The Green Party is Still Useless

It appears it is that time of election season again. Everyone is settling into the reality that a choice is upon them, do they vote, who to vote for, does it matter?

I’ve always had a Mark Twain kind of take on that last question. To paraphrase the great American writer, “if it mattered they wouldn’t let us do it.” That is kind of flippant, because it does matter, but that is to say it’s not going to save us, that will require an organizing and a lot of work from all of us.

I’m pretty skeptical of voting to begin with. Talk to your neighbor. Start a book club. Organize your work place. Fuck, go to church. Do something to connect with people and tell them about your whacky ideas on giving everyone healthcare and housing, all of that seems way more important to me than voting. That is politics. Voting is there to make you think you’re doing something so you don’t do any of that. It’s also a way to attempt some harm reduction and doesn’t take very long, so it’s probably worth doing. Unless you’re voting for the Green Party, in which case, just stay home.

The Green Party Does Nothing But Lose Presidential Elections

The Green Party pumps up the voting fetish, it makes people feel there is an answer in voting that avoids the hard work of politics. They also reduce voting as a method of harm reduction, potentially substantially, with no real off year organization or success to show from decades of “organizing.”

The Green Party has drawn enough votes to shift election results in the two most significant electoral losses Democrats have faced since 2000. The aforementioned 2000 election and 2016 election were the archaic Electoral College brought Republicans to victory in the midst of an electoral college defeat.

This isn’t to blame the Green Party or their voters for those defeats. That is the fault of Democrats for not being compelling enough to win those people over. Which is amazing to me, because the Green Party is somehow less compelling.

In 2000 Ralph Nader managed to pull in 2.74% of the popular vote and more than enough votes in Florida to tip the election handily toward the Democrats if they all voted for Al Gore instead. In 2016 Jill Stein managed to pull in just over 1.07% of the popular vote and more than enough votes in Michigan to tip the election toward Democrats if they all voted for Hillary Clinton instead.

Famously, this is essentially the argument made against the Green Party and in favor of painting them as spoiler candidates. Mathematically, it’s true, but the onus is on Democrats to win voters, as it is the Green Party, and if the Democrats don’t win that fight, tough shit. But again, the Green Party really sucks so I’m not sure how Democrats lose that fight consistently enough for it to matter. But they do. Because somehow, they suck bad enough people credibly think they suck more or suck enough they don’t want to co-sign it at all. Which is fair, but misreads what voting is for.

Right Now Voting is Harm Reduction

Voting is not a moment to broadcast yourself as the most moral. I mean it is, but I think it’s more and less consequential than that. It is a practical vehicle for seizing power, hopefully for someone you align with, but in the first past the post electoral system of the United States, it’s often the least bad candidate. This is an argument that least bad is actually exactly how you should be voting.

Again, it’s not a moment to list your wishes for the candidate, campaign, or party. Not because those aren’t good or better than what they are doing, but because it’s too late in the game. That’s the real work of politics. Building support for your worldview and getting people to act to build it. That is what it is all about and that happens every single day, but ironically, except maybe Election Day.

Election Day itself is a matter of logistics, getting there and pressing the button, checking the box. Making sure that is an act that aligns with your project is usually done long in advance to that actual moment. In fact usually it’s legally required that it does. We can get into all sorts of debates about whether to run in a primary as a Democrat, form a third party, what strategy makes sense, but the reality at this moment in history is, in almost every election in the country, you will be choosing a Democrat or a Republican, plain and simple.

I don’t like that fact. I despise that fact. But building a world where that choice on Election Day is more meaningful takes a lot more than voting in one election. It takes a lot more than what vehicles like the Green Party offer right now. That work is important and worth doing but it isn’t done on Election Day. Worst of all, if Republicans win, it’s marginally harder to do that work as opposed to if Democrats win. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fight either way, but in almost every fight, across almost every issue, if you’re in a fight, you’d rather be fighting a Democrat.

There are also areas where Democrats are genuinely more favorable. The Biden NLRB has been fairly friendly to labor. Biden’s Department of Education has taken steps to reel in student loans and many are paused as they litigate their new plans. The list goes on. It’s not as significant as it should be, but it’s not nothing, and I think making the fight for genuine left politics a little easier while also holding on to some small amount of harm reduction in certain areas, is worth doing.

Organize, Organize, Organize

The Green Party comes around every 4 years and cashes in on leftist discontent. They organize just enough in off years and down ballot to say it is happening, but largely on the backs of politically motivated individuals, which is an ingredient for any successful party but in this case doesn’t seem to be cultivated by the party itself beyond “we’re not the Democrats.”

Which is fine, there needs to be an alternative to Democrats. A real American Labor Party would be worth supporting. In my view, at this time, the Green Party is not.

They are simply not a serious electoral vehicle. I’ve talked at length with Howie Hawkins about these concerns on my podcast, I left that conversation feeling even less confident in the Green Party. I have even less confidence in Jill Stein who I think is even more shamelessly and opportunistically milking that discontent for personal gain.

All the work the Green Party should be doing, is work that the left should be doing anyway. Forming a functional electoral wing for the movement. Organizing labor, fighting for energy transformation in the face of climate change, fighting for reproductive rights, you name it, the left should be engaged in that fight. The left is engaged in those fights, with or without the Green Party. Choosing the Green Party as the electoral vehicle for that work diminishes it. Instead, the left should continue that organizing until it reaches such a mass a new party is necessary and the work and who would be doing it obvious based on that organization. That or through a similar process those organizers take over the Democratic Party.

That seems a more surefire path to success than sticking with the Green Party. This isn’t to disparage Green Party organizers or voters, but to say we need to be strategic where we do our organizing and there are better options than the Green Party, options that will help build the left and build serious power, as opposed to getting a few cranks attention every 4 years.