisory
THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA www.cagreens.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Contact:
Cres Vellucci,press secretary, 916.996-9170 cvellucci@cagreens.org
Daniel Brezenoff, spokesperson, 310.422-2211 dbrezenoff@cagreens.org
Susan King, spokesperson, 415.823-5524 sking@cagreens.org
Dr. Bob Vizzard, spokesperson, 916.206-8953, rvizzard@cagreens.org

SACRAMENTO, CA. The Green Party will assume the No. 1 elected office in another California city, and may yet have two members on the powerful San Francisco Board of Supervisors after preliminary results were announced for Tuesday's election.

Greens, who already hold about 50 elected posts throughout the state, claimed at least five victories, including one for mayor, one for the SF Board of Supervisors. .

Bruce Delgado, a former city councilperson in Marina in Monterey County, garnered 2,401 votes, or 51.92 percent of the vote to become mayor of Marina in Monterey County. He joins other Green Party mayors – elected Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Craig Litwin, appointed mayor in Sebastopol.

In San Francisco, incumbent Ross Mirkarimi retained his spot on the Board of Supervisors with a whopping 77 percent of the vote. Mark Sanchez, current president of the SF Board of Education, was second in his district race for the board, but tens of thousands of votes are yet to be counted, and ranked choice voting may push him into a seat.

In other statewide Green Party wins Tuesday, Jesse Townley won a spot on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board in Berkeley; John Selawsky retained his seat on the Berkeley School Board; and Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap was re-elected to the Humboldt Municipal Water District Board.

Elsewhere, Ivan Olsen amassed 27 percent, but finished second for Gonzalez (Monterey County) mayor. Linda Piera-Avila and Jon Mann collected six percent of the vote in the Santa Monica City Council race, but failed to win a seat. And, Bob Nanninga (Encinitas) just missed earning a spot on the City Council in Encinitas with nearly 11 percent of the vote.

Six Greens were on the ballot for a the House of Representatives. Carol Wolman amassed 10.13 percent in CD 1 along the coast, Peter Myers (CD 15) had 4.9 percent, Carol Brouillet (CD 14) 3.5 percent, tom Lash (CD 46) 2.8 percent, Barry Hermanson (CD12) 2.1 percent.

Jack Lindblad won 8.1 percent in the California Assembly (39th AD) race, Bruce Wolfe had 10.1 percent, but failed to win a spot on the San Francisco City College Board. Richard Boyle finished out of the running with 8.7 percent for the San Bernardino Community College Board.

PTA !?

I'd like to share an amazing experience with you about my recent political journey, as briefly as possible of course , :-) in the hopes of influencing some of you to join the PTA ! Yes your local PTA. You do not have to have children in school to be a member and our dues are $5 a year here in Upstate ,NY!

I home schooled my children for umpteen years while learning how to become more politically active. Knowing I'd be unhappy as a politician I was unsure for a while how to make headway & make change in a socially respectable way vs civil disobedience. Protests don't seem to have the punch they used to, & I have young kids after all & I'd be if no use to them in jail.

Last year they decided to go to public school for various reasons & I decided to join the PTA to be close by and hopefully have some influence in keeping them safe . I had no idea what the PTA did but it was very accessible & open to everyone. I had no idea how to be a board member but I volunteered to be Vice President, no one else would. I thought I'd be safe as a rookie and learn from the President. Be a gofer , whatever.

Well lo and behold as it turns out all of us were new and after becoming part of the PTA e-mail loop I learned that the PTA is about political advocacy for our children & schools ! Yes, lobbying , voter awareness of current legislation & connection to a huge national organization with some actual influence in Washington & at the state level. Not only that but what a bunch of great people !

I started a discussion about organics in the cafeteria, getting rid of pesticides , & starting a community garden among other things. Well , it was moving slowly but there was hope, no one denied it would be a good thing.

My Green PTA President approached me about attending the convention . The PTA budget financed our admission. By the way a Green PTA Pres. & VP working together is a first in this community. So, I have to share that I just this weekend attended my first PTA National Convention hosted this year here in Rochester, NY . And guess what !? They held workshops promoting "Green Living " ; organics in the schools , school gardens, nontoxic cleaners & the harm of pesticides among many other things! Some of the workshops were even taught by Greens ! Whole rooms of people who thought like us ! I was amazed & delighted of course.

