It’s official: Howie Hawkins, a tireless and perennial Green Party candidate in Syracuse and across New York, is running for president.
Hawkins
officially won the designation today during the Green Party’s virtual
convention. The selection marks the 25th time Hawkins has run for
office, and his first national campaign.
Howie
is the only new presidential candidate for this month. Next month, at
the Democratic Party's convention, Joe Biden is expected to be declared
the party's presidential candidate.
Howie is not just a longtime Green Party member, he co-founded the US Green Party in August of 1991. WSYR TV notes, "Hawkins has run for the governor of New York three times, a seat in
the Senate, a seat in the House of Representatives, and he ran for
Syracuse Mayor in 2017. Hawkins never won any of these elections, but he has helped the Green
Party gain popularity throughout New York State in recent years." Robert Harding (THE AUBURN CITIZEN) notes:
On Saturday, Hawkins officially became
the Green Party's nominee for president. He received 210 of the 355
votes on the first ballot to win the nomination at the party's
convention, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The
presidential bid is the culmination of a lifetime of activism and
nearly two dozen political campaigns. Hawkins, a retired UPS employee
and Teamster who lives in Syracuse, was asked to run for president eight
years ago. He declined because of his work obligations.
[. . .]
As the Green Party's presidential
nominee, one of Hawkins' main goals is to appear on the general election
ballot in every state and the District of Columbia. That's important,
he explained, because it could give the Green Party ballot access for
future elections.
So far,
Hawkins and his running mate, Angela Walker, are on the ballot in nearly
30 states. He admitted it has been challenging because of the COVID-19
pandemic. While some states eased their rules for securing a spot on the
ballot, others did not.
You might not think
ballot access would be an issue in a democracy, but it is. The US
offers the illusion that Americans can freely choose who to vote for but
even when you cut through the online bullying by the Debra Messings of
the country, you're still left with the reality that the so-called
'presidential debates' are controlled by the Democratic and the
Republican Parties (not the people of the US) and they exclude all other
candidates. As for ballot access, earlier this week, SEP presidential
candidate Joseph Kishore wrote about the fight to get on the ballot in
the so-called democratic state of Michigan in "Michigan court rules that SEP must gather signatures despite pandemic" (WSWS).
Many
reforms are needed in US elections -- including ranked choice voting.
The news of Howie Hawkin's victory may be ignored by the press
because it goes to just how unfair 'democracy' in the US is when
candidates have to fight for ballot access. Or it could just be part of
the corporate press again refusing to do their job: Inform the American
people. At any rate, a search of AP's website shows, as of Sunday afternoon (one day after he secured the presidential nomination), not one story about Howie Hawkins in 2020 -- let alone one of him winning the nomination.
Instead of providing actual news,
the corporate press prefers to shape opinion. That's not their job. But as the late Edward S.
Herman repeatedly documented over the years as a media critic, it is
what they perceive as their role.
Friday, CSPAN did what it was created by Congress for and, on WASHINGTON JOURNAL, interviewed Howie.
Another
victory that Howie's campaign had earlier this week was in meeting the
criteria for matching federal funds. July 9th, his campaign noted:
Federal law requires that campaigns raised $5,000 in 20 states in
increments of up to $250 per individual. Today, Virginia became the 20th
state and put the campaign over the top. Donations will qualify for
matching funds up to the last day of the Republican Convention, August
27.
Matching funds must be spent for primary activities, including ballot access petitioning. For the general election, there are public campaign grants for parties that received over 5% of the popular vote in the previous election, which the Green Party did not do in 2016. The campaign will have to raise funds separately for the fall general election. No other campaign in 2020 has qualified for matching funds. The Democrats and Republicans reject matching funds because they can raise more money from the millionaires and billionaires who they represent, and no other third-party has achieved matching funds.
The campaign has raised nearly $220,000, from more than 4,000 people in more than 7,000 donations.
Hawkins/Walker plans to use the matching funds to get on the ballot in 50 states and Washington, DC by hiring ballot access petitioners. This is especially difficult during the COVID crisis. Attached are pictures of Hawkins/Walker petitioners gathering signatures. Hawkins/Walker will use much of the matching funds to hire petitioners.
Matching funds must be spent for primary activities, including ballot access petitioning. For the general election, there are public campaign grants for parties that received over 5% of the popular vote in the previous election, which the Green Party did not do in 2016. The campaign will have to raise funds separately for the fall general election. No other campaign in 2020 has qualified for matching funds. The Democrats and Republicans reject matching funds because they can raise more money from the millionaires and billionaires who they represent, and no other third-party has achieved matching funds.
The campaign has raised nearly $220,000, from more than 4,000 people in more than 7,000 donations.
