GREEN PARTY

	November 21, 2000
	Tom Bearden reports on the future of Ralph Nader and the Green Party.

JIM LEHRER: Now, the future of Ralph Nader and the Green Party. Tom Bearden reports. SPOKESPERSON: Mr. Ralph Nader. TOM BEARDEN: It was a week after the presidential election and one candidate who knew he hadn't won was still traveling the country, speaking to standing room-only crowds. RALPH NADER: Thank you all very much. TOM BEARDEN: But far from being downbeat after getting only 3% of the vote, Ralph Nader said his candidacy at the top of the Green Party ticket signaled the emergence of a strong and vibrant alternative to the two- party system. RALPH NADER: So that's what people will get from this effort by millions of people around the country who rallied behind our cause. They're gonna get a watchdog party and they're gonna get thousands of more candidates in the year 2002 at the local, state, and national level. TOM BEARDEN: Nader vows he will now spend much of his time building the Green Party into a major political force. RALPH NADER: Right now, I'm focusing on trying to recruit more candidates and at the local, state, and national level, and to welcome all people to run for office, and to support those candidates with various technical skills, organizing, canvassing, research. And that will focus on the year 2002, where I think there will be well over a thousand Green Party candidates coming in. We will have a very serious chance at majoritarian status at all three levels of government within three election cycles. TOM BEARDEN: Nader does have some reason for optimism. He made it onto 44 state ballots this year, up from 21 four years ago. And 19 Green Party candidates won their races this month, which brings the number of Greens holding elective office to 74 in 18 states. But achieving major party status nationally will be extraordinarily difficult. For one thing, Nader failed to get the 5% of the popular vote necessary to qualify for federal matching funds four years from now. For another, Nader's role in the election has angered some of the people who used to support him on various issues. Some Democrats think Nader may have cost Vice President Gore some key states, and perhaps ultimately the presidency, by siphoning off Democratic votes. On Capitol Hill, some Democratic leaders have said Nader is no longer welcome in the halls of Congress. And union leaders say Nader can forget about blue collar labor support in any future trade battles. Gerald McEntee is the chairman of the political committee of the AFL-CIO. GERALD McENTEE: I think he'll have difficulty garnering support for his issues. I know at one point he talked about a sort of green-blue coalition, sort of that this election would be the start - the beginning of progressive forces in America to come together and fight for certain principles and issues. I don't think he can be the leader of that kind of effort. I don't personally believe that now there is any strong possibility for a green-blue coalition. TOM BEARDEN: Nader is unfazed by the criticism. RALPH NADER: If the leadership are gonna be petty about it and not represent the rank and file interest and protecting jobs in this country and having a more fair trade, then are they really leaders? And I think if the leadership of the labor movement in Washington gets too cozy with the Democratic Party and doesn't demand anything in return, there's gonna be some real rebellion at the local level. TOM BEARDEN: But the angry rhetoric directed against Nader may have already had an impact at the local level. In the closing days of the election, when many Democrats were denouncing Nader, some Green Party candidates felt they were caught up in a backlash that may have cost them their races. In New Mexico, for example, where Green Party candidates have been successfully running for state and local offices since 1994, none of the eight Green Party candidates on the ballot were elected. Melissa McDonald came close. She is a landscape designer in Santa Fe. She lost her bid to be a county commissioner by less than 3% of the vote. She concedes that Nader was probably a factor in her loss. Nevertheless, she thinks the Green Party will ultimately emerge stronger. MELISSA McDONALD: I think that we're going to see that we're going to need to build some bridges again. There is definitely going to be some tension. But - overall -- I think we're going to continue to move forward and know we're moving in a good direction. We've had the spoiler issue before. We recovered and bounced back and elected several other local Green candidates and continued to work in our communities. TOM BEARDEN: Carol Miller was a so-called Green spoiler in New Mexico in 1997. In a special election for Congress, Miller got 17% of the vote in a Democratic district. That showing put a Republican into office. Miller says she, too, was the target of angry rhetoric after that election, but that it had no long-term impact