They offered strategies on how to begin bringing these Green habits to our local schools & communities while developing lasting relationships & leadership skills for adults & our children when we involve them in this Green living agenda . Everyone was friendly and helpful.
The only small down side was the new buzz word "green" being used lightly by the different vendors , but I of course let them know (in some cases) that using recycled materials for their product or voting Green is the way to go if you're going to promote living, selling & calling yourself "green".

All in all an enlightening & inspiring experience that I never would've known about if my children hadn't led me there. Please , if you want to get active in a way that is accessible , powerful, & affords you any level of commitment you choose, join your local PTA , NOW !

P.S.

I would like to thank EVERYONE who poured their hearts into helping shine the light of liberty on the Green presence in this past election. It's all about educating the general public & I know here in Upstate , NY the Green vote was increased because of the despair and lack of faith in current elected officials & candidates running for office.
One step at a time......

I'm so saddened by the media guided focus of this election.

Why oh why is race the glory of this election when the person's voting record should be ? Obama's voting record is very similar to John McCains. Check it and see for yourself ! NAFTA, & CAFTA took your jobs away, refusal to hold criminals responsible, spying on innocent Americans, the Patriot Act which will put anyone who is labeled an " enemy combatant " by the president at his whim, into jail without a lawyer! He supports the " clean coal & safe nuclear" industry ! There is no such thing !

I voted for a black woman Cynthia McKinney , not because she was black & a woman , but because she took no money from corporations who have driven this country in to the depths of torture, poverty and shame.

I voted Green because that party respects the Constitution NOT the corporation like the other 2. The 2 major parties are now one & they bow to the same corporations that wouldn't allow any others to participate in the debates! How is this American ? How is this a good thing ?

Check their voting records.

For those of you who drank the guilt cool aid and thought that you'd be taking votes away from Obama by voting for a third candidate, you've forgotten high school civics. Here in America we do not elect our presidents. It's a ceremony & a poll taking show of hands. The electoral college elects the US president. How is that ok with you ?

If you want someone of color to win , at least choose the person who will defend your civil rights, eliminate the electoral college, hold government officials responsible & ( here's the biggy) support the Constitution without corporate influence ! She was out there but the corporate media had already chosen their next leader.

Vote Cynthia McKinney for President

During her 12 year tenure in the United States Congress, Cynthia McKinney won recognition as an outspoken leader for human rights, an ardent advocate for peace, and a determined worker for justice. She authored legislation to: eliminate federal subsidies for corporations taking jobs overseas; institute a national livable wage; repeal the Military Tribunals Act; eliminate the use of depleted uranium weapons; impeach Bush, Cheney, and Rice.

• End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

• Single-Payer Universal Health Care

• National Living Wage

• Marriage Equality

• Sustainable Energy and Transportation

• Right of Return for Katrina/Rita Survivors

• Debt relief for Workers, Students, and Homeowners

Numbers to call if you have a problem – If you have a problem on Election Day, or want to report a problem you have witnessed, there are several numbers to call to report the incident and get advice:

· 1-800-OUR VOTE

· 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en espanol)

· In New York City, call NYPIRG’s hotline at 212-822-0282

IF YOU HAVE HOPE FOR REAL CHANGE – THEN VOTE GREEN PARTY – ROW H ON ELECTION DAY, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH.

The Green Party candidates for president and vice president, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, are an historic ticket. These two women of color, a former 6 term Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia and a journalist and founder of the National Hip Hop Caucus have teamed up to bring a message of peace, democracy, justice and ecological sanity to the 2008 national elections.

Never in recent history has the momentum and engagement in a presidential race been at this level but registered voters and Obama volunteers are not the only numbers that are at a record high. So is the gap between rich and poor, foreclosures have risen dramatically, unemployment is on the rise, Our planet is in more danger than ever before.

Why should you vote for McKinney and Clemente on the Green Party line?

Because both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates will continue to spend precious resources – our young people and our money – on war and the military. McCain will bomb his way to victory in Iraq while Obama will redirect resources from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Neither candidate has a convincing plan to control emissions. And both support new coal and nuclear power plants.

The Green Party candidates, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, will drastically cut military spending, stop the building of new nuclear power plants and implement a bold plan that will provide real oversight and control over the Wall Street robber barons.

By voting GREEN this Election Day you’ll be saying:

YES to total withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan!

YES to marriage equality!

YES to universal, single-payer health care!

YES to national living wage!

YES to reducing emissions to 25% by 2020!

YES to renewable solar power and wind energy!

