[Announce-DAN] How Greens and Nader Win

["getmelissa@uswest.net" <getmelissa@uswest.net>]

FWD. from Patrick Mazza <patmazza@teleport.com>
<snip>
To the Editor
 
We have been told to vote for Gore because Ralph Nader cannot possibly
win.  But there are many ways Nader and his supporters can win, and
indeed are already winning.  Here are a few:
 
We win when we make the major party candidates address issues which
they've been trying to avoid, for example, when Al Gore finally brought
global warming into his stump speeches in places like Wisconsin and
Washington.
 
We win when we force the Democrats to stop ignoring the progressives and
come out and fight for our votes -- They've mostly been "triangulating"
on a narrow spectrum of center and right. 
 
We win when the media everyday and frequently mentions Ralph Nader and
the Green Party, a sharp contrast to earlier when they did not even
cover his presidential candidacy announcement, so now many people who
were not even aware of our existence knows there is a a Green Party and
Nader is running.  In the past week, U.S. newspapers have run over 500
stories on the Nader candidacy, as opposed to only a few early in the
campaign. Perhaps this is why Nader has actually increased his standing
in the polls.
 
We win when we encourage large numbers of people who were previously
turned off by politics, particularly young people, to get involved in a
grassroots political campaign.  Some polls show Ralph gaining 15% of
young people.
 
We win when the presidential campaign spurs development of strong,
locally-rooted Green organizations.  For example, the Green Party of
Washington State, only formed in May, now has a presence in every
country of the state.
 
We win when we gain over 5% of the national vote and gain 2004 federal
election funding.
 
We have been accused by Gore's establishment liberals of running only
for that 2004 funding. That is only one piece of a larger picture.  We
are
already making every gain listed above except the last, and will have to
wait until election day to find out if we have won that one too. 
 
Repeatedly in U.S. history, third parties have risen when the two big
parties are ignoring important issues. This is happening again. 
Ultimately,
either the major parties will take on our issues, or we will replace
them.  One way or another, we win. That is why a vote for Nader is a
significant
act. 
 
Patrick Mazza
206-720-6150
<snip>

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