2024: Some steps forward
Unsustainable means “can’t be sustained.” It means a radical change of direction is needed. But the programs of the Republican and Democratic parties don’t reflect this imperative. For over 150 years those parties have traded places in regard to governing administrations; for over 150 years our national legislature has been about evenly divided between Republican and Democratic representatives. So those parties clearly are responsible for the state of things: Obscene levels of inequality, hyper-militarism, inadequate housing and healthcare coverage, the unfair taxation system, political dominance by the mega-corporations and the wealth/power elites, the decimation of both natural and human habitats.
The critical problems we face are deep-seated and of long-standing genesis. In regard to change of direction, I’m resigned to the fact that the “turning of the ship” will take time. So I think it’s appropriate to have a long-range perspective in regard to our social change work. That sometimes necessitates tamping down expectations. Many new volunteers with the Jill Stein 2024 campaign talked about achieving “the 5%” (five percent of the national vote gets a party millions of dollars in federal funding during the next electoral cycle). I felt it necessary to explain that — with the intensified Democratic Party suppression this year (the Dems hated Jill so much from 2016), winding up on seven fewer state ballots (and not New York), and dividing the left-of-Dem progressive vote with Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz — it would be challenging for Jill to get a million votes. That’s less than 1%.
It seems to take election officials a long time to count third-party votes … especially write-in votes. A final total for Jill may not be available until the end of the month. It’s likely to be less than a million. Campaign volunteers who find that disappointing may not stick around for the grind of party-building work. What I wish could be appreciated is that, even though voters tell pollsters they’d like to see more choices, providing such is very hard. Failed attempts:
. People’s Party (1970s, associated with Benjamin Spock)
. Citizens Party (1980s, Barry Commoner)
. Labor Party (1990s, Tony Mazzocchi)
. New Party (1992–1998, Joel Rogers)
. 21st Century Party (1991–1997, Gloria Steinem et. al.)
. Rainbow Coalition’s new-party faction (Ron Daniels, 1989–1997)
. Natural Law Party (1992–2012, John Hagelin)
. Reform Party (Ross Perot then Pat Buchanan, 1995–2008)
. Populist Party (in some states 2004–2010)
. Progressive Party (Naderists, in some states 2004–2012)
. Justice Party (2012–2020, Rocky Anderson)
. Peoples Party (Nick Brana, now floundering)
So I encourage appreciation re: the Greens are managing to endure under the circumstances of an egregiously antagonistic system. And we are growing, even if just incrementally. In New Jersey this year we ran more candidates than ever before and our candidates averaged more votes than ever before. Previously our congressional candidacies averaged around 2,000 votes per district; this year we averaged around 3,000. Our statewide candidate, Christina Khalil (for US Senate), got 42,000 votes, our highest total to-date.
Nonetheless, perspective is needed. That’s 1.1% instead of 0.9%. Unimpressed, some supporters and volunteers drift away. A small core group of committed activists understands that building a third party here in the belly of the beast takes patience, realistic expectations, thick skin, and a sense of humor.
In particular, I hope Butch Ware will stick with the Greens and turn out to be a party builder. He was on fire as part of a Dynamic Duo with Jill Stein. They were very effective co-campaigners!
As for the results of the election: The issue of Green Horizon Magazine a year ago was all about the potential for a large alternative vote in 2024, given that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump were reviled political figures. And I do believe that if the horse race had been Biden vs. Trump there could have been a surge of support for a third-party type of candidate like RFK or Cornel West or Jill Stein. But an unexpected dynamic emerged after the Dems replaced Biden with Kamala Harris: Trump as The Alternative. There was a surge, indeed, a very unfortunate one. A consolation for the Democrats is that some prognosticators say that the economy is on the verge of a major meltdown. Too-easy monetary policy for years pushed consumer debt levels and asset prices (stocks and housing) way too high relative to real economic growth and “bail-out-everybody” fiscal policy for years pushed federal government debt levels to extremes (interest payments on the debt are now as large a budget item as is bloated military spending, almost a trillion dollars). The chickens will probably come home to roost during the next presidential administration, so they will peck away at Trump rather than at Harris. In 2028 Trump could be Hoover and Gavin Newsom could be Roosevelt. Or economic calamity could cause Donald Trump to call for an emergency restoration of the monarchy. Whatever.
For us in New Jersey it’ll be back to the build-the-party grind now. We sense the potential to advance to a higher level of organizational impact. With over 40,000 voting supporters and 10,000 Green Party registrants in our state we need to find ways to engage those people and harness their energy. We’ll try to find candidates to run at all levels, elect some, do more in the way of visible “movement” work, and raise money to support those ambitions.
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Sustainability calls for “the greening of society.” The ascendancy of the Green politics movement is one key aspect of that imperative. The Green Party is here to stay. It’s always “two steps forward, one step back” for us, but the need for the continuing emergence of an ecological politics is clear and it will be irrepressible.
