Green News and Opinion

Again, a post written by someone I respect, Greencutip, states clearly that Phil Huckleberry is 100% Green. I know that Huckleberry has worked diligently for the Green Party in IL. I know that his contributions in that regard will far outstrip anything I have done or am likely to do.

I continue to believe that we Greens should stay the hell out of other party's primaries or other functions unless you are voting for a Green running in another party's primary in a fusion state. If the Green will ultimately wind up on the ballot as a Green, voting for him or her is fine. But voting for the lesser of the evils in another party's primary makes one very suspect to me.

As before, I think Greencutip's comments are at least as important as mine, so I pull it from the "comments" section and re-post it here:

What rubbish! Michael does have a right to ask questions. From my dealings with Phil Huckelberry I can ascertain that he is NOT a Democratic operative as this letter implies and does his damnbest to help elect Greens here in Illinois as he will all across the country as Co-chair of the national party.

In addition, this comment was posted about Huckleberry by Tom Abram:

Well to this Green, voting in a party's primary is trying to have an influence in the electoral process. In 2006, only a few areas had Green primaries. Previous to that, it wasn't possible to pull a Green primary ballot. In 2008, Greens across the state will be able to pull a Green primary ballot, thanks in no small part to Phil's monumental work in attaining ballot access.

In many areas in Illinois, voting in the primary is the only way you can have a voice in who represents you. The districts are so severely gerrymandered and the ballot laws are so oppressive, that the primary oftentimes decides the election. Now that we have ballot access, I look forward to seeing more Greens opposing the unopposed (and the already opposed for that matter!)

Phil is in no uncertain terms a Democrat in Green Clothing. He's one of the most hardworking Greens in Illinois and in the GPUS. He developed our plan to get Whitney and the rest of our statewide slate on the ballot in 2006 and defend our signatures against the Democrats. He ran for State Representative in both 2004 and 2006 - as the Green he is. If he was really so sympathetic to the Democrats, why wouldn't he run with them?

And if you question the credibility of "newly minted Greens" (Terry Campbell, by the way, has been very hardworking and full of ideas since he joined), then I'll let you know I am not too new. I've been involved with the Greens for over 5 years, voted Green since I could, and ran for State Rep last year. I'm a delegate to GPUS and the statewide volunteer coordinator.

I find the entire attack on the "Greenness" of our most dedicated volunteers tired, baseless, and a distraction from all the actual work that could be done.

Tom Abram
Illinois

I am not as salient about Phil Huckleberry. I am not as impressed as some others, but the others in question know Huckleberry much better than I do. That is why I am torn. Ultimately, it doesn't matter a whit what I think of Huckleberry.

But, anyone who doubts that there are folks in the Green Party who are trying to play both sides against the middle are not paying attention. There absolutely are folks involved in the Green Party who's primary goal seems to be influencing the Democrats instead of growing the Green Party.