[briansmith]

Keeping The Liberal Vote... And Winning: The Challenge of the new Democratic Party

Let's face it, folks. Ralph Nader and the Greens didn't lose the 2000 election for the Democrats. Joe Lieberman did. Joe Lieberman, even though I strongly supported him as Gore's running mate in 2000 (and I even predicted it, amazingly enough), wasn't liberal enough. In fact, he supported vouchers, supported prayer in school, was willing to compromise (and did) on a woman's right to choose, and simply wasn't (and isn't) a good representative of the Democratic Party. Lieberman is a lot like Georgia Senator Zell Miller in a number of ways, least of which being that Lieberman would rather aim to be a Bush-lite than to be a real Democrat.

The 2004 election cycle presents an interesting dilemma. There is a debate going on within the Green Party as to whether or not they should run a Presidential candidate at all in 2004. The concern is whether or not the Greens should potentially allow Bush to be re-elected by putting the liberal vote into play. Ralph Nader supports running a Presidential campaign and focusing on all the states, whereas David Cobb -- another Green Presidential candidate -- supports a "safe states" campaign where the Greens will only try to get out the vote in states that are not in play. I tend to side with Cobb.

Can Howard Dean grab the liberal vote and many of the moderates too? Absolutely. Could John Kerry or Dick Gephardt do the same? Absolutely. The odd man out in all of this seems to be John Edwards. Edwards, retiring from the Senate and basically putting his seat in the hands of the Republicans along with Senators Miller and Graham of Georgia and Florida respectively, would be an ideal Presidential OR Vice Presidential candidate, but he seems relegated to the #2 spot simply because he is, for whatever reason, not able to get enough of the limelight to make an impact in the Presidential race.

If a Lieberman or a Clark is nominated, especially Lieberman, the chances of the Greens running a serious and strong campaign that will take away liberal votes from the Democratic ticket will greatly increase. While I like General Clark, I despise Senator Lieberman, and I certainly hope that the Democrats will do the right thing all across this great nation and voice a resounding "NO THANKS" to the Bush-lite policies of Senator Lieberman.

[The Outspoken]

If the Democrats want to get elected they have to run the middle ground. About a third of this nation votes consistantly Dems, about a third Reps, and about a third are independents. The person who can capture the most votes in the middle is always the winner.

Personally, I want the Green party to split the Dems, and perhaps the Libertarians to split the Reps, but we need more than a two party system. I hate Dems with a passion (for things they have actually done to me), and I hate the Reps for not taking action when it matters most. (i.e. pushing through legislation when it will work).

Although I abhor the lack of logic in the Green party, they should contend as well as they can to support the Democratic process. You were right about one thing. If people voted Green instead of Dem, it was because the Dems lacked something.