> Nathan asked if it were a blip. Probably. The demo candidate is a hack, who
> accomplished nothing while Mayor, and refused to campaign. With a low turnout
> the Green won, but she may establish a base for herself and stay for the 6 years
> of Cal. term limits. in the leg.
>
> She will also give legitimacy to other Greens, and in this sense, might prove to
> be more than a blip.
In Southern California, it's pretty clear that there are bigger differences between many Democrats than there are between some Democrats and Greens, Labor Party and non-party activists.
Because ALL local offices in Claiforna -- from county superviser (2 million+ constituents), DA, etc. on down to school board, water district, etc. -- are non-partisan, there are considerable opportunities for collaborations that could spread, especially in the matrix of initiative campaigns, which, of course, are also non-partisan, and frequently mobilize large numbers of people.
So, in short, there may well be surprising developments at hand. The political matrix to make them *possible* exists, but that's a long way from saying that anything WILL happen.
Last year, Green gubenatorial candidate Dan Hamburg (former Democratic Congressmember from California's First District, home of the Headwaters Forrest) was utterly excluded from the mainstream media debates, coverage, and, of course, most importantly in these days of dollar democracy, from camapign ads. His showing was disappointing for his supporters -- the candidate for Lt. Governor, Sarah Amir, did MUCH better.
However, at one of the rare major forums where he did get to speak he completely captured the crowd of statewide LATINO activists, both by the manner and content of what he had to say. Combined with this recent win, this seems to indicate that there's a certainly potential for the Greens in California, but that top-of-the-ticket races are going to take quite some time to be the place to focus.
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
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