Dean could be green
Pundits speculated a while back about a third party run by Howard Dean. Now, it could be in the works:
Former Vermont Gov. Howie Dean and his advisers are looking into options that would allow him to run for president on the Green Party ticket should he fail in his bid to wrench the Democratic nomination away from Sen. John Kerry.
Dean had been looking at the Green Party long before his campaign caught fire. As early as late last summer, Dean was considering the Greens as an option, particularly because at the time Ralph Nader, the Green nominee in 2000, appeared less interested in a run.
Republicans are saying please.
February 10th, 2004 at 1:54 pm
Don’t most states have “sore loser” laws that prevent someone who ran and lost in the primaries from appearing on the general election ballot as an independent or another party?
February 10th, 2004 at 1:56 pm
I have no idea.
February 10th, 2004 at 2:13 pm
It would be great if Dean would run on the Green Party ticket. That would mean that the next President could conceivably win the election with less than 40% of the vote.
It would make election night great fun to watch
February 10th, 2004 at 2:41 pm
If there is such a thing as a “sore loser” law, this is the first I’ve ever heard of it. Shouldn’t it have barred Joe “Mentum” Lieberman from participating in the primaries?
February 10th, 2004 at 2:44 pm
I think this would be a remarkably bad idea. At the same time, I don’t think that the effect would be anywhere near as profound in 2004 as it was in 2000. The people who voted Green as a protest vote in 2000 got themselves the most anti-Green candidate you could possibly imagine, and a lot of them aren’t going to repeat that mistake.
February 10th, 2004 at 2:54 pm
Greens tend to vote more ‘for’ the cause than other parties who vote for or against their candidate. Doesn’t matter who the Greens run, he’ll get mucho votes just because he’s the Greens candidate.
February 10th, 2004 at 2:57 pm
Even more than Ralph Nader, Ross Perot proved that a third-party candidate is poison the candidate ideologically closest to him. Without Perot, Bush senior most likely would have won in ’92.
This election is headed for a blowout anyway. If Dean splits the vote the Dems are going to lose enormously.
February 10th, 2004 at 3:03 pm
A quick googling reveals 45 states currently have “Sore Loser” laws, although there is some question as to whether or not they apply to Presidential elections in many of them.
http://cgi.usatoday.com/elect/ep/epr/eprb046.htm
February 10th, 2004 at 3:23 pm
I find this very hard to believe.
Nader isn’t “less interested” in running. The Green Party itself, as well as a massive poll conducted, discouraged him from running.
I would assume they would do the same with Dean.
People are still shell-shocked. They do not want a repeat of 2000. While I don’t think this is necessarily a good reason to be voting pragmatically so early, I definitely think people will voice disapproval of any possibility of a Dean green-party run early and overwhelmingly.
February 10th, 2004 at 3:49 pm
“This election is headed for a blowout anyway.”
An interesting take. Are you talking about an electoral vote landslide, a popular vote landslide or both?
February 11th, 2004 at 11:24 am
“An interesting take. Are you talking about an electoral vote landslide, a popular vote landslide or both?”
Both, though the electoral vote will be more dramatic.
February 10th, 2004 at 8:19 pm
Green Party Run
Say Uncle points out this interesting story. Former Vermont Gov. Howie Dean and his advisers are looking into options that would allow him to run for president on the Green Party ticket should he fail in his bid to wrench…