Green Party vice-presidential candidate and candidate for governor in Maine Pat LaMarche has a weekly column in the Bangor Daily News. This was recently brought to my attention and here are a few of her columns:
- Imagine Darwin on Talk Radio, from February 10, discusses how Darwin and his contemporaries put our present-day discourse to shame.
- In support of protest, free speech talks about exactly what the title suggests – the value of our freedom of speech and the terrible thing it is to have government encroach upon that.
- Her most recent column discusses the importance of teaching local history and two bills in the state legislature intending to promote that:
Every now and then a piece of legislation comes forward that appears superfluous because we all assume that the practice already must be in place. It is shocking to discover that our schools aren’t teaching the importance of French influence in Maine.
From Biddeford to Fort Kent, the French language is heard and Franco-American customs employed. Tourtiere pies, the traditional meat pies that have been a staple of holiday celebrations, are sold in our grocery stores.
The first permanent Colonial settlements in the territory we now call Maine were French and according to University of Southern Maine professor Barry Rodrigue, as many as 50 percent of today’s Mainers have French ancestry.
I’m in extreme disagreement with LaMarche’s policy positions. But I was at the “free” VP debate in 2004, and as a candidate, she wiped the floor with everyone else, esp. Campagna.
Kimberly @ 16
Sounds a lot like my kind of libertarianism.
@12
We had a discussion about it here:
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/02/kimberly-wilder%E2%80%99s-good-bye-message-to-the-green-party/#more-6798
The alliance good leftists should pursue is one with decentralists of the “right.” Destroy the federal government and allow each state, community, etc., to establish governments more directly accountable to the people.
I agree.
The alliance good leftists should pursue is one with decentralists of the “right.” Destroy the federal government and allow each state, community, etc., to establish governments more directly accountable to the people.
Here, here!!!
Trent,
The broad left coalition you speak of is a great idea.
I do think some people are doing something like that. I mean, Nader ran on the Peace and Freedom line. Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan did some events together.
I am not into being the leader, or even “a leader” now. I don’t even like organizing. I like writing. I like doing projects where I can get work done without arguing or asking permission.
Also, I think I have points here or there that I disagree with many leftists on. For one thing, I am leery of having too many government run projects. It’s easy to see how money gets wasted and diverted when pumped into the government.
I am more for a better, more sincere capitalism than I am for socialism. (My husband, who was on the board of The Other Economic Summit always says, “True capitalism is two people with equal power and equal information trading.”)
Also, I differ with many leftists on school issues. And, I care about children too much to entirely abandon my vision for what children need. I think that part of the equation with fixing the schools is to make it reasonable and available for people who want to homeschool or make their own school. Many leftists, and nearly all leftist groups, have a passion for not just supporting public education, but keeping every family and child in public education like some kind of odd prisoners.
Heck, freedom and democracy should apply to everything. Even school. If you don’t like public school, you should have a choice. And, if your mom home school’s you, and you want to use part of your own tax money to go to the public school band once a week, you should be allowed to do that. The oppression of homeschoolers is a horrible side effect of the left’s obsession with a socialist style school structure.
I went to public school. I found it nearly abusive to me. I deserved a way out. And, I don’t ever want to deny that way out to other young people.
Kimberly,
You ought to push for the broad-left alliance I’ve talked about. Peace and Freedom Party, Progressive Party of Vermont, Nader folks, Howard Zinn, Cindy Sheehan, etc. It’d be unstoppable.
I am also a former Green, Kimberly, and left the party for the same reasons you did — before becoming an anarchocapitalist. Maybe you will too! 🙂
The reason I considered resigning, is because I am so aligned with the Green Party locally – everywhere I go, people think “the Green Party is here” – and the national party made a decision I did not want to be associated with. That was kind of the last straw which forced me to leave. Apologies, but I still care about the party enough I don’t feel like drawing attention to the decision. It is buried on a party web-site. Buried, where I hope he stays.
But, anyway, my official, more overall answer is published at my web-site. And, the main points go like this:
This is Kimberly Wilder’s good-bye message to the Green Party
It is with some regret, and many mixed feelings that I am announcing my resignation from the Green Party.
Some of the background reasons are a shift in personal focus. Though, I also feel great tension in belonging to a political organization which has made some decisions I do not like, and a political organization which I feel is becoming less available to correction and input from individual members and/or grassroots ideas….
The rest is at the web-site. Mostly disclaimers:
http://wilderside.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/this-is-kimberly-wilders-good-bye-message-to-the-green-party/
Also, I started to notice that when I saw an injustice internally, there were not enough good/independent people left to complain to. Most of the people left are people such as David Cobb and Pat LaMarche, who I have no affinity for, and will never lead the party in the direction I would ever want it to go.
Waves of people have left the national Green Party. And, most of the waves were my friends – Nader folks, Elaine Brown folks, GDI, etc.
Why did you resign from the Green Party, Kimberly?
Sorry to keep it up. But, I feel that having people like Pat LaMarche propped up in the Green Party (of which I am no longer a member) is part of the party’s failure.
Playing the numbers game is silly. And, can never give the full picture.
