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The Case Against Maria Cantwell: It's Time to Oppose Pro-War Democrats
Posted on January 28, 2006
Why the Green Party will run hard for the U.S. Senate in 2006.
On Friday, January 27th, 2006, pro-war, pro-PATRIOT Act Senator Hillary Clinton came to town to hold a fundraiser for fellow pro-war, pro-PATRIOT Act Senator, Maria Cantwell of Washington State.
Asking for $150 per person to hear them speak, the two candidates attempted to rationalize their own voting records with the very progressives who they have betrayed and had the gall to ask for their money. Some were willing to forgive, but not all.
They were met by over 50 activists, including Veterans for Peace, Stand Up Seattle and members of the Green Party, who will simply not accept the lesser of two evils and demand that these two take a real stand for peace and in defense of our civil liberties.
But the odds of such a change of heart from either Clinton or Cantwell is unlikely.
This is why the Green Party will be fielding a candidate for the U.S. Senate to
In 2006, we have an historic opportunity. As the quagmire in Iraq worsens every day and Americans and Iraqis alike are needlessly killed, more voices are joining the chorus for peace and an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
More people polled are saying what anti-war activists and the Green Party have been saying all along: that we should not have invaded Iraq, that this war isn't worth fighting and that it's time to bring the troops home now.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans alike have supported this war, voted for it, repeatedly voted to continue funding it with blank check after blank check, and echoed Bush's wrongheaded plan to "stay the course."
The Green Party now represents a growing majority of the American people, a majority that is being ignored in the U.S. Senate by people like Senator Hillary Clinton (2008 presidential hopeful) who, months ago stood before the national convention of the Democratic Leadership Council and reiterated her support of the Iraq invasion.
Our own Senator Maria Cantwell is a textbook example in betrayal of one's progressive constituents.
Her record includes votes:
For the USA PATRIOT Act (2001)
Against an amendment opposing pre-emptive war (2002)
For authorizing Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq (2003)
In favor of continuing funding of the Iraq War (three times since 2003!)
In favor of bloated and redundant military budgets (many times since 2001!)
For the Central American Free Trade Agreement (2005)
Against investigations into blatant voter fraud in both Florida (2000) and Ohio (2004)
For the appointments of John Negroponte and Condoleeza Rice.
Against an amendment blocking funds to prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
For the Republican tax cuts that are starving domestic programs (2005)
There are even Republican legislators with better records than this!
This is why the Green Party of Washington State will be running and running hard for the U.S. Senate against Maria Cantwell and her Republican opponent, Mike McGavick - representing that growing majority of Americans who want to end the war in Iraq now. A campaign for the U.S. Senate is necessary not only to help rejuvenate an ailing anti-war movement, but to establish the Green Party as the electoral expression of that movement.
We need a strong statewide campaign to gain new blood and new members, while pulling back many people who have drifted from the Green Party in recent years. We need a sense of camaraderie and a common goal. We need this campaign to grab an issue that has been handed to us on a silver platter: The war in Iraq.
With a strong campaign we will cement the Green Party of Washington State as the peace party, one that genuinely cares for people and will give people more than broken promises, false public images, empty platitudes and "us vs. them" politics about the greater evil of the Republican Party.
A successful campaign would not only verify the Green Party's strength and independence, but would draw in the very people who are betrayed by the "lesser evil" policies of Maria Cantwell and give them a party that represents peace; social, racial and economic justice; environmental protection; universal healthcare; real election reform; and protection of our cherished civil liberties.
This campaign could garner us major party status if it were to capture at least 5% of the vote. It will, at a minimum, send a serious message to Cantwell and McGavick (and to Hillary Clinton in 2008) that there is a growing majority of people who will not be ignored and that if they will not represent this majority, the Green Party will happily, readily and earnestly fill the role that they are unwilling and unable to fill.
This is the moment for the Greens to stand firm, dig in our heels and to stand by that growing majority.
But to do this, the Green Party will need your help. We need you to make phone calls, knock on doors, design posters, host house parties, talk to your friends and neighbors, and - most of all - be leaders in this campaign.
We'll need volunteer coordinators, fundraising coordinators, event organizers, artists, musicians, liaisons to labor and peace organizations and countless other people if this campaign is to be successful.
2006 is an historic opportunity for the Greens in Washington. Help us step up to the plate.
Mike Gillis is a member of the Green Party of Seattle Coordinating Council.