Mark Snyder wrote:
WM: To be fair, some Green Party members are former DFLers--Dean Zimmerman, Annie Young, Ed Felien, among others. How great their numbers are I cannot say.To characterize members of the Green Party as simply DFLers who have lost their way or who have gripes is both arrogant and ignorant, in my view.
WM: The history of 3rd parties in this country has been vital to the political process. The first political parties were comprised of landed "gentry" who were Whigs and Tories. It is fair to say that the Greens valiantly serve that 3rd party purpose at this juncture. It may shake out that the Dems disappear and filter into the Greens or vice versa. It's highly doubtful that either will lean toward the GOP.I never belonged to any political party until joining the Greens in 2001. And in my nearly three years as a member of the Green Party, I have seen far more folks like me who were never interested in being a Democrat than I have disgruntled or lost former DFLers.
Part of the problem I've always had with the DFL and the whole "big tent"WM: I have it in my mind that the Dems have always stood for the basics: shelter, clothing, food, heath care, education, and work for all regardless. Though you'd never know it to read the platform--that is if you can sit through a reading of the platform. It's a considerable yawn and obscures the issues.
approach is that when you try to welcome and represent everyone, you end up
not really standing for anything.
Members of the DFL and GOP need to get it through their heads that there'sWM: The game is about power/money. If everyone ascribes to only two parties, there is more power, more money, and fewer compromises. The way both parties are forced into change has been through third parties.
absolutely nothing wrong with having three, four or even ten active
political parties in the mix.
WM: The dems have not been that swell at staying unified in recent years, nor would they be speaking unity if things were not at such a dire pass. We've seldom had a president this bad, a militant christian alliance on a crusade, terrorism, a war, a cash flow problem and the contumely of all our neighbors at the same time.People should be free to explore and identify the party that best fits their personal philosophy and outlook on life and communities without having to deal with guilt trips about "staying unified" or any of the other scare tactics that are used by DFL and GOP members to keep us uppity third party folks under their thumbs.
WizardMarks, Central
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