YES to a crackdown on corporate crime!

YES to ending the drug war!

YES to restoring Constitutional civil rights!

YES to abolishing the death penalty!

YES to electoral and campaign finance reform!

YES TO PEOPLE’S NEEDS AND NOT CORPORATE GREED!

Here in New York State, the Green Party is the only party that runs candidates who adhere to these values– your values. When we encourage you to vote for candidates on the Green Party line – you can be sure that what our candidates say and do is based on our party’s platform.

While both the Democratic and Republican candidates have spent record breaking amounts of money on this election from big corporate donors and special interest groups, the Green Party takes no corporate donations so please show your support by making a secure donation on line at gpnys.org

Vote Truth 08 – Vote McKinney/Clemente – Vote Green Party Row H!

The Green Party stands for: Non-violence – grassroots democracy – social and economic justice – ecological wisdom

Peter LaVenia
Gloria Mattera
Co-chairs
Green Party of New York State
Gpnys.org

Dreaming Green: McKinney on her campaign goals, etc. (In These Times interview)‏

Dreaming Green
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4018/dreaming_green/

The Green Party’s 5 percent campaign is both modest and ambitious. Can Cynthia McKinney pull it off?
By Felix Holmgren

During her six terms as Democratic representative for Georgia, Cynthia McKinney gained a reputation for being one of the most controversial members of Congress as she single-mindedly (and often single-handedly) pursued issues like black voter disenfranchisement, U.S. corporate pillaging in central Africa, vanished Pentagon funds, and the Bush administration’s inaction in the face of warnings prior to Sept. 11. As she left the House in 2006, her farewell gesture was to introduce the first articles of impeachment against the President.

This year, she’s running as the Green Party presidential candidate with Rosa Clemente―a Bronx-born journalist, community organizer, and hip-hop activist―as her running mate.

The rise of the McKinney/Clemente ticket has been rather dramatic: two women of color―one African-American, the other Puerto Rican-American―nominated by a heavily white-dominated party with which neither has been associated until recently.

Some Greens feel that a candidate with a longer track record in the party would have been a more solid choice, but McKinney’s unofficial ties with the party in fact stretch back to the 2000 elections when she was first courted by Green Party members.

This year, after touring more than twenty states by car to promote her campaign, McKinney won nearly every Green Party primary election, most of them with a broad margin, making her a shoo-in at the Green National Convention in Chicago in July, where she received 324 votes out of 542.

* * *

Two weeks before the nomination, I make my way to Midtown, one of the two city centers of sprawling Atlanta, Ga., and on to an industrial area where, nestled in a mass of nondescript businesses, I find the White Diamond beauty salon-cum-art gallery. Here, Cynthia McKinney is spending the day in an extended styling and photo session, and will, I have been told, be available to answer questions during breaks in the schedule.

The soon-to-be presidential candidate is seated in a windowless room under a large hair dryer, still in the before stage of today’s makeover. Perhaps a bit embarrassed in her semi-imprisoned state, McKinney gives off a low-key, homey air, looking more like your aunt treating herself to an afternoon at the beautician’s than the pissed-off, acerbic politician grilling Donald Rumsfeld in Congress.

When McKinney’s stylist is done with her, she emerges wearing a grass green tunic with matching earrings, her hair a vibrant reddish brown. As the Green Queen (as one of her associates instantly dubs her) sits down, I launch my first set of questions.

By which paths did you end up where you are now, running for the office of President of the United States?

My family has always been politically involved. My father was a participant in the civil rights movement and it was impossible for me not to be aware of politics, not to understand the notion of justice, the realities of injustice and the optimism of being able to change one’s situation.

When my father was a member of the Georgia legislature, he had a little beef with one of his colleagues. In the heat of the moment he said, “I will run my daughter against you.” I didn’t know that my father had put me on the ballot, but I didn’t do too badly. Two years later, I ran for the same seat again and won. I only planned to stay four years in the Georgia legislature and my contribution was going to be to make sure that Georgia abided by the Voting Rights Act in its upcoming redistricting process. I became quite notorious because of my aggressive position that my state must abide by federal law and make equal treatment available for black voters.

Then in 1991, when George H. W. Bush decided to bomb Iraq, I stayed up all night and watched the bombs being dropped on Baghdad, and I wrote a speech. The next day, as I delivered it, my colleagues got up and walked out on me. The photograph that was in the newspaper shows just an empty chamber.

