Who Will the Green Party Nominate for President in 2020?
Regarding the Green Party presidential primary process, it’s sounding as if the momentum is behind a Howie Hawkins campaign. I guess we’ll get a better sense of it at the Greens’ 2019 national convention (to be held in Salem, MA at the end of July).
Howie has been a good builder of the Green Party. He’s knowledgeable and articulate. He’ll make a decent candidate. I’m not crazy about how he emphasizes the socialism of his platform. I think his campaign team thinks it will appeal to “all those millennials who have embraced socialism.” I’m not sure that’s really such a sizable constituency. Maybe it is.
Howie has zero charisma. I suppose the Democrats will be glad to see the Green Party running a no-name candidate who has zero charisma and figures to not have much appeal beyond the far left.
I do think we have to run a candidate for president. The million or so voters in this country who like to see a Green on the ballot, who find it encouraging, would be disappointed if we did what some advise: only run at the local or state level. I think it’s our obligation to give our supporters someone to vote for in all races, at all levels. Having said that, I think that if you endeavor to contest at the very high-profile level of president you ought to try to find a high-profile candidate. HH is not that.
Running Ralph Nader put us on the map. There are always issues running candidates who have their own base and are not really Greens through-and-through. There were issues with Nader. We need to be aware of those kinds of issues, but we also need to think in terms of shaking up the system. We need to break through. Ross Perot almost shattered the duopoly. He turned out to be too flakey to build up the Reform Party. Nader might have helped build up the Green Party if he didn’t get vilified for the result of the 2000 election. Before Jeb Bush threw Florida to his brother that year, we had great momentum and synergy with Nader. Jeb Bush shattered our momentum. But the potential of running a high-profile candidate and really shaking up the system was evident.
There is no way that HH will become high-profile. His focus is not broad. His focus is on the tiny sliver of this country’s socialist left. Anyway, in that regard, something to watch for if the Greens wind up nominating Howie: Relatively large (percentage-wise) growth since the Bernie campaign has increased the membership of DSA from about 15K to about 60K in just three years. A Howie Hawkins campaign will split them right down the middle. Unless Bernie Sanders gets the Dem nomination (very unlikely) there will be a civil war within DSA about whether to back the Green Party candidate who is a socialist or the candidate of the Democratic Party. Half will fall on one side of that debate and half on the other. DSA might even split over it . . . split between those who are loyal to Michael Harrington’s idea of advocating for social democracy within the Democratic Party and those who get disgusted and start advocating for independent politics.
DSA’ers do watch European politics. They’ve noticed the rise of the Greens relative to their brethren social democratic parties. That dynamic and the 2020 election will help many of them realize that the future is Green and not Dem. Another step in the long-term incremental process of transitioning the left from Red to Green.
