Wednesday, October 29, 2003

N.H. Greens endorse Kucinich...
Nice coverage of the N.H. Greens endorsing Dennis Kucinich on Monday afternoon in the Concord Monitor: ["Kucinich wins Green endorsement"]. According to a Google news search, only Common Dreams picked up the endorsement story although I was able to find the announcement on the Nashua Telegraph site and also buried in a Hampton Union story about Dean's poll numbers issued by the Boston Globe Sunday.
The Greens are not an officially recognized party in the state because they have not had a candidate win 3 percent or more in a state-wide, non-federal election. The best they have been able to muster was an occasional write-in campaign and Ralph Nader's appearance on the 2000 general election ballot - which barely happened - but that is another story for another day.
New Hampshire is one of those states where independents can pull either major party ballot during primary elections. The state has become more moderate in the past 20 years despite its perception as a very conservative state.

...but the national Greens disavow the group
The Green Party of the United States, the national Green Party organization, immediately issued this press release disavowing the state organization: ["Greens Warn About Misleading Story on Green Endorsement of Kucinich"]. This is kind of petty of the national organization, especially since Nader has endorsed Kucinich, many Greens are openly supporting Kucinich, and the fact that New Hampshire is the First in the Nation primary state.
However, the group makes a very good point without actually making the point: Because of the serious organizational flaws within the N.H. Green Party, the group has been unable to get accredited on the national level and is one of only seven states not recognized by the national party. A lot of this has to do with simple procedural stuff. But more of it has to do with the fact that the Greens have never been able to get their act together in the state - despite a number of attempts by people who care about green issues and having a competitive fourth party in the state [Libertarians are very active in the state].
If the party is to be taken seriously, it needs to be more than one guy with a post office box. There have been some emails going back and forth between people on Green Party lists about the endorsement. Some are furious that six people claiming to be from a non-existent steering committee made the endorsement while others mentioned that the coverage in the Concord Monitor was "the best piece of work the group has pulled off in two years." So, who knows.
Lastly, and strangely, a Google news search revealed a lot of other media outlets picked up the news of the national organization disavowing the endorsement, including an A.P. story on the Monitor's Web site and a TV station - WXIX - in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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