What did you say in that address?

I said that none of the seven reasons Bush had given for why the United States should go to war were enough to convince me. I refuted them one by one. Then I said that George Bush ought to be ashamed of himself, and that was when my colleagues began to leave the chamber.

* * *

Running for Congress with no money in 1992, McKinney found that the bad press she had received actually attracted people “who wanted Georgia to have a fair political system, and who, like me, did not appreciate the fact that the United States had gone to war.” As a result, she was sworn into the House in 1993 and was re-elected three times. Then, in 2002, she lost to fellow Democrat Denise Majette, a first-time runner. McKinney’s defeat is often put down to voters being upset by her demands for an investigation into the Bush administration’s failure to act on pre-9/11 warnings, demands that made her fair game for the media at the time.

Yet, bad press, partially responsible for bringing her to Washington in the first place, was not the main reason for McKinney’s electoral failure in 2002. As the 2006 documentary film American Blackout documents in considerable detail, McKinney’s loss to Majette was, at least to a large extent, the result of a concerted and aggressive campaign to convince Republican voters to cross-vote. Campaign material distributed in Republican neighborhoods showed McKinney’s face being rubbed out by an eraser, next to the text: “You can get rid of Cynthia McKinney… Ask for a Democrat ballot [and] vote for anyone but Cynthia McKinney.”

The drive was successful: tens of thousands of Republicans voted for Majette and McKinney was ousted. McKinney made a comeback in the subsequent elections but was again voted out in 2006 after a repeat of the 2002 campaign. In the meantime members of the Green Party had begun taking an interest in the contentious congresswoman from Georgia.

What was your impression of the Green Party up to that point?

They were great activists, that was basically all I knew about them. Environmental justice issues were important to me. The zip code of my home happened to be the most toxic zip code in the metropolitan Atlanta area, which was also the blackest. I wanted the House to authorize a study to establish exactly who was doing this polluting, what kinds of permits the state was allowing, and why only in that particular area. That bill didn’t pass, but I presume that the Green Party members figured that I was one of them. And as it turns out, I was one of them.

Looking back, then, why did you stay in the Democratic Party for such a long time?

Because there is no alternative in the state of Georgia, because they’ve made it so hard to get on the ballot. I think Green Party values resonate with the public, but the public just doesn’t know about the Green Party. So the short answer is, there was no choice. In Georgia, if you were going to run for office and win, you had to be either Democrat or Republican.

So what happened? Now you’re running knowing that you will not win.

I have to reject your premise that I will not win. As a minor party, we must define for ourselves what our goals are. We are launching a 5 percent campaign, because if the Green Party is able to cross the 5 percent threshold it gets the legal characterization of a national major party, and gets subsidized by the government in the same way as the Democratic and Republican parties are.

So 5 percent is a victory because, with what this Democrat-controlled Congress is doing, I think it’s clear: we have no opposition party in the United States. The Democratic Party railed against things like funding for the war and the Bush tax cuts that favored the wealthy, but they have done nothing about that now that they are the majority.

I was the only incumbent Democrat in Congress to lose. Why? Because I would have voted against funding for the war. My replacement in the House of Representatives voted to fund the war. Because of what had happened in 2002, they knew how to get rid of me. The bill passed exactly with the required number of votes. If I had been in the House, funding for the war legislation would have failed. One vote, my one vote would have stopped it.

Don’t you feel that it’s a big thing to ask people to vote for someone who is not going to be elected president? Isn’t it asking a lot from people who have just one vote to give?

I think it’s asking a lot of people when you ask them to vote for candidates and parties who don’t reflect their values. Looking at the track record of the Democratic Party, I have to ask, ‘Does this party reflect my values?’ Since the Democrats gained the majority in Congress, they have not addressed a livable wage, they have not repealed the Patriot Act or the Bush tax cuts.

* * *

But Cynthia McKinney soon has other things on her mind, as the photo shoot gets going. Smiling, dancing, and posing the afternoon away, she waves her hand to the camera with fingers spread out to show the “five” she is asking for in November.

McKinney seems to enjoy every bit of it and never stops smiling and laughing. Not until I ask the perennial third-party candidate question, also known as the “spoiler question.” I blurt it out in a brusque form during a moment when the photographer fiddles with the lighting: Why are you helping McCain win?

