JNS BLOG EDITORIAL: Congratulations, Linda Higgins! (And It's Not Easy Being Green!)

Some stock photo I found on this borrowed computer, blog post by John Hoff

Even while temporarily out of town on business, word reached me that State Senator Linda Higgins beat Troy Parker in the DFL primary by--what? 68 or 69 percent? I was wondering what the vote totals would look like, since I saw a lot of Troy Parker signs, but as one NoMi super citizen put it so well, "Yard signs don't vote" and, furthermore, yard signs at VACANT PROPERTIES count for even less.

As a Green Party Member, I really had no point in showing up at the primary. I would have just been forced to experience...

...the excruciatingly humiliating reality that freakin' Farheen Hakeem is representing my party in the Governor's race, with one of the evil (and ov-er-ly en-nun-ci-ating) Dittman twins runing for lieutenant governor.

I wonder, do Hakeem and Dittman have whimsical little herbal tea parties with stuffed animals, imagining aloud what their hypothetical administration will do? (Put video cameras in every cab, to protect citizens against cab drivers who suddenly, mysteriously transform into the boogeyman?)

To this travesty I say...

THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO ADVANCE GREEN PARTY INTERESTS, which are fairly near the interests of the planet, if we'd concentrate more on true "green" values and quit spinning our wheels on leftover DFL "social justice" issues. We need to be running MORE on "police tape made from biodegradable corn starch" and much, much LESS on "police are just big, bad bullies." (Not in my neighborhood they aren't, and God bless the Fourth Precint or--to be really Green--GODDESS bless the Fourth Precinct)

Yes, we folks with good sense who happen to also be members of the Green Party need moderate, articulate and accomplished individuals who can actually win, folks like Minneapolis City Council Member Cam Gordon. Even when taking a position some would consider extreme (like his proposed circus elephant ban) Cam does it in such a calm, moderate, Minnesota nice kind of way. We need more folks like Cam Gordon running for office in the Green Party, not (for lack of a better phrase) "green-tinged leftovers" like Hakeem/Dittman.

These are the times I have to wonder "why bother?" when it comes to idealistic third party membership, especially with prominent members of my own party (Tom Cleland, cough cough) opportunistically switching back and forth between Green and DFL like City Council Member Diane Hofstede switches staff members. (Sorry, but she does, though it doesn't change the fact Hofstede was the best candidate in Ward 3 by virtue of, oh, I don't know--owning a home like she's actually going to stay a while?)

And, then again, it wasn't like Linda Higgins NEEDED my vote.

Sigh. It's not easy being Green. But it's a bit easier when folks like Linda Higgins can pull off such large margins of victory.