On Mon, 26 Jun 2000, Seth Ackerman wrote:
> It's not a personality vehicle because Nader doesn't have a
> personality. Nor does he seem to want one or care about one. (Neither is it
> to build a Green Party. But to me that's not terrible, since a non-Labor
> party doesn't stand much of a chance anyway.) What it is is a PR campaign:
> an effort to force the media and the voters to take a serious look at
> everything the GOP/Dems can normally get away with ignoring. That's a good
> thing.
It's also a funding campaign. If the Greens can get past a certain point, this campaign or next, they can get matching funding and automatic state listings. So to that extent, Ralph's campaign could help build a third party even if he never mentioned it -- not one that could ever win the Presidency, but one that could conceivably get a steady 6-10% to the left of the Democrats for a few cycles, forcing the Democrats to compete for our votes, and funding the PR campaign Seth mentioned on a continuing basis. It might be a continuation of Seattle by other means, as least on the educational level. And lastly, if one or two third parties could get a foothold for a couple of election cycles, people might finally begin to think that something besides duoarchy was possible.
BTW, does anyone know much about the Green candidate for Senate in New York?
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com