“I thought you wanted to understand things,” McKinney chides me. “In the 2000 presidential elections, there were one million black people whose votes weren’t counted. They voted their dreams and their aspirations―-their values. And what happened? The Democratic Party, to whom 900,000 of those votes were given, did not fight for the counting of those votes. Al Gore didn’t even put up a fight, and then they want to blame Nader? Anyone who would talk about my candidacy helping McCain denigrates the whole notion of justice in this country.”

I use the next break to steer away from the capricious waters of realpolitik.

Being from Atlanta, what does the heritage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., mean to you?

If you walk over to the King memorial, on the way, you will see homeless men and women, who are getting more numerous every day in every city across our country. That is exactly what Dr. King was talking about. He said that this country had given the Negro a bounced check. And I state today that the check still can’t be cashed. The United States has the money but it won’t put it in the account on which the check is drawn.

That goes to the core of why I am running. The racial disparities in this country on some indices are worse today than they were at the time of the murder of Dr. King. That’s not progress. As a result of banking practices targeting black and brown people and charging them more to achieve the American dream of home-ownership, we have now experienced the largest transfer of wealth out of black hands since slavery: $92 billion. At the present rate, it would take 581 years to close the wealth gap in this country. I can’t wait 581 years!

Barack Obama has received praise from all sides for ‘not playing the race card.’ What do you say to that?

What I say all the time is that we have unaddressed problems in this country. Hurricane Katrina exposed the real state of black life in this country. Public policy can solve all of that. My engagement in the political process is dealing merely with the facts. I want to see the facts change.

So you still have faith in the election system as a vehicle for change?

I do. The fact that I’ve been treated so harshly by the system for doing nothing more than trying to correct the wrongs I saw, for trying to cash that check―-if I have to pay the kind of price that I’ve paid in order to do that, it means that there’s value in that position. So much value that millions of dollars have been spent to keep me out of the process. So it is clearly worthwhile to participate, even when they steal elections as they’ve done in 2000 and 2004. It exposes to the American people and to the global community that justice has not arrived in the United States.

* * *

During the Green Party presidential debate in San Francisco in January, the candidates were asked how their campaigns would help unite the various strains of the progressive movement. While the other four candidates seemed not to know exactly what to do with the question, McKinney brought down standing ovations from the entire assembly with a dramatic appeal for unity within the party.

“What we’re doing is very serious, it’s not a joke!” she said while raising her voice, partly to reproach the audience, partly to plead with them. “This is talking about starting a movement in this country, and we can’t do it if this one doesn’t like that one and this one doesn’t talk to the other one. So, please!―-come together.” The effect was powerful and it was not hard to see how she had been able to put her competition far behind her in the primaries and bring the Green Party into a new phase of its existence.

But can her message reach beyond the perimeter of diehard Greens? Is that five percent of voters even within sight? McKinney has displayed an ability to wage successful campaigns in extremely adverse circumstances before, and with Clemente as her running mate, she might be able to tap into constituencies never before touched by a Green hand. Still, for a third-party candidate to make serious inroads, something more must be achieved: he or she must break through the wall of media indifference, that operates according to the logic that since you won’t win, you mustn’t be heard (and that, of course, makes sure you won’t win).

* * *

“Cynthia has so much to teach us, but maybe she could do more if she wasn’t in politics,” says Cherise Beasley, McKinney’s stylist and owner of the While Diamond. McKinney has driven off in the car that has carried her through half of the U.S. states and will take her through the other half by November, and I have just asked Beasley what she thinks about McKinney’s campaign.

So what should McKinney be doing instead of politics? “Maybe she could have her own talk show,” Beasley suggests. “She would be able to reach out and make people aware.” Then she adds: “Or maybe she could still be a politician if she wasn’t attacked all the time and people would write about what she’s trying to say.”

That, indeed, seems to be the rub.

Green women make history as leaders around the world

The past months have been momentous for women

http://greenpages.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/green-women-make-history-as-leaders-around-the-world/

By Mike Feinstein, advisor to the International Committee of the Green Party of the United States

July 2nd:
Ingrid libre—finally

After 2,321 days in captivity in the jungles of Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt gained her freedom in a dramatic release covered on international television. Betancourt was kidnapped on February 23rd, 2002 while campaigning for president in a region of southern Colombia controlled by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

Over the ensuing six-plus years, Greens and thousands of others worldwide staged demonstrations and agitated for her release, including directly appealing to the Colombian, Brazilian and French Governments.

