"A Presidential Debate That Matters" - Green Party Grapple in SF
In case you missed it, the Green party held an "event" that organizers dubbed "A Presidential Debate That Matters" last Sunday (January 13) at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. My guess is that in fact you did miss the debate, and don't much care. After all the current political season has had so many debates that tracking one more is above and beyond.
Public encounters seem to have become the manifestation of elections and by inference what it means to be a democracy. That is, candidates must collectively stand before the public and genuflect in apparent deference. It is increasingly unthinkable to bypass debates as part of the audition. The Green debate can be seen as part of the expected pageantry or at least a faint imitation of what is working to draw attention.
: Green party, primary debates, Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader
The San Francisco hall, complete with a big banner proclaiming the "debate that matters," from the sparse press reports (only eleven Goggle hits, no mainstream media, mostly unseen blogs) turned out to be more a
unity display than a debate . The headliner,
Cynthia McKinney, former Georgia congresswomen, is considered the favorite in the race.
She was joined on the stage by Jesse Johnson, Kat Swift, Kent Mesplay,and Jared Ball, each of which have presidential debate web sites ("University Hip-Hop professor Ball, environmental engineer Mesplay, actor/union organizer Johnson and Texas political organizer Kat Swift".),
The nearly three-hour event was co-moderated by "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan. Ralph Nader did not participate, stood in the wings and took to the podium following the debate and addressed the crowd. Apparently he is undecided about seeking the Green nod. And I thought he had endorsed Edwards. Go figure.
