Natalie at All Facts & Opinions spotted an interview with Jim Hightower wherein Mr. Hightower has some good advice for Greens and Dems:
Q: Last time around, I personally went for Nader, and you were one of the most high-profile people to do so. I remember seeing you on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer debating the late Senator Paul Wellstone on the Nader question during the waning days of the 2000 race. Do you still feel supporting Nader was the right thing to do?
Hightower: Yes. I think Nader was the best Democrat in the race. But it's not helpful for us to continue to fight that last Presidential election. There are those who say Nader cost Gore the election. Come on! Gore's got to take responsibility for his own campaign at some point.
But all of that aside, now we face the reality of an Administration that is absolutely nutty. There's that old country song, "It felt so good when it stopped hurting." So we've got to stop the pain. But in doing so, we should not fool ourselves that we have gained some progressive victory. What we will have done is to get us back to a ground level where we can build again for a progressive victory that is several years down the road. [P6: emphasis added]
You don't build a movement by running for President. It's got to be built by good organizing at the grassroots level around issues, bringing people in across lines, like privacy, like NAFTA and the WTO, like the USA Patriot Act. And then running people for mayor, state rep, then moving up to Congress, then to the Senate, and then President. I think we are eight-to-twelve years away from electing a President. But we are far along now because insurgent Democrats, Greens, the Working Families Party, the Labor Party, and others are making strides and winning seats and showing that government can indeed be different.
Q: Are you advising the Greens to run someone for President?
Hightower: I hope they don't. I think the Greens probably will, but the question is will they run someone of the stature of Nader. I hope not because I think it is detrimental to their cause, to building a progressive party for the future.