Upon her release Betancourt immediately called for a diplomatic and nonviolent solution to the armed conflict in Colombia and for the release of the remaining hostages. Her name is circulating among potential candidates for the presidency in 2010, and she has the second highest popularity rating among Colombian politicians after sitting President Alvaro Uribe.

During her time in captivity, Betancourt and former Senator Luís Eladio Pérez, who was also held captive with Betancourt for four years, created a 190-point government program written on a thick stack of lined notebook paper tied with a string.

“Almost every day we would sit and analyze events we’d hear about on the radio and ask ourselves, if we ever find ourselves in power what would we do about such and such an issue,” said Pérez, who spoke at a special plenary session dedicated to Betancourt at the May 2008 Global Greens Congress in São Paolo, Brazil. That Congress also approved a resolution proposed by the French and Colombian Greens, making Betancourt Honorary President of the Global Greens.

However, it’s not clear Betancourt will pursue that electoral route. “The truth is that after seven years as a victim of tyranny and war, my life’s perspective has changed. Things that used to be important no longer are; at this moment I only feel the need to speak for those who can’t, first of all for those still in the hands of the FARC, people I know very well, and who are suffering.”

She said her priority is to work for the liberation of other hostages in Colombia and around the world. “I no longer have ambitions for a political career in Colombia. Perhaps in the future I will think about it, but I don’t believe my place is in the political arena at this moment.”

Betancourt will address the October European Green Party Council in Paris and is tentatively scheduled to appear at the November Federation of Greens of the Americas annual meeting in Quebec City, Canada in November. Already she has met with the French and Italian presidents, addressed the European Parliament and had an audience with the Pope.

August 19th:
Mongolian Green movement leader Saruul Agvaandorj released

After 14 days of captivity, Mongolian Green Movement leader Saruul Agvaandorj was released after her arrest for participating in a peaceful silent protest against the government. Hundreds of Mongolians were detained for protesting the government for fraud in the June 29th general election.

On August 5th, approximately 20 protesters began a silent protest at Sukhbaatar Square in front of the Mongolian government and parliament in the nation’s capital of Ulan Bator. They wore a piece of paper taped over their mouths with the message “Release.” Agvaandorj and Arslan Gombosuren, Leader of the Just Society Front were arrested on the grounds that the sit-in was unlawful, without having obtained permission from the District Office. The demonstrators had issued a request to meet with the President, but the President’s office replied with a statement branding the demonstration as “hindering with the due government process of finding responsible parties to the post-election riots and therefore illegal.”

An international Green Party campaign for her release was called for by the Global Green Coordination, with requests that messages be directed to Mongolian embassies around the world. Aided in no small part by this international pressure, the two were released on August 19th after being held in a cell for two weeks with 11 or 12 other prisoners.

Upon her release Agvaandorj said “in Mongolia, we have a real Communist dictatorship like before 1989. Calling it the mafia is more accurate. Our Communists must win elections to make big money from foreign mining companies. And as a so-called democratic country, they can get financial support from the G-8 countries. It is similar to the situation of many African countries.”

Agvaandorj said Mongolian parliamentary elections have been manipulated every election since 1990 by the Mongolian Communist Party, which is also called the Mongolian Revolutionary Party. This year it led to widespread protest, to which the government responded with a four-day state of emergency and police crackdown. With plain-clothes police infiltrators inciting violence within the crowds, eight people were shot dead, six others lost their eyes and hundreds were detained.

“Many people could not understand why the police were shooting people in the eyes and killing them,” said Agvaandorj. “Why were these poor people, without any guns or knives, hunted like wild animals? Many of the arrested people did not know their rights. They were punished. They had to sign some documents because they were very afraid or injured. And the Communist leaders, including the President of Mongolia, didn’t want to release those political prisoners.” As a result, Agvaandorj and others began their peaceful protest.

“It was unbelievable that we were released,” said Agvaandor, who attended the May 2008 Global Greens Congress in São Paulo, Brazil, upon her release. “Thank you all dear Greens. We were only fed bread and water for 14 days. Today someone told me that the police did not want to release us. We are not really free though. They are listening to my phone calls and more. We will continue to organize. Thank you and God bless you all!”

September 5th:
Caroline Lucas elected as first Leader of Green Party of England and Wales

For the first time since the Green Party in the United Kingdom was formed in 1973, Greens there have elected a Party Leader and Deputy Leader.

