Feministe: The women still in the race
Great post at feministe.us about the McKinney-Clemente ticket. I encourage you to read the post, and if you have the time browse through the comments. Not enough attention is being given to the impact of this ticket on feminists and women in general. Some of the post:
For all the talk about the historic nature of the Clinton (woman!) and Obama (Black!) campaigns that’s gone on in the mainstream media for the past year, you might not have any idea that a third, equally unprecedented ticket was being run: Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, the presidential and vice-presidential nominees of the Green Party. This is the first all women of color presidential ticket in the history of the United States. Now, I understand that a nomination’s historical importance and newsworthiness tends to be defined by the likelihood of its success – or, as is often the case, by the degree to which people decide to blame the Democratic party’s failures on the Greens. Yet one would hope that in between all of the celebrity gossip and other tripe that makes it onto the news regularly, the mainstream media would find a little more time to devote to a presidential ticket that is unique not only for its makeup but also for the platform it’s running on, a platform that offers a radically different choice from the rightly-named corporate parties that dominate the politics of this nation.
I’ve been trying to reach out to Hillary Clinton supporters to turn them on to McKinney / Clemente. Many of them are still targeting the Democratic Convention. But once that is over and Obama is not just the presumptive-, but the official nominee, they may be more open toward and interested in hearing about the Green Party ticket. I hope that many GP supporters will make a concerted effort to reach out to Hillary Clinton supporters!
I would think that as the November election gets closer, that the Dems will act even more like Dems and that should help McKinney/Clemente — especially with women…
Speaking of the Democratic Convention, there’s an article today in the NY Times about how Denver is gearing up to welcome thousands of protestors. Is there any effort underway to put McKinney/Clemente and GP literature in every protestor’s hand? Seems like a no-brainer to me – these people are active, principled and fed up with the Democratic party. I’d be less anxious if someone would tell me that the Greens are not going to let this opportunity float by.
I think the Greens are working on visibility such as this at the DNC. The challenge is getting signs and other materials ASAP when there aren’t a lot of signs out and available.
If the recent hype about Obama picking Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as a running mate is true he could be giving the Green Party an early christmas gift. Obama the so called candidate of change in an effort to capture centrist voters may drive away progressive and Union voters with such a choice. Bayh a centrist, second generation Washington insider, who has the personality of mayo on a Wonder Bread sandwich, is the polor opposite change. The selection of Bayh a free trader who served as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) from 2001 to 2005, would signal that the only change resulting from an Obama victory in November would be the presidential stationary.