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Tuesday, July 18, 2000
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Green Party is starting to
take root in this area
By Noni Bookbinder Bell
Honk if you love Ralph Nader. That's what my bright green
"Ralph Nader for President" bumper sticker may as well say.
When I affixed it to my (high-gas-mileage, small) car several weeks ago, I
began receiving sporadic friendly beeps, occasionally accompanied by a
peace sign.
Ever since the Green Party Convention in Denver, where on June 25 Nader
was formally nominated as the Greens' presidential candidate, the honks
have become more frequent and longer, and the peace signs have become more
exuberant.
Despite the status-quo monopolization of the press and the airwaves by the
two major parties, Nader has managed to garner some face - and sound-bite
- time in print and on television.
The Green Party must be thrilled that through C-Span coverage of its
convention, straight-talking, intelligent Nader seems to have energized so
many voters.
If Nader can wake up South Jersey and the rest of the country, he may gain
the outrageous 15 percent standing in the national polls that third-party
candidates must have to participate in the televised presidential debates.
The way I see it, Green Party ideology is something that anybody -
liberals, conservatives, loyalist members of the two-party duopoly - would
be hard-pressed to criticize.
The "Ten Key Values" of the Greens include ecological wisdom,
social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, decentralization,
community-based economics, feminism, respect for diversity, personal and
global responsibility, and future focus/sustainability. What's not to
like?
I've always been an ideologue, and now I've finally found the party where
most of its ideals match my own.
A quick history of the Green Party in the United States begins with its
blossoming from European roots in the mid-1980s. Three years ago, the
Green Party of New Jersey held its founding convention.
Four years ago, Nader's vice presidential running mate in New Jersey was
Flanders resident Madelyn R. Hoffman, a political-science teacher at a
community college and an activist who also ran for governor in 1998.
There are Green Party candidates running in 12 of the state's 13
congressional districts. Also, Bruce Afran, a Princeton civil-rights
lawyer, is running for U.S. Senate. But with fewer than 200 registered
members in the state, the party has its work cut out for it.
Green Party organizers say support is weaker in South Jersey than it is in
the north. That makes sense to me.
South Jersey is the home of an appalling number of Superfund
hazardous-waste sites, exclusionary zoning that limits the availability of
affordable housing, inequity and mismanagement of school funding, and the
ever-present suburban sprawl that threatens our farms and wetlands.
Aaron M. Kromash of Mount Holly is the Green Party candidate for Congress
in the Third District, which is where I live. He's a pretty neat guy who
says he plans to address all those issues and more.
Born in Pottstown, where he graduated from high school as valedictorian
and a National Merit Scholar, Kromash received a bachelor's degree in
international relations from Pomona College in 1990 and a master's in
international affairs from Columbia University in 1997.
A self-employed translator of Japanese, Kromash has been active in forming
a commission that advises Mount Holly's government on environmental
matters.
Also in South Jersey, Catherine Parrish of Westmont is running for
Congress in the First District, and Robert Gabrielsky is the Green Party
candidate in the Second District.
I'm getting more and more calls about the Green Party since I became
involved with it. The callers echo my sentiment: finally, a party I can
support without feeling dirty.
The New Jersey Green Party plans to hold a campaign meeting at 7 p.m. Aug.
7 at the main Burlington County Library, 5 Pioneer Blvd., Westampton. For
information, call 609-278-4467.
Do me a favor. No matter how you're registered politically, if you see my
Nader bumper sticker cruising by, flash me the peace sign and I'll know
you're Green at heart.
Oh, and honk if you support Ralph Nader.
Noni Bookbinder Bell, who has been a reporter for Reuters and a number of
newspapers, writes from Shamong.
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