In a two-way Leader race, sitting Member of European Parliament Caroline Lucas (South East England) received 2,559 votes to 210 for British actor Ashley Gunstock. For Deputy Leader the race was uncontested with 26 year-old Green councilor Adrian Ramsey (Norwich) winning all 2,785 votes. The vote was taken among the Green Party’s approximately 7,000 paid members nationwide.

The election culminated a several year party process of internal debate and change from having male and female “principal spokespersons” to a new Party Leader/ Deputy Leader (Co-Leader) structure.

In her acceptance speech, Lucas said that there was an “amazing opportunity” for a party which “genuinely stands for social and environmental justice,” and that “more and more people are ready to vote for us and we need to be ready to provide them with the candidates and the party that they deserve.”

Pointing to growing success in local elections, she said the party was ‘coming of age’ and she expected it to win its first seats in the House of Commons in the 2009 General Election. “I will work tirelessly to get our positive Green message across to the public, and to see more Greens elected to deliver social and environmental justice in towns and cities across the country.

Calling energy companies ‘robber barons’, she criticized sitting Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown for failing to impose a windfall tax on massive profits. “We’ve got a Prime Minister who says that climate change is the greatest threat we face and yet there he is, unable to even levy any kind of windfall tax.”

Lucas called for a Green New Deal that would include investing the proceeds of such a windfall tax on massive energy company profit into “making the homes of ordinary people warmer and fuel bills more affordable.”

Public investment in “green-collar” issues like renewable energy and conservation, Lucas argued, would create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tackle rising unemployment and aid the fight against global warming. Lucas called for a program of free insulation to every home in the U.K. She pointed to the existing and successful Green Party-initiated program in Kirklees. Spearheaded by local Councilor Andrew Cooper, the program insulated 40,000 homes with a subsidy from the municipal government.

In November 2007, the Green Party of England & Wales adopted the new Party Leader structure by 73 percent in a national referendum of party members. It followed a long internal tactical debate within the party about how it could grow to its potential. Members developed strategies to maximize growing support for green issues within the British electorate, including how to achieve the long sought electoral breakthrough in Westminster.

With elections for the House of Commons scheduled for 2009, Lucas identified Brighton Pavilion, Norwich South, and Lewisham as target seats where the party hopes to win. In Brighton Pavilion where Lucas plans to run, the Green Party finished first among the four top parties in the last local elections, winning 30 percent of the vote to Labour’s 25 percent. In Ramsey’s Norwich South district, the Greens came first with 33 percent of the vote, three thousand ahead of Labour, meaning in both cases if the party simply holds its margin from local election, it could win its first Westminster seats.

For more information:
Green Party of England & Wales www.greenparty.org.uk
Caroline Lucas www.carolinelucas.org.uk

Mountain Party gubernatorial candidate Jesse Johnson endorsed by West Virginia Citizen Action Fund

Mountain Party gubernatorial candidate Jesse Johnson endorsed by West Virginia Citizen Action Fund

Distributed by the Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

Jesse Johnson for Governor of West Virginia http://www.jesse4wvgov.org
West Virginia Mountain Party http://www.mtparty.org

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Contact: Mountain Party Press, 304-552-6167, or Jesse Johnson, 304-541-9841

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Jesse Johnson campaign for Governor of West Virginia was endorsed by West Virginia Citizen Action Fund

The Citizen Action Fund, a new political action committee formed by West Virginia Citizen Action Group, is the state's oldest consumer protection and government watch-dog organization.

The endorsement, announced last week and reporterd in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch ("Citizen group announces endorsements," Oct. 19, http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x107810239/Citizen-group-announces-endorsements) recognizes Jesse Johnson's outspoken advocacy for West Virginians in public health, the environment, workers' and consumers' protections, transition to clean alternative energy, and other areas.

"The CAF endorsement clearly acknowledges Jesse as the gubernatorial candidate who will fight for the people of West Virginia instead of powerful corporate interests who've treated the state like a dumping ground," said Lesia Angel, Deputy Commissioner of the Mountain Party.

"Because of mountaintop removal and the power of the coal companies, West Virginia has become ground zero for global climate change in the US," said Jesse Johnson. "The Interior Department is now relaxing rules on mountaintop mining, which will bring untold devastation to the natural environment and a massive threat to public health, through contamination of water and other resources. I'm the only nominee addressing this crisis, because the Democrat and Republican are too closely allied with the coal companies that are plundering West Virginia."

