I'll admit it; up until a couple of days ago, I was seriously considering voting for Green Party candidate David Cobb. Why? Well, I have always liked the Green agenda, almost voted for Nader in '00, etc., but I was really heartened that Cobb was able to repel Nader this time and keep him off the ballot. Also, I live in a very "safe" Democratic state and my vote really won't decide much in this election. Since Cobb had pledged to run a "safe state" campaign, I didn't have to worry about him taking votes away from Kerry where it counts.
But then I heard a segment on NPR's "Living On Earth" with host Steve Curwood interviewing David Cobb.
LINK
Excerpts from the interview, proudly posted on Cobb's web site:
CURWOOD: Now, you've said that you're not concerned about hurting Democrats but as I understand it, you have a "safe state" strategy, and that you've indicated you won't campaign in certain battleground states, states that are expected to be close between Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry. Or that's not true?
COBB: No, it's not true. What I've said is I'm going to get on every ballot that I can possibly get on....
CURWOOD: ...But you yourself have said that the differences between Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry are such that progressive folks would find life a good deal more comfortable with Mr. Kerry in the White House. So campaigning actively in a place like Pennsylvania or Ohio where the vote might be very close might in fact serve, at this point in our electoral law and structure, to hand a victory to Mr. Bush.
COBB: Steve, it's up to John Kerry to campaign in those states, as it is up to John Kerry to campaign in every state to convince voters to vote for him. I'm going to try to ensure that there is a Green Party ballot line in every single state.
So it appears that the "safe state strategy" is just a myth. David Cobb is going to try to be this year's Nader, running in every state including battleground/swing states, and probably drawing 1-2% of the vote directly from Kerry's total wherever he appears. He may not be as vocal as Ralph, and he doesn't have the name recognition and won't get the free media play that Nader got last time, but he'll still be a spoiler in the race.
Knowing this, I can no longer vote for Cobb and the Green Party in good conscience. Frankly, I feel deceived. Perhaps the "safe state campaign" was nothing more than a rumor, and it may be that Cobb never promised anything of the sort. And yet, this idea filtered out into the media somehow, and Cobb didn't say anything to discourage the notion. I saw references to it here at dKos and over at MyDD. In fact, I'll bet a significant portion of his support at the convention was based on this rumor.
Well, I'm not fooled. If the Green Party has to resort to such tricks in order to squeeze out a few more votes in this utterly important election, then I don't trust them anymore. I'll be casting my vote against the Green Party, withholding my support in this safest of safe states, and I'm not voting any Green candidates until the party starts holding itself to the higher standards of behavior that they espouse.