Perhaps, with the lay of the land in Maine, a different green candidate would have received 25% of the vote.
It is not so simple as adding up the numbers.
And, I think that there are a lot of people in small parties that push themselves into the high profile roles. And, it could be that other people would use the same platform, resources, and/or luck and do more for the party and more for the world.
You can never know what the percentages would have been if a different person ran.
So, I guess no one can prove the other person right or wrong.
If getting 10% of the vote in a governor’s race and raising awareness of issues like single-payer healthcare and homelessness makes someone a bad candidate, then the Greens badly need more bad candidates.
“B. GP-US is a national party. So, many of the people who talk about local runs are simply trying to distract the national party from the Presidential race where it should focus.”
Part of the national party’s focus is to help build state parties. In order to build a strong state party, we need strong local parties across the state. Running good local candidates helps to build local parties.
Winning local offices gives us an opportunity to implement our party’s agenda. It also convinces voters to support us, because they see that Greens can win elections. Successful local officeholders also tend to make more credible candidates for higher levels of office.
“If you are going to be a losing candidate, anyway, then I am not sure that how high the losing numbers are counts for much.”
It counts for reassons of exposure, media, education, outreach, and party branding–as well as fundraising, creating repeat voters, etc. Sorry, you cant convince me that a candidate who gets .5% is better than one who gets double digits.
“You can claim she is shallow, stupid, silly–whatever. But a bad candidate, she is not. She scored 8% and 10% in seperate gubernatorial races.”
Which was enough to keep the Green Party’s ballot status in Maine in the 1998 and 2006 elections.
If you are going to be a losing candidate, anyway, then I am not sure that how high the losing numbers are counts for much.
When I have been a candidate or strategizer, if I knew we were in no position to win, then I often changed the plan to not do things to hedge votes. (I focused on pushing the agenda, or focused on party-building instead of vote-getting for that campaign season.)
One reason that LaMarche had high numbers was due to an excellent law in Maine that makes it relatively easy for third parties to get matching funds. So, she had bonkers amounts of money.
Still, most people and most factions inside the greens don’t admire her. And, her style and antics sometimes become a drag more than a help.
“I think Pat LaMarche is a shallow politician and a bad candidate.”
You can claim she is shallow, stupid, silly–whatever. But a bad candidate, she is not. She scored 8% and 10% in seperate gubernatorial races.
Jayne –
Before Pat LaMarche lucked out and became the GP-US VP candidate one time–due to her being connected to people inside the powerful Maine/Rensinbrink clique and the nasty NWC clique–I had already run for office as a green.
So:
A. Pat LaMarche and David Cobb are not these brilliant folks who had the idea we should run candidates. (In fact, oddly enough, the woman Gail for Rail, with the fake Green Party of Virginia, was more a cheerleader for running candidates than even Cobb or LaMarche.)
B. GP-US is a national party. So, many of the people who talk about local runs are simply trying to distract the national party from the Presidential race where it should focus. And/or are trying to get national to stick its nose and take credit for local races.
In 2001, I ran for Suffolk County legislature on the Green Party line. I had a great moment when I got to be on the televised debates.
Also, I was campaign staff for tons of local candidates, many of whom I recruited to the Green Party and/or recruited to run for office.
You don’t have to tell me about the power of running candidates. And, please don’t think that Pat LaMarche is, was, or should be anyone’s inspiration.
She is a radio personality, who someone took too seriously. If you look at some paper trails – like the thank you letters from the Cobb campaign – you will see that there are not many factions of the party that genuinely like her. Though, as I said, new people get confused, because she was a past VP candidate. Big deal. She was second string on a losing team.
Thanks,
Kimberly Wilder
The Green Party is doing an ever better job of recruiting, and fielding candidates. Putting candidates on the ballot is what the Green Party needs to do. Pat LaMarche, and David Cobb have had the courage to step forward and lift the Green Party banner on the ballot as candidates.
I would like to see both Kimberly Wilder and Donald Raymond Lake run for office – whether local, state, or federal, as Green Party candidates.
I have run as local Green Party candidate several times, and can heartily reccommend it to every responsible citizen.
Encourage you to stay focused on the challenges outside the Green Party…ie. the two larger parties.
Thank you for considering the suggestion.
I have found LaMarche and Cobb to be third raters, even on a good day.
Now that I am not a Green, I would like to say that I think Pat LaMarche is a shallow politician and a bad candidate.
There are not even many folks inside the party that like her. Though, some people (especially newer people) find it entertaining to put her forward.
LaMarche published odd things about the Malik Rahim campaign, which I think were a publicity nightmare for him.
Wish Pat would just stay in over-the-top radio la-la land where she appears to be a success.
I am in New York. My cousins in Maine are not very political. And, it was such a bummer that what they knew of the Green Party was Pat LaMarche. And, they were repulsed by her antics.
I also think she is one of those greens that tries to divert away from the political, towards silly projects like fund drives for the needy. Which fund drives are important, but can easily be done in a non-profit context. No need to waste political money and resources on something that lots of people, non-profits, and charities could do with tax-deductible money.