Attached is an article from the Independent Politics Network newsletter by Jonathan Nack (one of my closest friends from Oakland and a longtime crusader for independent politics). It details a lot of the organizing background to Audie Bock's state legislative win on the Green ticket, including Green Party runs for city council by folks like Larry Shoup (whose campaign I worked on).
I'm posting the article because of its concrete detail for debates that are usually discussed in the complete abstract.
-- Nathan Newman
Why Audie Bock Quit the Green Party
by Jonathan Nack
Jaws dropped at the news that Audie Bock had changed her registration from Green to "Decline to State" and that she would run for re-election as an Independent. Heads shook at Bock's explanation for this dramatic move -- that it was a tactical move to avoid an upcoming March 2000 primary and to leap directly to the planned November run-off.
The Alameda County Green Party issued a terse press release stating it was saddened by Bock's decision and that her move highlighted the need for campaign finance reform, so that candidates would not feel so much pressure to raise funds.
There is, of course, a much deeper story. After extensive interviews with Green Party activists, former members of Bock's staff, and Bock herself, a cautionary tale emerges. There are lessons for small political parties born out of social movements and their candidates.
A "Currency Green" Story
It is now clear that Bock's move was the result of important differences she has with the Green Party which culminated in a breakdown in communications and finally a break-off in relations. It is also clear that there is a history to Bock's problems with the Greens which goes back to before she was elected. Finally, it's clear that the color of this story is green -- currency green.
Few people are in a better position to know about Bock's relationship with the Green Party than Greg Jan. Jan is a member of the Alameda Green County Council, and is as seasoned as campaign organizers get in the Green Party. He has worked on a large number of campaigns since the Greens achieved ballot status, including as the California campaign manager for Ralph Nader, and for former U.S. Congressman Dan Hamburg's run for governor. Jan was there when Bock was recruited as a candidate, managed most of her campaign, and continued to work with her after her election.
Jan was hit hard by Bock's move, but could see where it came from. "Looking back to the March election campaign, some of the problems were becoming evident. Audie didn't spend a large portion of her time working with volunteers. She let the core campaign staff and volunteers go off on their own. It was an area that didn't develop as much as it might have because Audie didn't make it a priority. I could understand how volunteers might feel that she was somewhat aloof or less interested in them," recalled Jan.
"A year ago when we made the decision to run Audie," Jan continued, "we didn't expect that we would have a chance of actually winning, so we didn't anticipate having to deal with the issue of accountability. There is a lesson here for other independent campaigns. If your candidate has not rolled up her/his sleeves and been in the trenches, and if you're not sure they are committed to group process and decision-making, there must be an in-depth interview process before choosing a candidate, even if the campaign is a long shot."
After Bock won, Jan was involved in a liaison committee set up by the Green Party County Council just to relate to Bock. But the liaison committee never really got off the ground. Jan thinks it was again due to Bock's lack of interest. "Audie didn't ask for the liaison committee to meet regularly,or more often," Jan pointed out.
Then, a week before Bock announced she had re-registered, she informed the Greens at a County Council meeting that she had accepted two corporate donations, each for $500, from Chevron and Tosco. By all accounts this news stunned everyone in the room. What followed was a long debate which concluded in the issuance of a policy statement that the Green Party of Alameda County should reject all donations from for-profit corporations.
This apparently was the last straw for Bock, who shortly after announced that she had gone Independent.
Greens Activists Respond
Both Jan and Bock confirmed that the Green Party was not consulted prior to either Bock's acceptance of the oil money or her move to re-register. "We haven't had great communications," says Jan dryly.
Some Greens were irate. The most public was Hank Chapot, who has twice been a Green Party candidate for state assembly. "I think she perpetrated a fraud on the voters because they thought they were electing a Green. She should resign," demanded Chapot. While Chapot's anger was not reflected in the Green Party's press release, my interviews with Green party activists reveal considerable bitterness. I could find no Green activists planning to volunteer for Bock's re-election campaign.
Irene Dieter was probably Bock's most dedicated campaign worker and was hired as Bock's District Office Coordinator. In an exclusive interview, Dieter told me, "I'll definitely not work for Audie's re-election. I think it's good Audie left - she's not a Green. Her voting record has a green slant, but she's not grounded in Green political principles," said Dieter.
Dieter sees the high turnover on Bock's staff as being due to Bock deciding to rely on what she called "status quo political staffers." She pointed to Bob Podesta, currently acting Chief of Staff and on full-time loan from Democratic Assembly member Dick Floyd's office, as someone who "doesn't know how to build a grassroots political movement."
