Comment Rescue: (Insert name here) of the Green Party for Lt. Gov
I’m a partisan Democrat, but this Geezer comments makes sense:
You Greens should look harder at the lieutenant-governorship as a platform. Sher Valenzuela showed that with a little money, energy and a simple message, a total unknown can campaign for the job independently of the major parties (she all but bolted the GOP by linking herself to Pires). A Green, especially one with a finance background, could sell him/herself as the most effective check on unchallenged power in a one-party state.
I’m pretty sure that would end with a Republican Lt. Gov., who would then be a stronger candidate for any other openings. But I guess that’s way lower stakes than any other office.
Sorry, X, but I don’t care what it does to Democrats. I simply think that Valenzuela has shown that someone who’s essentially an independent can win the office, or at least use it as a megaphone for otherwise seldom-heard issues.
And she’s not the first. SB Woo mounted a virtually independent campaign, though he ran as a Democrat. Among his campaign staff were Matt Denn, Chris Coons and assistant campaign manager Jack Markell.
geezer, to make your point stronger, the Libertarians “ran” a completely paper candidate for Lt Governor and she picked up nearly 6,000 votes without campaigning at all.
However, here’s my question about that as a third-party strategy. Third parties (Greens and Libertarians come to mind, obviously) tend to be seen as ideologues. There’s an obvious reason for that (they generally are).
My perception is that the average voter is more willing to pull the lever for a third party candidate with no serious political experience as a legislator rather than as an actual government administrator.
Or, shorter, people will vote for somebody who wants to make laws based on philosophy but they won’t necessarily vote for people to govern based on philosophy rather than experience. OK, so that wasn’t shorter.
Whatever geezer says, do the opposite and you will succeed in life
Valenzuela adopting Republican talking points and appearing at the GOP Convention on “I built that” night only makes her Mavericky in a John McCain sort of way.
Steve: I agree with all you wrote. Of course, candidates for those two parties must deal with that perception no matter which office they pursue, so why not pursue the one that offers the best chance for success?
Don’t speak of the Green Party or the Libertarian Party as some self-sustaining entity. If you are at all supportive of the ideas of a non-corporate party, then get involved. If anyone posting about running for Lt. Gov. wants to become a Green and run for that office, I will support your effort. Alternative parties don’t exist on large corporate contributions. We largely don’t have any paid employees. We are citizen activists. So, if you have an idea, get active yourself.
geezer, a different anonymous responded to the Green Party thread 12/18 10:44 pm, not this long winded one – who appreciated your comment re GW the other day.
It would probably make more sense and be less risky to run a 3rd party candidate for State Auditor (in 2014) if you wanted to provide a check/balance on the Democrats, which is the main argument the Republican incumbent has made for keeping his seat…which is probably a pretty strong argument. You’d get a progressive watchdog who’s not a Democrat. Win-win.