Abstract

The Democrat-Green Death Struggle

The author criticizes the apparent unwillingness of the Democrats and the Greens to make common cause in defeating the Republicans in 2004 U.S. presidential election. In 2000, George W. Bush won 48 percent of the national vote, against a combined total of 52 percent for Al Gore and Ralph Nader. Can Democrats and Greens figure out how to play the politics of addition, rather than subtraction, in 2004? Right now, the prospects for any kind of modus vivendi are grim. All over the country, Democrats have been trying, with little success, to drive the Greens out of existence. Democrats like Berman and Tomasky believe that the Greens should fold themselves into the larger party and exercise influence from within, the way the Christian right has done with the Republican Party. What they miss is that many Green activists have tried that route and feel they got nowhere. Green voters won't come back to the Democratic fold unless they feel their concerns are being addressed. Even Democrats who express respect for the Greens' political commitment say they understand the hard-liners' desire to snuff out the Greens. Needless to say, the current Democrat-Green death struggle flows in the other direction too. It may not be possible for some Greens to make themselves look dumber than they did in 2002, when many supported the Minnesota party's decision to run a candidate against Senator Paul Wellstone, but they sure do try. Leaders and activists on both sides of the divide have their backs up like a pair of estranged relatives who can't bear the sight of each other, when in fact they have a common interest in 2004 and ought to be able to find ways to coexist.