 Election 2004 |
 Special Section: Election 2004: Presidential race |
Posted on 06/23/2004 8:34:41 AM PDT by 6323cd
Michelle Shocked instead of Elton John.
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Organic unbleached cotton instead of leather patches.
And David Cobb instead of Willie G. Davidson.
Last summer, it was Harley-Davidson's 100th.
This summer, the spotlight of national attention turns on Milwaukee for the Green Party of the United States' nominating convention, beginning today and running until Monday, with events at the Hyatt Regency and the Midwest Airlines Center.
The convention will be an amalgam of workshops and parties, lofty oratory and partisan polemics, and all the trappings of a third-party movement that sees itself as ascendant in a city it sees as a match.
"The Democrats and Republicans are always on the coasts," said Ruth Weil, a local Green and an organizer of the convention. "We wanted to have something in the heartland."
It didn't hurt, she said, that Wisconsin has deep ties to insurgent third parties, from the anti-slavery Republicans to the pro-farm, pro-labor Progressives to the German immigrant Socialists who shaped much of Milwaukee's social architecture in the early 20th century.
The Greens, expected to number more than 2,000, and more prone to public transportation than Harley Sportsters, will cut a lower profile during their time here than our biker friends, though a bit of history will depend on their presence.
That's why a fair contingent of the national press will be on hand, to record how the party decides to handle Ralph Nader and its nomination for president.
Democrats have expressed their worry early and often that Nader will tip the balance toward President Bush against their own presumptive nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), especially if Nader is given access to the Green Party ballot lines in the District of Columbia and 22 states, including Wisconsin.
California attorney David Cobb has emerged as Nader's chief rival. That drama will be resolved Saturday, when delegates vote (there was no final word Tuesday on whether Nader himself will be in town).
Though this may be the most consequential moment of the convention, there will be other events that will give important shape to the Greens as they continue to gain candidates at the grass roots (claiming close to 20 local candidates in Wisconsin).
Today and Sunday will be low-key affairs, but there is a full program of events on the other days reflecting the many variegations within the Greens, from workshops on reparations to African-Americans and bicycle commuting to basic lessons on organizing and the use of the Internet.
Some critical issues for the Greens when they discuss their platform include ending the war in Iraq, increasing access to the ballot box, decreasing reliance on fossil fuels and creating a higher profile for the challenges facing the working poor.
I bet they'll have pretty lousy food there.
The Greens are the modern Social Communists in pretty dresses to hide their warts.
Don't believe me?
Look up the resume of party co-founder, former gubenatorial condidate, and VP nominee Peter Camejo...
Birkenstocks though will be out in force.
The party must do that to them. David Cobb, formerly a friend, was as redknecked as me before his girlfriend got him into that Green crap.
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