OntheWilderSide

The Green Party of Suffolk County is a county organization of the Green Party of New York State, which declined to cross-endorse any major party candidate in the recent governor’s race. Instead, the Green Party chose to run its own candidate, with its own platform and vision for New York. The Green Party had a successful petition drive this summer, in order to place its candidate, Malachy McCourt, on the ballot for governor. Because of that success, New York voters may still register as “Green Party” on their voter enrollment forms. A voter must simply write in “Green” on the line that says “other.”

Statewide, the Green Party governor candidate received over 40,000 votes. In Suffolk County, the Green Party governor candidate received 2,908 votes. Those vote totals show a lot of support for green values and for the green platform.

The entire Green Party of New York State platform is available at www.gpnys.org.
Among the points of the Green Party of New York State’s platform which Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer has failed on are the Death Penalty and Same-Sex Marriage.

Eliot Spitzer’s publicly stated position is that the Death Penalty is acceptable under some circumstances. The GPNYS Platform states: “The Green Party of NYS supports abolishing the death penalty. It is ineffective, costly, it is a form of violence, and it is racist and immoral.”

The Green Party Governor candidate, Malachy McCourt, during his campaign, was quoted as saying, “I think the state should never be in the business of death. There’s no such thing as a just killing of any human being. And, the death-penalty is a cold-blooded, revengeful thing.”

Our new Democratic governor might take note not only of the 40,000 people who supported the Green Party position, but also the new report from our neighboring state of New Jersey: The New Jersey Death Penalty Commission, after four months of public hearings, has recommended the abolition of capital punishment.

Same-sex marriage is another issue that was highlighted in the recent Green Party statewide campaign. In alignment with its value of social justice, Green Party members believe that the right to marry is a civil rights issue. Gay families should have as much rights to shared healthcare and shared property as other couples.

“As Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer failed to do everything he could have to support the right of same-sex couples to marry,” said Roger Snyder, Co-Chair of the Green Party of Suffolk County. As Governor, Eliot Spitzer could potentially change the system and allow for same-sex marriage instantaneously. The New York State Constitution does not forbid same-sex marriage. So, it does not require a legislative remedy to allow same-sex couples to marry.

When you register “Green” at the Suffolk Board of Elections, you automatically become a voting member of the Green Party of Suffolk County. Meetings are held semi-annually. Current projects of the Green Party of Suffolk County include: a “Bring Home the Troops” poster contest; preparations for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser; and election planning for local, state, and national races.

The Green Party is an alternative to the two major parties. The Green Party believes that voters need an electoral choice other than the Democrats and Republicans. Both of the major parties are funded by corporations, both support war in general and the Iraq War specifically, and both more and more cross-endorse each others’ candidates.

The Green Party is different. Roger Snyder, who is also a national committee person states, ” Not only is the Green Party a progressive, third party, it is a third party whose candidates accept no corporate contributions. It is also a party which operates with real, progressive values, such as other parties claim to have, but do not uphold.” The Four Pillars of the green movement and the Green Party are: Non-violence/peace; Grassroots Democracy; Social and Economic Justice; and Ecological Wisdom.

The Green Party of Suffolk County has a web-site at www.gpsuffolk.org

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Background

Official links:
Green Party of Suffolk County web-site: www.gpsuffolk.org
Green Party of New York State web-site: www.gpnys.org
Green Party of New York State approved platform planks: www.gpny.org/?page_id=274 (It is titled “Draft Platform”, but all the planks there are approved.)

Outside links:
Long Island web-site for the previous Green Party Governor’s race: www.m4gov.com
New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty web-site: www.nyadp.org

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