OntheWilderSide

Candidates of the DC Statehood Green Party to hold a press conference near the front door of the Washington Post on July 31

• DC’s ‘Second Party’ to challenge the Post on apparent policy of excluding DC Statehood Green candidates from coverage, noting that Statehood Greens collectively receive more votes than Republicans

• Press conference: Thursday, July 31, 11:00 am on the sidewalk in front of the offices of The Washington Post, 15th and L Streets NW in Washington, DC

• Four Statehood Green candidates for partisan office in 2008:
Keith Ware for the US Senate
Joyce Robinson-Paul for the US House
Maude Louise Hills for Delegate to the US House
David Schwartzman for At-Large Member of Council
National Green Party candidates: Cynthia McKinney for President; Rosa Clemente for Vice President

DC Statehood Green Party candidates for local office will hold a press conference on Wednesday, July 30, 11 am at the front door of The Washington Post, on the sidewalk near the corner of L Street and 15th Street NW in Washington, DC.

All media are invited to attend. Refreshments will be served. The candidates will have a sound system for amplification and for music before and after the press conference.

The candidates will introduce themselves, and will also challenge the Post over an apparent policy of excluding local DC Statehood Green and national Green Party candidates from coverage.

On May 29, 2008, reporter Paul Kane wrote in the Washington Post’s online “Daily Politics Discussion” that his paper has no intention of covering the Green Party (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/05/26/DI2008052601813.html).

Statehood Greens have complained that the Post routinely ignores or marginalizes the party’s candidates, sometimes listing their party affiliation as ‘Other’ in election reports, despite the DC Statehood Green Party’s major party status in the District and emergence as DC’s ‘Second Party’ in electoral clout.

DC Statehood Green Party candidates have collectively received more votes than Republicans in recent general elections for partisan office, even when the two parties have run the same number of candidates. In 2006, the five Statehood Green candidates received a total of 47,421 votes, while the five Republican candidates received 32,658 votes (http://www.dcboee.org/information/elec_2006/general_2006_results.shtm).

Statehood Green leaders say that the Green Party’s national presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney, and running mate Rosa Clemente have a chance to place second in the 2008 election, ahead of Republican John McCain. Ms. McKinney, a former six-term member of the US House from Georgia, is popular among many DC residents for her outspoken advocacy of the rights of African Americans and other people of color, her leadership on foreign policy and the environment, and her opposition to the Iraq War. In 2006, Ms. McKinney became the first member of Congress to introduce a motion to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Ms McKinney and running mate Rosa Clemente were nominated at the 2008 Green National Convention, which took place July 10-13 in Chicago.

The DC Statehood Green Party is an affiliate of the Green Party of the United States, which is the only national party to endorse DC statehood in its platform. The Democratic Party deleted support for DC statehood from its national platform in 2004.

Filed under: election, elections, grassroots democracy, Green Party Websites, Green Presidential Campaign 2008, media, Political Websites, Press Release, US Politics