Voices From the Past
Mike Feinstein recently sent out some archival materials from the 1999-2000 ASGP Presidential Candidate Exploratory effort. In February of 1999 the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) sent a letter and questionnaire to 20 individuals inviting them to consider involvement in the 2000 Green presidential campaign. They were sent to: Wendell Berry, Jerry Brown, Lester Brown, Noam Chomsky, Ron Daniels, Ron Dellums, Lani Guinier, Dan Hamburg, Woody Harrelson, Paul Hawken, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Winona LaDuke, Cynthia McKinney, Carol Miller, Toni Morrison, Ralph Nader, Ron Ouellette, John Robbins, Jan Schlichtmann. In May they sent the material out to seven more people: Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, Joceyln Elders, Kurt Schmoke, Studs Terkel, Myrlie Evers-Williams, General Lee Butler.
Below is first the Introductory Letter & Questionnaire, followed by some of the replies the Greens received from these amazing people.
INTRODUCTORY LETTER/QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear –]
We are contacting you on behalf of the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP), a federation of Green Parties in the United States. As the ASGP’s Presidential Exploratory Committee, we are charged with recruiting and interviewing prospective presidential and vice-presidential candidates for our 2000 campaign.
Your name has been suggested as someone with the vision, character, and proven accomplishments to warrant consideration. The presidency may be the single most demanding position in the world. Now is the time to make a transition to a sustainable and just society and your role in a Green presidential campaign could make a historic difference.
With this letter, we hope to begin a dialogue with you about the future of our world and country. Green values and positions can broaden the debate across a spectrum of ideas and offer solutions that might otherwise never be brought to light. We have included a copy of the (draft) “Green Party Platform 2000″ to give you a sense of how the Green Party vision can profoundly impact public policy. If you are ready to lend your voice and strength to this immensely important effort, we hope you will seriously consider joining us in our 2000 campaign and serve as either a presidential or vice presidential candidate, or even as a supporter or campaign advisor.
As you may know, the Green movement began in the 1970’s and is now worldwide. The Green Party in the US is based on “key values” of ecological sustainability, grassroots democracy, non-violence and personal and social responsibility.
In 1996, the Green movement in the U.S. took a major step forward with the presidential and vice-presidential campaign of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke. The Nader/LaDuke campaign put a foundation of ideas and integrity in place and we are looking to build on the credibility and visibility gained in our first presidential election.
We would ask you to carefully read our Green Platform. It is a unique and comprehensive political document, one that Ralph Nader called far superior to the major party platforms. We believe our ideas belong in the debates, and that the American people will welcome innovative solutions and policies based on values. Considering the upcoming election season has been shortened with front-loaded, super primaries, the role of an independent voice will have greater weight than ever in 2000.
Running as a presidential candidate for a “third” party in a “two-party system” will be a unique and extremely challenging experience. The Green Party will again be organizing a serious, credible campaign, looking to be placed on over 40 state ballots. We are also undertaking a plan to raise $5,000 in each of 20 states in order to qualify for matching federal funds, thereby ensuring a minimum of $200,000 for this effort. By qualifying a candidate for these matching funds, all contributions received by the candidate before the Green Party presidential nominating convention will also be matched dollar-for dollar.
The Green party represents a voice for change and a vision of the future. The future is not discovered. It is built. What we do today will determine the world we leave for our children.
This is our challenge – to make history as we enter the new millennium and change the world in which we live. Although the work will be hard, and the obstacles daunting, we are here to support you and each other in making our world a saner, safer, more equitable and peaceful place.
We sincerely hope that you will consider our proposal and we will be in touch with you in the near future. Feel free to contact our Exploratory Chairperson, David Cobb, Esq. [...........................................].
1. Please list five issues that you think are most important and what would you do about them? (Who are you?)
2. Is there anything in our Draft Green Platform with which you disagree? (Who are we?)
3. Most Green Parties use a modified form of the consensus decision-making process to promote wide participation and encourage consideration of divergent viewpoints. What experience do you have with consensus? (Can we work together?)
4. Over the past few years, have you become more or less inclined to believe that a third party can work here in the USA? (Will we succeed?)
5. How can we work together to make the Green Party more effective? (How to?)
Below are some of the replies the Greens received, as published in Green Pages at the time:
Answers to Green Presidential Exploratory Committee Questionnaire:
Lester Brown
Founder/President World Watch Institute
“Building an environmentally sustainable economy within the short time that is available is perhaps the greatest challenge that our generation or, indeed, any generation has faced. If the Green Party can accelerate this effort, future generations will be forever indebted…At the personal level, I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to me to be asked to consider being the Green Party candidate. Were I less constrained by circumstances, I might well respond positively. I wish you the best in your effort to build an environmentally sustainable future.Bill McKibben
Environmental Author
‘The End of Nature’
“I just got your letter. It was nice of you to write, though I’m not really presidential material. I’ve read the green platform before, and agree with nearly all of it. I think you have a crucial role to play-maybe more in the 2000 election than ever, what with the need to keep Gore’s feet to the fire.”Noam Chomsky
Professor of Linguistics, MIT
“I was most interested to learn about the prospective candidate project, and appreciate the invitation to enter into the dialogue on the matter. I’d be interested in doing so, if I can help, but not as a candidate -not my cup of tea, and far removed from whatever useful talents I might have.”Lani Guinier
Professor of Law, Harvard
“I have no interest in running as a candidate in the political system as it is now constituted. I am, however, honored by the interest and would be happy to engage in a dialogue on the issues.”Paul Hawken
Ecological Economist and Author
Founder “The Natural Step”
“I was surprised (and flattered of course) to receive your request. Having written speeches for Presidential candidates and been on the road, I actually have a smidgen of a sense of what this would entail. I am actually a more behind the scenes person, and have never loved politics, or I should say the meanness of politics. If I thought I could make a difference, I would consider it. But I do not believe I have the public profile or position to lend much credibility or ‘gravitas’ to the Green Party. I am very supportive of the idea, the effort, the initiative. I am very grateful and honored you would ask.”Carol Miller
New Mexico Green Party
Congressional Candidate 1997 & 1998 “I am deeply honored and flattered to receive your invitation to consider seeking the Green Party Presidential nomination. I must respectfully decline. I will enthusiastically support any serious, credible candidate who emerges from this process, and offer to campaign for such a candidate. I also offer to serve as an advisor to such a candidate on rural community and health care issues (my areas of expertise) as well as other national policy issues as needed.”Ralph Nader
consumer advocate and Green Party
Presidential Candidate 1996
“Thank you for inviting my response regarding the seeking of the Green Party’s Presidential nomination in the year 2000. If I seek the nomination – a decision that will not be made until next year- and receive that designation, I will pursue a dedicated and thorough campaign that meets the Federal Election Commission requirements.”Such an active campaign will have the objective of strengthening our nation’s democracy by strengthening the Green Party movement at the local, state and national levels; by emphasizing the problems of, and remedies for, the excessive concentration of corporate power and wealth in our country, by highlighting the important tools of democracy needed for the American people as voters/citizens, workers, consumers, taxpayers, and small savers/investors.”
“If there are Greens who support my seeking the nomination, I encourage them to expand the number of volunteers and increase the time spent working to build the Green Party this year in order to advance the Party’s “Key Values” and to increase the likelihood of ballot access in all fifty states.”
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Thanks to Mike Feinstein for sending this!
