Why I vote Green when I have a chance

Richmond, Calif., Mayor Gayle McLaughlin/Via The Nation

The Nation's good interview with Richmond, Calif., Green Party Mayor Gayle McLaughlin explains why, specifically in her work to use eminent domain powers to prevent the banksters from foreclosing on subprime-loan houses.

It's an action about no Democratic big-city mayor would take, and certainly one that no Congresscritter or governor would even consider, due to the lure of campaign cash. But, it's right in line with the ethos of McLaughlin, the only Green mayor of a city of more than 100,000.

And, besides specific actions she's undertaken as Richmond mayor, here's the nut graf, down near the end:

LF: Is it good that you’re Green?

GM: It’s the independent thinking that makes the difference. One party is moving us into a brick wall at 100 mph. The other is moving us there at 50 mph. We’re still going in the wrong direction, in my view.

Bingo. It may be somewhat less the case at the state than at the national level, but it's still true there. And, it's not just in red states like Texas where national-level, or even state-level, Democrats, have pulled their horns in for decades.

Look at McLaughin's California. Sen. Betty Crocker, Dianne Feinstein, is a waste of good potentially liberal Senate vote. Jerry Brown was a neoliberal way back when he was Gov. Moonbeam and first challenging Jimmy Carter for the presidency.

That said, there's a bit of hypocrisy here.

The Nation has never, ever, entertained endorsing anybody but a Democrat for national-level office, i.e., the presidency. I know, because I didn't even get a reply to my email asking the mag to do so, in both 2008 and 2012. (In turn, that's why I don't subscribe, among other reasons.)

But this is why I vote Green when I have a chance. (If Texas had a Socialist or Social Democratic party, I might pull that lever.)