GREEN PARTY COULD RIDE VOTER ANGER
Ray Hackett: This could be year for impact of third party
Green Party could ride voter anger
By RAY HACKETTNorwich BulletinPosted Dec 05, 2009 @ 10:57 PM
Is this the year when a third party can make significant inroads in Connecticut politics?Scott Deshefy, of Lebanon, thinks it is — especially if Ralph Nader throws his hat into the U.S. Senate race on the Green Party ticket.Deshefy announced last week that he will again run as the Green Party candidate in Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District race. He ran in 2008, garnering between 7,000 and 8,000 votes — just less than 3 percent of the total votes cast.Although that may not sound impressive, it is significant in that this time Deshefy automatically qualifies for the ballot because he got more than 1 percent — so he won’t have to spend months gathering signatures on petitions just to get on the ballot.Deshefy becomes the third challenger to incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. There are already two Republican challengers in the race, Matt Daly, of South Glastonbury, and Diane Novak, of Madison. And I suspect we haven’t seen the last yet.GOP split
There is strong speculation that yet another Republican candidate might emerge in the coming weeks.
Neither Daly nor Novak have impressed party leaders with their campaigns — fundraising mainly — thus far, and there may be an effort under way to recruit a stronger GOP challenger.
I also won’t be too surprised if other third-party candidates throw their hats into the ring.
So far, the 2010 campaigns have seen more candidates and more shifting than anything we’ve seen in a long time. It seems that every week someone is jumping into a race, or abandoning one race and jumping into another.
But the possibility of a Nader candidacy in the Senate race would certainly be another major shakeup in the political landscape. Nader says he’s considering it, but first wants to be sure that the “support” that is being pledged is really there.
According to the Connecticut Green Party, hundreds already have signed an online petition urging Nader to run, and “thousands” have signed up to a Facebook account pledging to work for him and donate to his campaign.
Deshefy believes if Nader does enter the race, that will result in the party also having a strong Green candidate in the governor’s race.
According to Deshefy, a known and respected progressive Democrat has indicated a willingness to switch parties and run for governor as a Green candidate if Nader comes onboard — thus giving the third party one of the strongest slates of candidate for statewide office it’s ever had.
‘Just might be’
And considering the growing voter dissatisfaction with Democrats and Republicans, he said, alternatives to the two major parties might be far more attractive to voters next year then ever before.
“2010 just might be the best year for a third party,” he said last week.
As for his own candidacy, Deshefy acknowledges his is an uphill battle just as it was in 2008. He can’t match Courtney’s fundraising and will struggle to gain media attention. But he is hopeful that the message of his 2008 campaign will this time resonate with voters. He supports single-payer universal health care, an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a new focus on job creation through investment in green technology.
And because he won’t have to spend the next several months gathering petition signatures to get on the ballot, he says he’ll have more time next year to focus on getting that message out.
Ray Hackett is the Norwich Bulletin’s editorial page editor. He has covered Connecticut politics for more than 20 years. He can be reached at (860) 425-4225 or rhackett@norwichbulletin.com