San Diego Greens are blue
Ralph Nader gets blamed again
By David Silva
For most of America, November’s electoral spoils can easily be divided into two crops: golden apples for the Democrats and bitter lemons for the Republicans.
But San Diego County isn’t most of America. Here, the political fruit was for most an exotic berry of the kind that confounds the taste buds and proves more than a little difficult to digest. For Democrats, the flavor was sweet, but with an unpleasant aftertaste: Yes, the county’s electorate voted blue for the first time in 16 years, but then approved Proposition 8 by an unsettling margin. For Republicans, it was all things rank and foul until the sweet tang of Prop. 8 settled in—and weren’t the seeds of that strange fruit planted in San Diego, after all?
But while Nov. 4 yielded a mixed bag for the GOP and the Dems, it provided nothing but a great big sack of rotten potatoes for just about every other political persuasion. Here, as elsewhere in the nation, adherents of the boutique parties—the Libertarian, American Independent, Peace and Freedom and Green parties—saw their candidates routed on nearly every front. And no party performed so poorly in San Diego County as the Greens.
Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney got just 2,432 votes in the county, less than a third of that received by the third top presidential vote-getter, Ralph Nader, and less than half of that by Libertarian candidate Bob Barr. Of the six candidates who received enough votes to be listed by the county Registrar of Voters, McKinney came in dead last.
To put this in perspective, consider that the Greens’ guy for the Encinitas City Council, Bob Nanninga, also went down in flames. But he received nearly three times as many votes as McKinney’s county tally—and still came in sixth out of 10 candidates running.
“Statistically, it wasn’t a very good election across the board for the Green Party,” says Matthew Junker, organizer and former treasurer of the Greens of San Diego County. “On the national level, everyone in the party was really excited about McKinney. She’d been a congresswoman and had the power to extend some influence. Unfortunately, Obama jumped in with his message of change and hope, and took that message away from McKinney.”
But more than Obama’s message of change and hope, says Junker, what really killed McKinney was Nader. Nader, who started his run saying he was independent of any party, wound up being listed on ballots as either the Independent-Ecology Party, Peace and Freedom Party or Natural Law Party candidate—depending on where you voted. In other words, he was a Green-vote-sucking machine (but still received only 8,546 votes in the county).
“That had a devastating effect on what could have been a very successful vote for McKinney’s campaign,” Junker says. “The defense I give to Nader is that nobody owns anybody’s vote, and his decision not to get behind McKinney was his to make. Others in the party say he has a huge ego and a problem with giving the spotlight to someone else.”
Published: 11/18/2008
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We Love Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente. We will not supporting them because of negative remarks from ignorant people who can not stand the fact that it is the season for women of color to take control.
Power To The People
I am glad McKinney and Clemente ran. I supported Nader because he is a better organizer. He raised $4 million dollars, gathered almost 100,000 contacts and has now supported the starting of www.november5r.org.
The next tasks will be to develop congresswatch groups in as many congressional districts as we can. Many people who previously supported different candidates now need to bury the hatchets and work together to make progress.
I still don't get that when it was well known that Obama was crushing McCain in California by 20+% that so many progressives had to vote for Obama because...(their vote wasn't needed, but they needed to vote for Obama)
Don't blame Nader; ask those progressives why they needed to say Me Too instead of I want single payer, the troops and mercenaries out of the Middle East, No nuclear power, repeal TAft-Hartley, Impeach and jail Bush and Cheney etc.
That's www.november5.org ; a little type there.
Obviously this Mckinney person is another spoiled democrat. Seems she FAILED to show at either Presidential debate despite being invited. Her hatred makes her a small person and unworthy of the office of President. Her only salvation would be if she suddenly developed scruples and became someone of substance. I doubt if that is possible.
Too bad people do not focus on the fact that this woman accepted donations but failed to campaign in the only free coverage, the debates. Me thinks she needs to give refunds to all her contributors.
Hip Hop generation? The grillers? Didn't they support NObama?
As to the stupid comment about voting for NObama and then failing to defeat Prop 8...Did you not hear tweedledee and his mastercard king say they OPPOSED gay marriage? Is it not LOGICAL to assume that the people AGAINST gay marriage felt they had the state if the state voted for NObama? Makes sense to me that you vote for what you get. The dumb voters picking teeth instead of picking a President who supports what they want. Well, guess what, you get your rights taken away. How's the nobama working out for you so far?
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for him.