SF Bay Guardian rips into Democratic Central Committee for anti-Green resolutions
[As Sam Smith says… the Greens are the only constituency the Democrats seem to believe can be convinced by insult. Nonsense like this just accelerates the defection of progressives away from the Democratic Party. Which, from a Green perspective, isn’t that bad… but doesn’t do much for cross-party progressive alliances. -Thomas]
IF THE LEADERS of the California Democratic Party are wondering why their governor is in so much trouble, they can simply look at what the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, the party’s local operating arm, did July 23. The DCCC considered two resolutions, both aimed directly at the Green Party - and both symbolizing how the Democrats are putting their core constituency, and thus the future of the party, at risk.
The first resolution, as originally introduced by committee members Tom Hsieh Jr., Megan Levitan, Mary Jung, and Dan Dunnigan, would have “condemned” the Greens for “supporting the recall of Gov. Gray Davis.” Actually, the California Green Party is neutral on the recall, and the resolution was eventually softened to simply urge the Greens to oppose it and not to run a candidate. The second resolution would have directed local Democratic Party clubs not to endorse Green Party candidates; again, that was softened to exempt local, nonpartisan races.
This is just a local outcropping of a battle that’s been going on for many years, ever since the Greens qualified for party status in California despite a blistering assault by the Democratic Party. Top national and California Democrats still try to blame the Greens and Ralph Nader for the fact that George W. Bush is president. But as Democrats scramble to use all sorts of political tactics to attack the Greens, they’re forgetting a crucial point: the Green Party exists, and is growing, precisely because the Democrats have abandoned such a key part of their political base. And that’s also a major reason that Davis is in such trouble.
