From Glenn Davis at the Independent Voter Network:
According to the Greens’ media coordinator, Scott McLarty, “the Green Party represents an alternative to the two war-and-Wall-Street parties and, unlike the Democratic and Republican politicians, we don’t accept campaign checks from corporate PACs.”
McLarty continues:
“But Greens call the Green Party more than an alternative. We call it an imperative in this century of global climate change, the advance of a new Robber Baron economy in which the One Percent are amassing unprecedented wealth and power and working Americans are losing their financial security (and homes and jobs in many cases), and the growing national security state. Despite their obvious differences, Democrats and Republicans are both on the wrong side of the major problems of the 21st century.” – Scott McLarty, Green Party
The Green Party ran its first presidential ticket in 2000, featuring Ralph Nader, who placed third in that historically-disputed contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Nader and the Greens achieved notoriety for the controversial view that the over 2.8 million popular votes cast for Nader swung the election for Bush.
Yet the Greens continued to field presidential candidates: David Cobb in 2004, Cynthia McKinney in 2008, and Jill Stein in 2012. None of these have come close to garnering the popularity of Ralph Nader; Jill Stein led the pack with a fourth-place finish, securing about 470,000 votes in the 2012 presidential election.
McLarty explained that the Greens field presidential candidates for several reasons.
“Our national nominees are able to reach the public and carry the banner for the party and express our principles, ideas, and positions on big issues far better than state and local candidates can,” he said in an interview for IVN.
Read the full article here.