Why Howard Dean is the ideal Democratic candidate for the Greens to run against…
This may seem completely counter-intuitive, but hear me out.
A Howard Dean nomination would be the best of all possible worlds for growing the Green Party… and, in fact, if they ran a strong candidacy, it would probably help the Democrats as well.
Why? Simple: the progressive activist community has already caught on to the fact that Dean is Clinton II, a “moderate or centrist” who will govern straight down the center line of American politics (rhetoric and bombast aside). My Select Smart Presidential compatibility index put him at 68% (vs. Nader at 100% and Kucinich at 90%) … a figure which even Joseph Lieberman beat. This fact will eventually penetrate the consciousness of the average American, to both the Green’s benefit, and Dean’s (vs. Bush).
As the ISwitched.Org Online Primary results show, Dean has zero traction among authentically progressive folk. They’re not willing to accept a candidate that doesn’t meet their political standards, even if he has a better chance of winning. They done and finished with that type of electoral gamesmanship.
A Dean nomination, especially, in conjunction with a strong Green candidacy, would accelerate the defection of the progressive elements of the Democratic Party and further consolidate the Green Party’s hold on that segment of the electorate without seriously threatening to eat into the core of the Democratic Party’s base of support because fed up non-progressive Democrats will be happy to vote for Dean.
The progressive community, it is absolutely clear, don’t buy into the argument that Dean’s policy liabilities are made up for by his vigor in attacking Bush or his Internet saavy - they want an authentically progressive candidate, and anything less just won’t do - much less a Clinton/Gore clone with a gene that promotes aggressive attacks against Republicans spliced into him.
So, how does a strong Green candicacy help the Dems? Simple: it will highlight just how much of a moderate/centrist Dean is, insulating him from Republican attempts to label him another McGovern, and allowing him to focus his fire on Bush’s record on the economy and the mess in Iraq; it will also pull a bunch of voters to the polls who will cast Democratic ballots down the ticket. Dean has an excuse to run right in the general election, because there will be no profit in fighting with the Green candidate for leftmost 10-15% of the populace… and the Green candidate can focus their efforts on a relatively narrow slice of the political spectrum that isn’t particularly likely to vote or show much enthusiasm for Dean, without fear of somehow splitting off too many votes and handing the election to Bush… i.e., increasing the number of voters.
Which is fine with me at this point: this allows us build the Green Party’s core base, get to that magic 5% number for FEC funding matches, help swing the overall American political spectrum to the left, and dump Bush all at the same time. What could be more ideal?
