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Fertile pasture for Illinois Green Party

Abstract:
Keeping with the statewide trend, two Coles County candidates are running on the Green Party ticket for the upcoming election. Todd Reardon, Green Party candidate for state's attorney, came to the party after running unsuccessfully as an independent in the 2004 election against incumbent Steve Ferguson....

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Travis Bounds

posted 10/28/08 @ 12:13 AM CST

Voting Third Party Is tantamount to throwing your vote away. It is an electoral improbability nigh an impossibility that a Green will get elected in any office in Illinois or any other state. sans areas that have other electoral methods than first past the post single member districts. Which we have here in Illinois. Now I am all for electoral reform barring that however, be smart If your a Green Vote Democrat if your a Libertarian Vote Republican. Because that's as good as your going to get.
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jb

posted 10/28/08 @ 3:42 PM CST

Originally posted by

Travis Bounds

 Voting Third Party Is tantamount to throwing your vote away. It is an electoral improbability nigh an impossibility that a Green will get elected in any office in Illinois or any other state. sans areas that have other electoral methods than first past the post single member districts. Which we have here in Illinois. Now I am all for electoral reform barring that however, be smart If your a Green Vote Democrat if your a Libertarian Vote Republican. Because that's as good as your going to get.


It's certainly not impossible to get elected as a member of the Green ticket. Currently, there are seven elected officials in Illinois alone who are Greens:
Robert Braam - Manhattan Library Board trustee
Kris Campbell - Village of Poplar Grove trustee
Jon Murray - Village of Mount Morris trustee
Scott Summers - McHenry County College trustee
Paul Jasinevicius - Park Forest / Chicago Heights Elem. District #163 school board member
Carol Larson - Oak Lawn / Hometown School District #123 school board member

Source: http://ilgp.org/elections/current-elected-greens-in-illinois/
Jim Long - Kirby School District #140 school board member
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Travis Bounds

posted 10/28/08 @ 10:49 PM CST

Originally posted by

Travis Bounds

 Voting Third Party Is tantamount to throwing your vote away. It is an electoral improbability nigh an impossibility that a Green will get elected in any office in Illinois or any other state. sans areas that have other electoral methods than first past the post single member districts. Which we have here in Illinois. Now I am all for electoral reform barring that however, be smart If your a Green Vote Democrat if your a Libertarian Vote Republican. Because that's as good as your going to get.


thats why i said nigh... it means nearly.. i said there were circumstances where they could win. just not likely
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Zeleni

posted 10/28/08 @ 8:40 PM CST

Reardon got about 20% of the vote last time without a party behind him. Now with the Greens gaining momentum, and Reardon having more name recognition this time around, he has a real chance at getting elected.

There are several Greens in nearby Champaign County with a strong shot at getting elected as well: Joe Futrelle, Mike Lehman, and Walter Pituc. Check them out (and their TV ad!) at prairiegreens.org/vote
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Heather

posted 10/28/08 @ 10:21 PM CST

Don't vote along party lines.

Even if you're disillusioned by the bipartisanship that plays tug-o-war with our government, be smart and look up what both the Green candidate and your next-best choise stand for.

Personally, I consider myself an environmentalist, and at one point was a registerred member of the Green party. I believe I'm now unaffiliated. This year, I sent away for an absentee ballot, and before filling it out, I looked up many of the candidates. One of the Green candidates seemed more libertarian, hardly mentioned any Green ideologies, and seemed like he was a Green in name only. Another candidate was definitely Green, and I agreed with her on about half of her issues, but the other half of her beliefs and goals were totally unrealistic, and would be more detrimental than beneficial, IMHO.

Personally, I do agree that voting for a third-party candidate of a big-ticket item like President probably is "throwing your vote away" (unless the race is near an unlikely three-way tie), I feel there's nothing wrong with voting for third-party candidates at the state and local level. Just know WHO and what you're voting for. Not just the party they represent.
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Travis Bounds

posted 10/28/08 @ 10:46 PM CST

I repeat it is impossible underline impossible for a green to get elected.. we have a first past the post system. which requires two parties.. 2.. third parties are an aberration. The last time a 3rd party was successful was 1860 when Abe Lincoln won the white house. The reason why third parties aren't successful is because it violates a basic law of voting Duverger's law states that to win elections in single member first past the post plurality systems. the parties will moderate to capture more votes. because voters are naturally distributed along a bell curve. most in the middle with a few on the fringe. So logically who is going to get more votes the parties that have a broad based appeal or the party that sticks to its beliefs? Greens loose everytime.. and the only reason Rich Whitney got 10% of the vote not 20% was because he was running against Judy Baar Toinka and Rod Blagojevich, had it been an election with popular candidates he wouldnt have gotten that much.

Also, Voting third party damns your own ideology. because by voting for a green you are essentially voting for a republican conversely libertarian is a vote for Dems. because neither party has a chance of winning its wasting a vote that could go to a party that agrees with at least a portion of what you belief.
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Dave S

posted 11/03/08 @ 8:55 AM CST

Impossible for Greens to get elected, eh?

Actually, Greens have won hundreds of contested elections in the US: http://gp.org/elections/candidates/index.php

The Green Party is based on the principles of peace, justice, democracy and sustainability. Greens are organized around the world in 90 countries and counting. Anyone who's looking for an alternative to politics as usual should check out gp.org, the site of the Green Party of the United States.
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Travis Bounds

posted 11/03/08 @ 5:43 PM CST

Originally posted by

Dave S

 Impossible for Greens to get elected, eh?

Actually, Greens have won hundreds of contested elections in the US: http://gp.org/elections/candidates/index.php

The Green Party is based on the principles of peace, justice, democracy and sustainability. Greens are organized around the world in 90 countries and counting. Anyone who's looking for an alternative to politics as usual should check out gp.org, the site of the Green Party of the United States.

Then why oh why. havent they had more success in meaningful office. once elected they will be marginalized by both parties in legislature, they wont get committee assignments or be able to get the floor and will end up caucusing with the Democrats anyway. so again i repeat USELESS
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