Johnson supporters also noted his strong opposition to a plan by Governor Manchin to allow electric transmission lines, which would allow private, out-of-state companies to take private property from West Virginia citizens and gouge ratepayers.

On October 3, Jesse Johnson was endorsed by the Sierra Club (http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2008/10/06/sierra-club-endorses-jesse-johnson-for-wv-governor/). Mr. Johnson is a former chair of the West Virginia Mountain Party, and as chair, he affiliated the Mountain Party with the Green Party of the United States (http://www.gp.org).

Video clip of Jesse Johnson speaking at a recent West Virginia Youth Commission forum: http://www.vimeo.com/2013238

Green Party candidates for state legislature to watch on Election Day 2008

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

General Green Party election information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml

More candidates to watch: http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States is running an outstanding slate of candidates for state legislature in 2008, with a few strong possibilities of victory on Election Day. Four such candidates are profiled below.

The most impressive list of candidates comes from Illinois, where the Green Party (http://www.ilgp.org) is running 54 candidates for public office, more than any other Green Party, among whom 18 candidates are seeking seats in the state legislature.

At least 245 Green candidates will be on ballots on Election Day, November 4. At least 293 Greens have run for public office throughout 2008, including the November 4 election. More Green candidates to watch are listed at: http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php

The Green Party's 2008 national nominees are Cynthia McKinney and running mate Rosa Clemente. Ms. McKinney was interviewed on BreakTheMatrix.com on Sunday evening, October 19 (http://www.breakthematrix.com/node/28047) and on Democracy Now!, October 16, following the final presidential debate, from which she was excluded (http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/16/breaking_the_sound_barrier_third).


Richard Carroll is running unopposed, except for two write-in candidates, for an open seat in Arkansas State Representative District 39. He has strong union support, with endorsements from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), United Transportation Union, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Arkansas State Electrical Workers Association, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and the Central Labor Council of Arkansas, as well as the North Little Rock Fire Fighters, Ride Free, and Arkansas Democrat Gazette (http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/oct/29/richard-carroll-20081029/). Mr. Carroll has been active in union organizing for 30 years, holding the offices of Vice President, and Recording Secretary of IBB Local 69, and Vice President, Recording Secretary, and Local Chairman of IBB Local 66

Campaign web site: http://www.newmenu.org/richardcarroll


Farheen Hakeem, a popular political personality in Minneapolis, is running for Minnesota State House District 61B. Three candidates are seeking an open seat, and in recent polls Ms. Hakeem is running in a statistical dead heat for the lead. Ms. Hakeem, who has worked as a teacher and volunteers as a Girl Scout Leader, ran for Mayor of Minneapolis in 2005 as a Green and received 14% of the vote. In 2006, she ran for Hennepin County Commissioner (District 4) against a Democratic incumbent, drawing 33%.

Minneapolis Mirror article with video: http://mplsmirror.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=422&Itemid=1
Campaign web site: http://www.farheenhakeem.org


Ante Marijan, candidate for State Representative in the Chicago (District 2), received endorsements from the Chicago Sun-Times (http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/endorsements/1239644,CST-EDT-edit24.article) and the Chicago Tribune (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-1025edit1oct25,0,2682341.story).

Campaign web site: http://www.11thwardgreens.org/


Kent Solberg, candidate for State Representative District 27, received the endorsement of the Arizona Daily Star, the largest circulation newspaper in Tucson (http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/263651). He also qualified for Arizona Clean Elections funds, enabling him to run a well-financed campaign. The campaign has canvassed the entire district twice with 50,000 brochures each time, and just finished a series of three special rallies with live bands. Additionally for the first time for any Green candidate in Arizona, Mr. Solberg is running 30 second TV and 60 Spanish radio commercials. Mr. Solberg, running an issues-oriented campaign, has a very real chance to defeat one of the two incumbents.

Campaign web site: http://www.kent4house.org


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml

Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml

Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers

Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

2008 Green candidates to watch http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for the White House
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.runcynthiarun.org

Cynthia McKinney on video
http://www.youtube.com/user/RunCynthiaRun
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=RunCynthiaRun

BreakTheMatrix.com interview, Oct. 19: http://www.breakthematrix.com/node/28047

Democracy Now! interview, Oct. 16: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/16/breaking_the_sound_barrier_third

Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx1NPlQjkqo

Rosa Clemente on video

Interview: Current TV/Rock the Vote http://current.com/items/89335393_the_organizer_and_green_party_vp_candidate_talks_about_her_inspirations