on her effectiveness as a public health advocate. CAROL MILLER: I was told I wouldn't be welcome at the state legislature; I would be finished in Washington. And that's in the heat of the moment. That's not true. I think that Ralph Nader will be welcome, just as I was, even though I was threatened with almost the exact same words. TOM BEARDEN: Miguel Chavez is a furniture maker, a Santa Fe city councilman, and a Green Party member. He voted for Al Gore, though, since he felt Nader didn't have a chance of winning. And he hopes that in the future, the Green Party will put more effort into local campaigns rather than trying to win the presidency. MIGUEL CHAVEZ: The best thing right now probably for the Green Party would be to focus on more local issues, local campaigns -- you know continuing to build that foundation if it's going to be a long lasting viable third party that is not going to be labeled spoiler. TOM BEARDEN: George Mason University Political Science Professor Joel Clark says it's a smart strategy. JOEL CLARK: History shows that minor parties or third parties tend to do well in one or two election cycles, tend to get people looking at their issues, tend to coalesce around a particular individual who has charisma, who can use name recognition, but over time, that movement fizzles. TOM BEARDEN: And he says history has shown that even a popular president like Teddy Roosevelt couldn't make the Bull Moose Party into a viable alternative. And he points out that the Reform Party fizzled away after Ross Perot became less involved. JOEL CLARK: In those terms, I think you see Green Party members building a party from the ground up. That's different from the Reform Party, which seemed to be built somewhat from the top down. And in that sense, then, you could argue that there is a long-term viability for the Green Party, potentially. TOM BEARDEN: But Clark says it's probably a pipe dream to think the Green Party will ever become a major party. JOEL CLARK: When you look at the institutional barriers to third parties ascending to major party status, I think it's very difficult to move much beyond the support that they got this election. TOM BEARDEN: Nader says he has no illusions about the power of the two major parties. RALPH NADER: They command the money. They command most of the media. They command the exclusion from the debates and they start off with 30% of the voters being hereditary Democrats and 30% of the voters being hereditary Republicans. So it's like climbing a cliff with a slippery rope. And the way you do it, you start by pushing the agenda, and forcing, say, the Democratic Party, to pay more attention to its progressive agenda, which it's turned its back on, or it's gonna lose more votes, and in certain closes races it's gonna lose those races with the Republicans. TOM BEARDEN: In the end, Professor Clark says, the real legacy of Ralph Nader and the Green Party may be to significantly influence the agendas of the two major political parties. JOEL CLARK: One of the values of a third or minor party is that they can bring issues, put issues on the agenda that the two major parties may choose to ignore. Certainly we saw that with Ross Perot in 1992, wanting to talk about budget deficits, talk about the S &L crisis and things like that. So in those terms, I think the Greens have made some strides. TOM BEARDEN: Already, some Democrats say they're reaching out to Green Party members. Diane Denish is the Democratic Party chair in New Mexico. DIANE DENISH: Another positive result of this election in New Mexico has been some partnerships that have been formed with the Greens and the Democrats on the issues of commonality. TOM BEARDEN: Have the Greens had the effect of moving the state Democratic Party to the left? DIANE DENISH: They've just made us be a little more conscious. They've been a conscience for us, of maintaining our values about minimum wage, about the environment, about corporate tax incentives in these states. So I think they've been a conscience for us, but I'm not sure they've actually moved us. TOM BEARDEN: Melissa McDonald says she'll be happy if the Greens influence Democratic policies, but she'll be happier if they succeed on their own. MELISSA McDONALD: I know history isn't on our side, in that in the 1890s and the 1930s we saw alternative parties form that pulled parties, you know, perceptively back to issues that are important to people. So if that's the one thing the Green Party does, great. But I have very high hopes that there's a lot of energy in this party, a lot of youthful energy in this party. I think a lot of people in their 20s and 30s are really thinking very seriously about, what is a third party option. TOM BEARDEN: McDonald says one of the first issues she hopes Greens will pursue is a major overhaul of the entire election process. JIM LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight, the music of love, and those four new teachers in New York.