Another former staffer is Rebecca Kaplan, who worked briefly as a Field Representative in Bock's district office, before Kaplan quit to run as a Green Party candidate for the At-Large seat of the Oakland City Council. "It was a mistake for Audie to leave the Green Party because efforts at movement building and social change must outlive the officeholder. I think Audie decreased her chances to be re-elected, because to run a progressive campaign you need lots of volunteers and she's lost a lot of Greens."
Larry Shoup, who three years ago ran as a Green Party candidate for the Oakland City Council (District One), is one of the Greens Bock has lost. "Audie thinks she needs to make decisions on her own, she doesn't think she needs other people's counsel. She's an individualistic person, she's not collective, and we need collective decision-making because we're always smarter together than we are individually."
Bock's Views on the Greens Response
Audie Bock doesn't understand such reactions. "There's been no betrayal," Bock told me. "My agenda hasn't changed," she protested.
Bock feels that it has been the Green Party which has been less than fully supportive of her. "I didn't anticipate so much lack of faith in my being able to negotiate my way through Sacramento. I think there was a protective feeling that I could be corrupted. I felt that Greg Jan's statement in which he expressed disappointment in me for throwing a fund raiser was not supportive."
Bock was also disappointed in the slow development of the Green Party in the district. She said that while she had lots of Greens offering her advice, people did not come forward to do a big voter registration drive. "There are many Greens who are policy experts. What I needed was people to do the grunt work," said Bock.
Jan said he never heard from Bock about a voter registration drive and that Bock's re-election campaign was slow starting because, "Audie didn't move on creating a re-election campaign structure."
"The Validity of Winning"
Still, Bock's differences with the Greens really revolved around two related issues: what should be the priorities of the first elected Green Party state legislator; and what should be the position regarding corporate campaign donations? To Bock it's one issue, which she calls, "the validity of winning."
Since being elected to office, Bock has put heavy emphasis on being the most effective legislator that she can. She quickly found out that without support from Democrats and Republicans, she couldn't pass a cold. According to one senior Bock aide, Bock decided that in order to win the respect of the legislators from the dominant parties, she had to win re-election. To do that, she became convinced that she would need to raise far more money
than before. But this caused controversy within the Greens.
"What they're talking about is absolutely right," said Bock, in reference to the Green Party's opposition to the influence of corporate money. "The question is how to put theory into practice. Part of what can be accomplished by my going Decline-to-State is for the Greens to discuss fund-raising issues. These are huge questions which merit a lot of discussion. It's not for me to decide for them, but I can't wait for them to hammer out a policy. I wanted to free the Green Party from my campaign," explained Bock.
The discussion the Green County Council did have was described by Jan as difficult. There was an effort to try to distinguish between good, progressive, environmental corporations, such as Progressive Asset Management, which has donated to the Greens in the past, and bad ones like Chevron and Tosco. In the end, they couldn't come up with satisfactory generic language to make that distinction, so they voted to ban all donations by for- profit corporations.
A number of Greens told me that they never expected Bock to be able to accomplish much legislatively as the only Green in Sacramento, and that they wanted her to spend more time building the Party among the voters. Rebecca Kaplan thinks that Bock should have spent more time in the district. "She was rarely here and I did think that was a problem. If she had spent more time in the district, she would have seen how popular she was and that she could win without big money," said Kaplan.
Bock is hoping to recapture that popularity. "By next November, I'm hoping that the Green Party can come to a decision to work with me again," Bock told me. "I have to show them that I'm the same person with the same agenda."
Whether Bock can win the Green Party endorsement is an open question. Some Greens, such as Dieter and Kaplan, are still open to considering a Green endorsement of Bock. Others, such as Shoup and Chapot, are dead set against it. They feel that Bock set the worst possible example for an elected Green by leaving the party after only five months in office. "There are a lot of bitter Greens, she won't get the endorsement," predicted Shoup.
Highlighting the fact that communications between Bock and the Greens have broken down, Bock was surprised to learn that some Greens would still consider endorsing her and that a decision has yet to be made. "I was told I couldn't be endorsed," said Bock.
Bock will have a tough time putting together her re-election campaign. A victory is a long shot. Bock thinks she has helped her chances by becoming an independent. Critics think she has committed political suicide by going against her base. Time will tell whether the Green Party will end up being a footnote in Bock's political career or she's a footnote to them.
Jonathan Nack is an Oakland activist and grassroots journalist. He specializes in writing on issues involving Oakland's progressive and left communities. Email him at jnack at igc.org. A version of this article was published by OaklandNews.com.
Nathan Newman nathan.newman at yale.edu