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Hillary as Senator: Just Say No
By Dan Georgakas
Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign to become the senator for New
York offers the New York Green Party a unique opportunity to
focus national attention on truly progressive solutions to our
health and environmental problems.
Clinton's candidacy is mainly the inspiration of the West Side
and Southampton liberals who are long on celebrity consciousness
and think progressive politics is a matter of charity rather
than self-interest. Briefly, they believe Clinton will mobilize
women voters, labor, and minorities in New York City to provide
the edge needed to win a statewide campaign. The enormous
amounts of money she can generate as well as the glitterati who
will campaign for her are extremely appealing. Another strong
assumption is that even those turned off by Clinton's
shortcomings could not bring themselves to vote for likely
Republican candidate Rudolph Giuliani. Black voters, in
particular, are expected to turn out in large numbers, both to
support the Clinton record on race and to express their outrage
with Giuliani.
The Republican side is divided by intra-party power politics,
but there is little doubt that Giuliani will win the primary. He
has considerable strength upstate if only because Clinton is so
disliked and despite black opposition in New York City, he would
do better in the city than any other Republican hopeful. He has
strong support among conservative Jews and significant support
among Hispanics. His liberal social views play well in the
Republican suburbs and among NYC yuppies. And the fall in crime
wins him votes among many of those Nixon termed "the silent
majority."
Early polls had Clinton ahead of Giuliani, but in what amounted
to a statistical tie. Polls from early July show Giuliani
slightly ahead in what remains a near dead heat. All
expectations are that the election will be neck and neck all the
way. Enter the New York Green Party. In the last election, the
Green Party pulled over 5% of the vote for governor to get
automatic ballot status. Should the Greens do just as well or
better with a good candidate for the senate, it could tip the
balance, perhaps depriving Clinton of victory but in any case
cutting her chances drastically as most Green voters come from
liberal rather than conservative politics.
Two factors argue strongly that the Greens should make such an
effort. Most important, anyone with a memory longer than the
last commercial will remember that it was Hillary Clinton who
almost singlehandedly strangled the momentum that had been built
for health reform. With all her committees and studies, she
never even considered a single-payer system. With health reform
once more heating up as a major issue, a Green candidate running
on a single-payer program similar to Canada and Sweden
not only would be attractive but will be heard. Intense media
will cover the Clinton effort and the prospects that a Green
candidate running on a health plank could tip the contest will
not go unnoticed. Even the ultra-conservative radio talk shows
would take up the issue as the hosts rant against socialized
medicine.
The second issue, of course, is the environment. Al Gore has
been a total sellout on this issue whether it is allowing
genetically altered organism s into the environment or any
number of traditional Green issues. The Greens should hold him
accountable, and we can be sure that Clinton will be compelled
to defend his record. Giuliani's recent assault on the public
gardens in New York City provides another attack point totally
natural to the Greens. The community groups most affected by
Giuliani's attack might welcome a chance not only to cast a vote
against their nemesis but for a candidate who has adopted their
views as a plank in his or her political platform.
A reasonable objection may be that the national discussion
possible by this sategy is not worth the possible cost of
putting Giuliani into the senate. That argument falls short on
several counts. However objectionable Giuliani's governing style
might be, among Republicans he is actually a moderate. Given his
abrasive personality, his actions in Washington would likely be
a constant source of angina for the conservative wing of the
party. His victory would also serve to boost the moderate wing
of the party nationally. Hillary Clinton's own worth on the
national scene is questionable. She has shown no legislative
skill whatsoever in attempting her Frankensteinian health scheme
and she would undoubtedly follow the same kind of policies as
her husband, which amount to compromising away major political
points to get incremental gains at best. In short, her
legislative experience is nil, and her administrative record is
a disaster.
What could be gained by the Greens and the progressive movement
in general is enormous. The media exposure that would be
possible is unlikely to recur. If the Greens made a significant
showing, not only would the Green movement be enhanced, the
major parties might well begin to moderate their policies to
stop the vote drain. The long term gains to be scored for the
progressive agenda would serve to ameliorate the feeling among
some voters that their vote should not be wasted on a candidate
unlikely to win. The Greens and all progressives win big with
any vote going over 5%. For once, one could, in fact, vote for
what was wanted rather than the lesser Tweedledee/Tweedledum
evil and the nation would take note.
For the Greens to accomplish this, a dynamic candidate is
needed, someone able to show up well in a toe-to-toe with the
other candidates. It is not the place of people not in the Green
Party to select candidates, but I offer the following
suggestions as the kind of candidates that would be
effective. The low-keyed Ralph Nader campaign of the last
election won't do. What is needed is someone like Jim Hightower
who could more than hold his own and whose humor would be in
striking contrast to the somber two. Michael Moore might be
another person to consider, if only because of the enormous
recognition he would bring to the contest beforehand.
Another individual who comes to mind is Barbara Garson, a
veteran of the New Left who can more than handle herself in this
kind of foray and has run for office previously. The point here
is that the candidate has to be substantive yet willing to take
on the establishment and face the consequences that a defeat of
Hilary would never be forgiven by the Democrats85. Dan
Georgakas
Dan Georgakas, coauthor of Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, teaches
courses in international affairs at New York University.
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
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"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said
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A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
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German Writer (1759-1805)
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It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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--- Ernest Hemingway
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