by William Skink
The Green Party was already in defense mode from last year’s election cycle because Jill Stein is clearly a Kremlin cutout puppet-fingered by Putin. If it’s not obvious anything will be used to denigrate political alternatives in order to keep us herded into the self-defeating sham of America’s political duopoly, it should be.
In James Conner’s piece pondering if right wing mischief makers are trying to hijack MT’s Green Party he covers the initial controversy that put the Green Party on the defensive, specifically the political antithesis of Green Party ideology, John Gibney of Hamilton.
While it’s obvious why right-wingers would want to co-opt third party opportunities, it should be equally as obvious why the Democrat establishment will be keen on finding ways to attack Green Party candidates.
In Conner’s post he states that the Green bonafides of Green Party candidate for Senate, Steve Kelly, are rock solid. I don’t dispute that notion at all. But in today’s political arena anything that can used by your opponent should be anticipated.
Guilt by association is an easy tactic to pull, as is smearing someone as a conspiracy theorist. One would have to be politically naive to think this won’t come up if it appears at all a third party candidate could move the margins in a Senatorial race.
JC
The Dems are just worried (rightfully so?) that Tester again won’t be able to pull 50% of the vote, and that the greenie will take more votes away from him than whoever his opponent turns out to be.
I think their worry is premature.
Well, I’d say that Steve Kelly’s Green candidacy is major fuck you to Tester for stabbing the Green vote in the back after the 2006 election. He wouldn’t be senator if Paul Richards and his contingent of green dems hadn’t dropped out of the primary and swung their support to him. If Steve takes enough votes away from Tester from the left, that he doesn’t get by flaunting his republican ways to the center, then c’est la vie. Accountability comes in many forms.
You’re right JC. Instead of giving donations to Rep. candidates (especially pre primaries) money funneled to Steve’s campaign would have a greater effect.
Those beacons of democracy and the Superdelegate ex MT Dem party leader are working their hardest to get the Greens thrown off the ballot. I guess suppressing the Green vote is preferable to them voting for a candidate of their choice:
http://missoulian.com/news/government-and-politics/montana-secretary-of-state-democratic-superdelegate-is-challenging-the-green/article_fc0048f2-6d89-51b7-aa82-c79f915535dc.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest
I have a question; maybe too broad, but who are these ‘green’ people?
Are they simply a Dem support group? Upset with the Dems in Helena?
Are they real people, who maybe watch reruns of Captain Planet?
And if the Greens stay on the ballot, do a lot of Dems abandon Tester, who is now a Trumpist?
Eric, you can go read the Green platform online. You know how to use the google. As to your other questions, no they are not a Dem support group, and they are upset with all politicians who don’t take environmental issues seriously. And yes they are real people, probably less apt than the average joe to have a TV to watch “Captain Planet”, much less to even know what the hell that is. And if the Greens do stay on the ballot, there will be voters across the spectrum who may prefer another choice to the pablum of
twomono party elections. As to Tester being a Trumpist, it’s pretty obvious he won’t be running against the prez, even though dems believe that his reelection is critical to countering Trump. Cognitive dissonance at its best.Thanks – I thought I had seen everything in Montana politics, yet I see Tester on TV bragging about working with President Trump, and the Dem establishment attacking environmentalists.