Ecological Wisdom * Social Justice * Grassroots Democracy * Non-Violence
>> Green Party of Michigan <<
http://www.migreens.org
>>> ---------------- <<<
>>> News Release <<<
>>> ---------------- <<<
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
---------------------
September 20, 2004
For More Information Contact:
----------------------------
Marc Reichardt -- Chair, Green Party of Michigan
chair@migreens.org
Jane Jarlsberg -- Co-Chair, Green Party of Kent County
janejarlsberg@allvantage.com
616-459-0825
John Anthony La Pietra -- Elections Coördinator, Green Party of Michigan
elections@migreens.org
>> Presidential Candidate David Cobb Energizes Michigan Greens <<
>> =========================================================== <<
> Keeps Promise to Visit Battleground State, Kicks Off "Green Tour" <
> <
> Raises Money, Attention for Own Campaign, Michigan Green Candidates <
> <
> Promotes Values of Growing Green Party in Grand Rapids, Lansing, <
> Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, West Bloomfield, Ann Arbor <
> <
> Running Mate Pat LaMarche Will Also Visit Michigan, Stay in <
> Detroit Homeless Shelter October 3 as Part of "Left Out Tour" <
David Cobb, Presidential candidate of the Green Party of the United
States (GPUS), energized Green candidates and supporters and attracted
attention from undecided voters and underrepresented citizens across
Michigan while criss-crossing the state Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaking among friends and to groups of people just starting to
hear about the key values of Greens -- environmental wisdom, social
justice, grassroots democracy, peace and non-violence -- Cobb reminded
crowds in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor/Saint Joseph,
West Bloomfield, and Ann Arbor that America owes much to the principled
agendas of third parties like the Greens.
The end of slavery, votes for women and people of color, Social
Security, even the weekend -- these and many other civil and human
rights are now taken for granted, he noted. "The bottom line is, the
fabric of what we would call a just society was woven by third parties."
The two major parties treat all such proposals as either hopelessly
naive or dangerous, crazy, the work of socialists -- or, worse yet,
terrorists, Cobb noted. "If you want real, systemic change, I urge you
to vote for a party that stands for change -- the Green Party -- and
I urge you to join the Green Party," he told his audiences.
Draws Spotlight to Michigan Green Candidates, Issues
----------------------------------------------------
Cobb shared the podium -- and the media spotlight -- with a dozen
of the Green Party of Michigan's elected officeholders and candidates.
At Wednesday afternoon's rally on the steps of the Capitol in Lansing,
he was joined by incumbent Mount Pleasant City Commissioner James Moreno
and 7th Congressional District candidate Jason Seagraves.
That evening in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University's Sangren
Hall, Cobb spoke and took questions after speeches by Ben Burgis, who is
running for the MSU Board of Trustees; Peter Ponzetti III, candidate for
the State Board of Education; James Wilber, running for Kalamazoo County
Clerk; and Stephanie Frizzell, candidate for Kalamazoo County Sheriff.
On Thursday, Cobb taped two episodes of GPMI's cable-access program
_In the Green_ hosted by the Greens' top vote-getter in 2002, U-M Board
of Regents candidate Susan Fawcett. In one of the episodes, Cobb talked
about state and local issues and campaigns with Ferndale school board
member Melissa Hohauser-Thatcher; Lisa Weltman, Green candidate for
Congress in the 14th District; and Art Myatt, one of only two candidates
of any party on the ballot for Oakland County Executive.
That evening, Cobb shared the lectern at U-M's Modern Languages
Building with Nathaniel Damren, this year's Green candidate for Regent;
Donnelly Hadden, running in Washtenaw County's 7th County Commission
District; Seagraves; and Marc Reichardt, on the ballot for the 3rd Ward
seat on the Ann Arbor City Council.
Outreach to BANCO in Benton Harbor Another Key in Party-Building Tour
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One major effort of outreach and party-building was Cobb's visit
to Benton Harbor and Saint Joseph, to join Rev. Edward Pinkney and
members of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO) at
their weekly protest against the political leadership of Benton Harbor
and Berrien County.
Pinkney and Cobb both spoke to marchers, at the Berrien County
Administration Building and Benton Harbor City Hall, about the need for
BANCO and the Green Party to come together -- and stand up together,
and say "no" when the powers-that-be tell them to go away.
Indeed, it was Benton Harbor economic developer Pete Mitchell who
went away -- from City Hall, in response to marchers' calls to him that
it was time to go.
Michigan Greens promised to keep working with BANCO -- and to bring
more information about Cobb, other Green candidates, and the Green Party
platform to future BANCO meetings.
Cobb on Elections: Greens "Participating"; IRV Can Stop Spoiling
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Cobb understands it is unlikely he will win, but says that doesn't
mean Greens should support compromise candidates such as Ralph Nader or
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. The party's immediate goal
is to promote its message and build support.
"I would never vote for John Kerry because he doesn't represent
me," Cobb says. But he understands that voters will have to make up
their own minds whether to vote, in today's flawed election system,
against someone they hate instead of for someone they like. . . .
He adds, "I will tell the truth: Kerry is bad, Bush is worse --
and the American people need and deserve much better. And that's where
the Green Party comes in."
In response to questions from audience members and the media about
Greens "spoiling" elections, Cobb emphasized, "What other people call
'spoiling', Greens call 'participation'." He focused on one good way
to avoid spoiled elections: Instant Runoff Voting, which he noted was
being used by the Utah Republican Party (among others) to guarantee
that winners had to have a majority of the vote.
Cobb is not concerned that Nader, whose own Green Party Presidential
campaign in 2000 Cobb managed in Texas, will cost him votes. More
important is that more people are hearing the message of the many
values Cobb's Green Party and Nader's independent coalition share.
