Green Party to challenge Hillary Clinton

Did you know that Hillary Clinton supports the war in Iraq? In the US the Democrats have failed to challenge Bushism, it's important the Greens challenge them. Howie Hawkins is a long standing ecosocialist along with figures like Peter Camajeo and Donna Warren, although at present ecosocialism is far stronger in the GPEW and the Scottish Green Party....ex Green Revolution supporter Mark Ballard is an MSP and rector of Edinburgh University (he beat Boris Johnson)...the Green Left group in our party goes from strenght to strenght so please join!

Confusingly the US SWP no relations to Pathfinder and split from our lovely SWP are Green Party supporters, Read why they are supporting the Green Party

Here is Howie's book...

"Independent Politics : The Green Party Strategy Debate" documents the 2004
debate in the US left and antiwar movements over whether the Greens should
run an independent presidential campaign against both corporate parties with
Nader or a so-called "safe states" campaign with Cobb that didn't contest
Kerry in the swing states where the Bush/Kerry race was close. We are hoping
European Greens will read it to understand what we face here in the US
in building an independent opposition to two-party system of corporate rule.
A blurb about the book is below.

In solidarity,

Howie Hawkins

Independent Politics : The Green Party Strategy Debate
by Howie Hawkins (Editor)
280 pages
Haymarket Books (June 1, 2006)

"A valuable contribution to our thinking about that controversial and
difficult subject-the role of an opposition third party."-Howard Zinn

"This is an invaluable sourcebook: rich in ideas.'"-Mike Davis

Ralph Nader, Peter Camejo, David Cobb, Sharon Smith, Norman Solomon, and
other Green Party members and allies ask: Can we break the two-party
stranglehold on U.S. politics? and debate strategy for how to build a
challenge to the Republicans and an increasingly corporate Democratic Party.

About the Author
Howie Hawkins is a Teamster and Green activist in Syracuse, New York. He has
been active in movements for peace, justice, the environment, and
independent politics since the late 1960s and in the Green Party in the US
since it began organizing in 1984.


Here is his stuff on this run for the Senate:
A Green challenge to Hillary Clinton

The Hawkins campaign says it hopes to tap into growing frustration among those who voted for Clinton in 2000 in the belief that she was a feisty liberal. Six years later, few people are under that illusion. She voted for Bush’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and she has been one of the loudest voices urging Bush to “keep all options on the table” regarding Iran.
Clinton has been no better on domestic issues. She recently introduced an absurd bill to ban flag burning. And it was Clinton who called for building a wall on the Mexican border back in late April, helping fellow Democrats and “moderate” Republicans to heap more injustices into the Senate’s rotten “compromise” bill on immigration.

Even on the few issues where she disagrees with Bush, Clinton has helped move the debate to the right. While she opposes Bush’s constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, she makes it clear that she is also against equal marriage rights.

And although her campaign Web site describes her as “a strong supporter of…Roe v Wade,” she has lately spent more time seeking “common ground” with right wingers who want to overturn it.

As the New York media has reported widely, Clinton’s support is rising among Republicans–so much so that the GOP is unsure whether to even run a serious candidate against her. Even right-wingers like Newt Gingrich and Rupert Murdoch have become Hillary backers.

The conventional wisdom is that this “centrist strategy” makes Clinton a leading Democratic presidential candidate–a sure indication that the Democrats have no plans to abandon their Republican Lite strategy in 2008.

While Clinton has made new friends on the right, she has alienated many people who welcomed her 2000 campaign.

Some progressives are supporting the antiwar campaign of Jonathan Tasini in the Democratic primary. Tasini is a former president of the National Writers Union who has received the support of Cindy Sheehan, and his campaign is a healthy sign of dissent among Democrats, but given the profoundly undemocratic nature of the party, he has no chance of unseating Clinton, leaving supporters with no choice but the lesser evil in November.

By then, Hawkins will be the main progressive alternative to Clinton. He is running on three main issues: immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, national single-payer health care, and a massive public works program to convert the economy to renewable energy.

As his campaign Web site notes, Hawkins has been an activist around peace, justice and environmental issues for over three decades, dating back to his involvement in Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He currently works as a loader at UPS and is active in both Teamsters for a Democratic Union and U.S. Labor Against the War.

Hawkins is also a national leader within the Green Party. He was a co-founder of the Greens in 1984, currently serves on the Green National Committee, and is the editor of a new book, Independent Politics: The Green Party Strategy Debate.

Hawkins has little chance of winning, but a strong showing against Hillary Clinton and her tens of millions of dollars will be a powerful message that will get national attention. Activists should get involved in the Hawkins campaign to make sure New Yorkers know this candidate’s name.

For more information about the Hawkins campaign, go to www.hawkinsforsenate.org on the Web, or call 518-364-2968. Volunteer meetings are being held at the Green Party office in Manhattan at 139 Fulton St., Suite 215.