Hawkins/Walker plans to use the matching funds to get on the ballot in 50 states and Washington, DC by hiring ballot access petitioners. This is especially difficult during the COVID crisis. Attached are pictures of Hawkins/Walker petitioners gathering signatures. Hawkins/Walker will use much of the matching funds to hire petitioners.
The Green Party quotes Howie declaring in his acceptance speech:
Our
campaign will reach out to the tens of millions of voters
who are not represented by the two parties of the millionaires and
billionaires, to the independent voters who have rejected both parties
and to the ‘hold your nose’ voters who reluctantly vote for candidates
they do not like, from political parties they do not trust. [. . .] The
US is a bi-partisan failed state. We need real solutions to the
life-or-death problems we face: Covid-19, racism, economic inequality,
climate change and the new nuclear arms race. The
mishandling of the COVID pandemic has resulted in more than 135,000
deaths. The collapse of the economy has 47.2 percent of working-age
people without work while the bi-partisans are bailing out their wealthy
friends and families. The people are rising up against racism and
police violence but Trump and Biden respond with violence. Neither party
will confront the climate crisis but instead continue building fossil
fuel infrastructure that heighten the crisis. And, the nuclear arms race
is escalating while never-ending wars continue.
Cami Mondeaux (KSL NEWS RADIO) notes, "Hawkins was the first to propose the Green New Deal in 2010, advocating
for legislation that addresses climate change and economic inequality. A
decade later, Hawkins has used the deal as the central theme of his
campaign." The Green New Deal is now a plan advocated by many of various political stripes. This is an example of the power of third parties outside the corporate duopoly -- they can raised needed issues and bring public attention to these issues. This campaign could popularize other needed actions as well as increase awareness of the Green Party and help them move closer towards ballot access in all fifty states.
This is what some see the purpose of the party to be in 2020, not actually winning the election. We have argued in the past -- and continue to argue today -- that any presidential candidate should run their campaign as though they intend to win the presidency. If they fail to do so, they aren't really a candidate for the presidency.
Some critics of Howie's argue that he's not a real candidate. Dario Hunter, who also sough the Green Party's presidential nomination, lodged complaints against Howie and stated that the campaign was fixed by some Green leaders. If the campaign was unfair, proof would be good to supply and not just accusations. We're not calling Dario a liar, we are saying he made charges and didn't follow through. The lack of follow through has been a real problem for Dario. In fact, it's why those of us writing this piece who are Green switched from Dario to Howie. We agreed and more closely aligned with Dario. But long before COVID19, Dario failed to run a real campaign. No, the corporate press is not going to cover third party candidates. Thats why you better have a social media presence. Dario had none. He might go a week without Tweeting. His campaign page -- on FACEBOOK -- rarely updated. How could you get the word out on a candidate who did nothing?
By contrast, on Twitter, Howie and his campaign updated daily -- and, in fact, updated repeatedly each day. They also had a campaign site that regularly posted new content.
It was clear that Howie was running an actual campaign.
Let's say Dario is accurate and the campaign was fixed. So what? It's not like Dario was fighting for the nomination at the start of 2020 -- or even really trying for it.
Jimmy Dore is someone we respect and he has voiced serious concerns about Howie and his campaign. Here's our problem with Jimmy's criticism -- criticism that may be valid. When Jimmy's talking about how he doesn't feel Howie will push hard enough and he feels Howie echoes CIA talking points, we're on board. But then he goes to Jesse Ventura.
A number of people wanted Jesse to seek the Green Party nomination and, earlier this year, he flirted with doing so. Then the former governor of Michigan decided he would not campaign for it. He did say, however, that he would accept the nomination if he was drafted.
If you're going to question whether the Green Party ran a fair campaign, that's fine, do so. But you undercut your own argument when you then start saying that the nomination should have gone to Jesse Ventura.
Jesse chose not to run. His choice. To give the nomination to a candidate who didn't even run for the nomination? That's going to look like a fixed race.
We harbor no ill will towards the former wrestler but we don't see how gifting him with a nomination -- over Howie, over Dario, over everyone that ran for it -- would look like a fair and transparent process.
Howie is the nominee. That doesn't mean he's above criticism. That doesn't mean everyone has to rally behind him. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be called out and pressured. But if you're arguing that the process wasn't fair, you shouldn't also be arguing that the nomination should have gone to a person who didn't even run for it.
Following his victory, Howie Tweeted:
We are honored to officially be the
nominees for President & Vice President! Thank you to Greens around the country who voted for us in the Green primaries! Thank you to our donors and volunteers! Get involved in our #LeftUnity campaign at howiehawkins.us
nominees for President & Vice President! Thank you to Greens around the country who voted for us in the Green primaries! Thank you to our donors and volunteers! Get involved in our #LeftUnity campaign at howiehawkins.us
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This report is built around C.I.'s "Howie Hawkins declared Green Party presidential nominee as US military convoy attacked in Iraq" that went up Saturday night.
