One of the pleasant things about being a Green is not having to feel too sorry about supporting a candidate. All four of the candidates left for the Presidential nomination are good, at least in that they offer the chance to vote for someone rather than against McCain as the Dems do, but I do believe I’m clearly behind the best one. Jesse Johnson has that ability to take the Greens to the next level because he works so well against the “type” that we’re put into. The MSM loves to write the book on Green candidates: far-leftist extremists from the Democratic Auxiliary Club or whatever, who wear tie-dye and hug trees. Cynthia McKinney clearly plays into that, at least the first part. I’ve seen Jesse with reporters who clearly are rewriting their stories in their head as soon as they see him: a slow-talkin’ country boy with a grey suit and cowboy boots, and an aw-shucks demeanor from West Virginia. Combine that with the fact that he comes at many of his stances from the right (he’s a former Republican, never was a Democrat) and suddenly the whole thing shifts. The Green message becomes something that anyone can get behind.
McKinney’s main selling point is bringing the Green message to “different communities”. Sure, McKinney can bring in the black vote, at least some of the more radicalized portions – and yes, they have reason to be – but how much from the most solid bloc the Democrats have, in a race where Barack Obama is running? Jesse Johnson can campaign among truck drivers, Union workers…the small-towns of flyover America that McKinney can’t touch. Frankly, that’s a much larger bloc of voters – one that the Democrats have ceded completely to the Republicans (though Howard Dean has made some strides in reversing that trend). What should we go after: a Democrat in the midst of a “historic moment”, or a weak Republican consensus candidate with little grasp of the issues, whose base we could easily erode with the proper image? Johnson would do well against Obama, but he’d skewer McCain. And in the process, we’d rewrite the book on the Greens – from a niche, far-leftist group into a values-based party that unapologetically stands for the majority of America.
Is there a name recognition factor? Certainly among Greens, but not in the general populace. McKinney’s best known overall for a scuffle with a police officer – a screw job by the MSM, to be sure, but it’s an uphill climb to reverse that – a climb that Johnson wouldn’t have to make.
As for Kat Swift and Kent Mesplay, the other candidates, they’re friends, and they’re very smart folks…but they aren’t really Presidential material, I’m afraid. I can’t imagine either of them actually running the country. Jesse Johnson could. He’d be able to not only exercise the intelligence and wisdom necessary for the job, but he’d be able to reach out to Republicans, Democrats, and others to build the coalitions necessary to do so – another thing that McKinney simply couldn’t do well.
It seems to me at this point what we need is a party that says the things the Democrats say (end the war, universal health care, etc.), but backs it with a strong commitment to core values, as Republicans do (which, frankly, gets them elected). The Greens are about a hairsbreadth away from that now, and Jesse Johnson could get us the rest of the way.
Filed under: greens, politics | Tagged: elections, greens, jesse johnson, president | 6 Comments »
Ladies and gentlemen, my first blog post in almost four years. Did I miss anything?
The Hidden Message 