>If the point is to build an institution rather than a following of a
>charismatic candidate, Matt Gonzalez made the right decision of not
>running for District 5 Supervisor again. District 5 voters need to
>vote for the Green Party, whoever its candidate will be (most likely
>Ross Mirkarimi this year), rather than vote for Gonzalez as an
>individual. The Progressive Voter Project
><http://www.progressivevoterproject.com/> is just the right project
>for this purpose.
The Australian Greens got a foothold in electoral politics through popular independents too (although the real base was activists.) Probably the first green elected in any Australian parliament was Norm Sanders, an American expatriate from California who was elected to the Tasmanian parliament as an independent. Sanders was a prominent environmental activist in the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. His election was made possible by Tasmania's Hare-Clarke PR system. Later, Sanders was elected to the Australian Senate as a Senator for the newly set-up Australian Democrats and Bob Brown took over his old seat of Denison in the Tasmanian parliament, again as an independent.
Sanders moved his permanent residence to Canberra, in order to better carry out is parliamentary duties there, but Tasmanian voters didn't appreciate this and he lost his seat. He still lives in Canberra.
Soon after, the Tasmanian Greens were set up, then another Tasmanian Green was elected and a bit later, on the back of a popular public campaign to oppose a chlorine pulp mill, the Greens captured the balance of power in the Tasmanian lower house and forced Labor to enter into an "accord" to attain government.
Bob Brown never became a real parliamentarian, he continued to be an activist who was incidentally a member of parliament. His career as an activist began in the 1960's with the failed campaign to stop the flooding of Tasmania's Lake Pedder by the Hydro-Electric Commission. (As part of which, probably the first Green party in the world, the UTG, was set up.) Brown is now a Tasmanian Green Senator and something of a cultural icon in Australia.
But I still have fond memories of Norm Sanders, the American from California. He was a real character. I'll never forget attending a little workshop, must have been in the late 70's, which was held in a tiny cramped room above the office of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in Launceston. It was a "Media Training Seminar", jointly taught by Sanders and Brown, before their pariamentary careers began.
One of the more interesting things I learned from the pair was that the phenomenon of the Tasmanian cultural cringe meant that media attention could be got simply by bringing someone from interstate or overseas to say the same thing as a local would be ignored saying, but that someone from outside would be more likely to be listened to. As they explained it, in Tasmania an "expert" is defined as anyone with a suitcase in his hand!
Other lessons were how to dress for media interviews and meetings with politicians etc. On this subject there was a hilarious gulf between the two. Bob Brown instructed the assembly of ragged hippy activists that they should pop into the opportunity shop and pick up a nice conservative suit for these occasions. men should always wear a tie and jacket.
Sanders wasn't having any of it. He'd probably never worn a suit in his life, or perhaps he'd been traumatised by the experience. He acknowledged that what Brown said, about people being illogically more likely to be impressed with the views of someone wearing a suit and tie, but flatly refused to pander to such idiocy. I recall he later got into trouble when he tried to take up his seat in the Senate, for failing to be properly dressed. He'd tried to get around the dress code by wearing his worn leather motorcyce jacket (probably the only thing with a collar that he owned) into the House. But of course he'd been sprung and thrown out. He duly made a big media fuss about this and they had to relax the code, I think he had to meet them half way though and at least wear a shirt with a collar. (Principles are hard to maintain in politics.)
Like I say, he was a character. Initially it is people like these who will get elected, before a new party can hope to attract dedicated party loyalty in its own right. It takes decades to build party loyalty and in the interim you have to accept that voters will be supporting individuals. At least until the public has some faith in what the party itself really stands for. Its a dangerous time, a new party can easily be hijacked by parliamentarians in its early days, but that's the way it goes.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas