Green Party 101

What is the Green Party?

The Green Party of Seattle (GPoS) is the local branch of the Green Party of Washington State, which is a branch of the Green Party of the United States. The Green Party of Seattle's mission is three-fold: to create a viable Green Party in the city of Seattle, to make a positive difference in the community, and to adhere to the Ten Key Values of the Green Party.

What are the Green Party's Ten Key Values?

The Green Party stands for; Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Non-Violence, Decentralization, Community-Based Economics, Feminism, Respect For Diversity, Personal And Global Responsibility, and Future Focus.

Didn't the Green Party and Ralph Nader spoil the 2000 election?

There are many, many reasons why Al Gore didn´t step up and claim the election that he won in 2000. Most important for Greens, however, is the summary from Al From, Founder and CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, who wrote in January, 2001, (paraphrase) that if Ralph Nader hadn't been in the election, Al Gore would've lost the popular vote by 1 million votes (1%). The exact quote can be found on page three of his report, "Building A New Progressive Majority: How Democrats Can Learn From The Failed 2000 Campaign" at New Democrats Online.

While Al From has yet to personally explain his statement, some of us interpret this as: the more choices people have on the ballot, the more people get out and vote. Nader's candidacy either 1)activated people who wouldn't have otherwise voted. Some of those people ended up voting for Gore, but voting Greens locally. That's why Joe Szwaja received more votes in Seattle than Nader received in all of King County; 2) Nader's candidacy mobilized and activated traditional Democrats who thought that Gore would win easily and weren't going to not bother voting.

Oh yeah, just for the record, the phrase "a vote for Nader is a vote for Gore" was coined by Karl Rove.

Have you elected anyone? Who are some other active Greens?

In 2006, we ran Aaron Dixon, founder and past chair of the Seattle Black Panther Party, against incumbend pro-war, pro-corporate US Senator Maria Cantwell. Our challenge forced Ms. Cantwell, who had been a supporter of the invasion of Iraq up to that point, to start backtracking from that position and to take a more antiwar stand.

In 2003, the GPoS helped elect Brita Butler-Wall, our former facilitator, and Sally Soriano to the Seattle School Board.

Joe Szwaja had a very impressive run for US Congress in 2000, winning 20% (50,000) of the popular vote in the general election, more than any other third-party candidate for federal office in that election.

When do you meet? How do I get involved?