He feels voters' disillusionment with the "Big Two" parties, which are
perverting true democracy.
Cobb also observes that, while Nader's independent campaign will
end in November, the Green Party will go on standing for its principles,
"We're the only party calling for an end to the war in Iraq. We could
have the troops home in six to eight weeks, but we wouldn't do it in a
vacuum. I'd cancel all those contracts we gave to Halliburton and the
others, and give the money to the Iraqi people so they could rebuild
their own country."
"I'm not worried about the credibility of the United States in the
Middle East. What I am worried about is ending war as a foreign policy.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Army in Iraq is not viewed as an army of
liberation. It's viewed as an army of occupation, and the only thing
to do is bring the soldiers home."
Michigan Green Candidates, Community Leaders Pleased with Visit
---------------------------------------------------------------
The visit was more than self-sustaining in several ways -- raising
funds to pay for the trip and more (and money for local candidates and
parties as well); drawing more media attention than is frequently given
to the Green Party; and energizing party faithful as well as attracting
new people to the movement.
Green candidate for Kalamazoo County Clerk James Wilber commented,
"This week, David Cobb made good the promise he made at our national
convention, to help 'grow the Green Party.' He used unflagging spirit
and common-sense appeal, not to cut down his opponents, but to spread
a message of hope -- that the Green Party is here and getting bigger
and stronger every election cycle.
"David's reminder that third-party movements have always been the
ones to bring true progressive change in our country -- like the end
of slavery, the end of child labor, food and drug standards, voting
rights for women, and the forty-hour work week -- made me proud to be
a Green Party candidate. It made me realize that the ascendance of
the Green Party as a major political force is not only likely, but
inevitable."
Jane Jarlsberg, co-chair of the Green Party of Kent County and
organizer of Cobb's brown-bag lunch appearance at Campau Square Park
in Grand Rapids, was also pleased by the media's reaction to Cobb.
"My impression Wednesday was that the reporters themselves were curious
and interested. Some of them stayed with us for the whole 1-1/2 hours!
Jarlsberg also cited analysis by Jeff Smith of GRIID saying that
coverage of Cobb's visit in the Grand Rapids area focused more on issues
than on "the 'horse race' type of reporting" more commonly used on
visits by the major-party candidates.
"I think it went very well. I saw a number of new faces here
in Ann Arbor, all of which came away with a very positive impression
of David and the Greens," said GPMI chair and Ann Arbor 3rd Ward City
Council candidate Marc Reichardt.
Rob Haug of the U-M Campus Greens, who organized Cobb's appearance
at the Modern Languages Building Thursday night, agreed that "David did
a great job here in Ann Arbor. . . . by the end we were at 40+ in an
overflowing class room -- and at least half were new faces. David
really engaged the crowd, and I feel like it got a lot of new folks
interested in the Greens and local campaigns."
Rev. Pinkney describes his meeting with Cobb as "tremendous", and
expresses his hope and faith that BANCO and the Green Party will keep
working together for social justice and grassroots democracy in Benton
Harbor and across the state.
The Michigan visit kicked off Cobb's "GREEN Tour" -- subtitled
"The Need for Clean". The tour continues this week, with Cobb traveling
across the country highlighting Green initiatives -- from environmental
issues to alternative-fuel vehicles, wind farms, solar panels, green
buildings, wetlands, parks, rivers, brownfield cleanups for economic
development, and issues of environmental justice.
Cobb, a public-interest attorney with a working-class background who
helped organize the Green Party onto the ballot in his native Texas in
2000, was nominated at the GPUS convention in Milwaukee this June.
The visit kept a promise made by Cobb to Michigan Greens at that
convention -- that he would visit Michigan even though it is considered
a battleground state. Cobb pointed out that it also proved he isn't
just running a safe-states strategy. "I'm going to spend a total of
five days in October sleeping in my own bed. If that isn't running
all out, I don't know what is!"
Cobb's Vice Presidential running mate, liberal and positive
talk-show host Patricia LaMarche of Maine, will be in Michigan next
month. As part of her "Left Out Tour", LaMarche will stay overnight
at the Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS), a homeless shelter in
Detroit, on Sunday, October 3.
* [-----------------------------------------------------] *
For more information about David Cobb and Patricia LaMarche, their
views on the issues and their proposals for the future of this country
and the world, their campaign as the GPUS 2004 Presidential ticket,
please visit the campaign Web site:
http://www.votecobb.org
For information specifically on LaMarche's "Left Out Tour", see:
http://www.votecobb.org/leftouttour
The GPUS home page is at:
http://www.gp.org
For a full list of Michigan Greens on the November 2 ballot, with
the offices they are seeking and campaign contact information, see:
http://www.migreens.org/mi-cand.htm
For more information on GPMI, and how you can get in contact with
Green candidates and locals in your area to help offer Michigan voters
a choice and a voice independent of the "Big Two" parties, please visit
the party's home page:
http://www.migreens.org
# # #
Green Party of Michigan * 548 S. Main Street *
* Ann Arbor, MI 48104 * 734-663-3555
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The Green Party of Michigan was formed in 1987 to address environmental
issues in Michigan politics. Greens are organized in all 50 states and
the District of Columbia. Each state Green Party sets its own goals
and creates its own structure, but US Greens agree on Ten Key Values:
Ecological Wisdom * Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice * Nonviolence
Community Economics * Decentralization
Feminism * Respect for Diversity
Personal and Global * Future Focus/
Responsibility Sustainability
created/distributed using donated labor
Other Contacts:
Green Party of Michigan
548 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-663-3555
info@migreens.org
posted to web 20 Sep 2004