Late Friday afternoon, the Liberty Union Party, a self-proclaimed “non-violent socialist party” operating in Vermont, began changing its social media presence to reflect an evolution in party branding—a new name. While the name change has only recently started appearing on social media, it is a decision that quietly took place in the early fall of 2021.
Then-Chair Jessica Diamondstone, speaking in an interview with local Vermont media VTDigger at the time, said the decision was one in response to the changing colloquial use of “liberty” in modern politics.
“Instead of connecting ‘Liberty Union’ with human rights, an end to bigotry, democracy in all aspects of society and owning the profits of our own labor, people have come to associate these words with white supremacy and the notion that freedom is synonymous with entitlement of the rich to exploit the working class and the earth’s resources,” she said at the time. “[…] A lot of people hear about us when they’re looking at the ballot. ‘Liberty Union’ isn’t as clear about what we stand for as ‘Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party.'”
In a press release also issued at the time of the name change, Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party leadership said the party would continue to place “environmental protection at the forefront of its agenda, along with advocating for collectively owned and democratically run workplaces, an end to racism and any other forms of bigotry, an end to unfettered corporate greed and sees the freedom of all people to pursue their dreams as essential to the well being of society.”
As the Liberty Union Party, the organization regularly earned the support of thousands of voters in sparse, rural Vermont, sometimes receiving as much as the high-single to low-double digits. In 2022, its most recent and only statewide election cycle as the Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party to date, its Lieutenant Governor candidate, Ian G. Diamondstone, secured 3% of the vote.
As a political organization, the Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party has primarily focused on the statewide political affairs of its home state of Vermont. As a minor party under Vermont law, it is organized in at least ten communities and is seeking to organize further town committees. While it has never fielded its own candidate for president, it has given its ballot access line to others running with a similar platform. For example, in 2020 and 2016, the Liberty Union Party gave its ballot line to Gloria La Riva, more commonly associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
State of the world in the year 2023, a group using “Liberty” considers the term white supremacist. I guess “tyranny” in contrast is inclusive.
After the 2020 election, I thought Richard Winger posted up at his website the party was going to cease. Its longtime perennial candidate Peter Diamondstone died in 2017.
A single state party that has been around for 50 years thinks it has a branding issue which will be solved by conflating its name with the Green Party and exploiting its years of branding work… while taking a stand against the exploitation of labor.