Greens grow despite losing election

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK

Like many Democrats, Kathy Lopez started supporting the Green Party during Ralph Nader's presidential bid in 2000. Despite his loss, Nader's ideas and the Green Party platform fueled the passion of the many Northwest Philadelphia voters, including Lopez, who volunteered to work for Tom Hutt, the party's city council candidate in this year's general election.

But with an insufficient Election Day operation and a campaign dependent on small donations and volunteers, Hutt fell to the well-oiled Democratic machine, which backed incumbent Donna Reed Miller.

Despite the candidate's defeat, a progressive movement has risen from the ashes of Hutt's campaign. Comprised mainly of the fallen candidate's volunteers, Northwest Greens held its first meeting at Dahlak restaurant, 5547 Germantown Ave., on December 9.

Seeking to maintain momentum after the election fallout, the group is actively recruiting members, regardless of political affiliation, and sees its role as educating Northwest residents about local, national and international issues.

"The things important to people's lives get left out of the television news," said organizer Chris Robinson.

Robinson, a Germantown resident, said about 25 Hutt volunteers met at Hutt's campaign headquarters on November 9 to relate their Election Day experiences. "We got good results at the polls where we had volunteers," Robinson said.

Hutt captured 15 percent of the vote in Chestnut Hill and 26 percent in West Mt. Airy, even managing to get 28 percent of the vote in the 19th Division of Germantown's 59th Ward, Robinson's backyard.

Initially disappointed at his loss, Hutt studied the precinct results and discovered that he was the first Green to win a voting division in Philadelphia's history. Hutt won 51% of the vote in the 1st Division of the 22nd Ward, edging out incumbent Donna Reed Miller in his home division.

Hutt sees Northwest Greens as rethinking an ineffective decentralized party structure that has stunted the Green's growth. Instead of stretching a relatively small network of members across the entire city, the group is working within Northwest neighborhoods to grow the party one community at a time, Hutt said. Although the one-time candidate will be taking a non-leadership role in the group, he emphasized one thing his campaign lacked: organization.

"We're a small party," Hutt said, "but we're looking to the future."

Hutt and the nation's Greens were also looking to San Francisco on December 9 as the Green Party mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez battled Democrat Gavin Newsom for that city's highest seat. The Gonzalez candidacy was an extraordinary third-party effort by all accounts. Although Gonzalez lost, he did so by only about five points to a candidate who outspent him 10 to 1 and had the endorsements of unions and major real estate and corporate interests, and the backing of both former President Clinton and his vice president, Al Gore. Gonzalez, president of the city's board of supervisors, captured nearly half the vote of a city where only three percent of registered voters are Green Party members. The event's significance was even more pointed, due to Gonzalez's late entry just four months ago.

"I'd love to see Philadelphia be the next San Francisco," Hutt said, calling November 9, "the most significant day in the history of the Green Party."

Encouraged by Hutt's performance among Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy voters in the general election and Gonzalez's support in San Francisco, Green Party of Philadelphia chairman Mike Rosenberg said the Greens are "becoming a voice to contend with across the nation." Rosenberg said Northwest Greens could tap into Mt. Airy's high concentration of progressive activists. "If we want to grow as a movement, it has to come from the grassroots," he said.

Residents from Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and Germantown came together at last week's meeting to discuss issues important to them, including the war in Iraq, R8 service reduction and tax reform.

About half of those present at the November 9 post-Election party showed up for last week's Tuesday night meeting, but many expressed interest through e-mail, Robinson said.

Although difficult, organization is essential to success, something Kathy Lopez experienced first hand. Lopez, a Hutt volunteer, invited 50 people to an open house for a meet and greet with the candidate. Only three people showed. "People are so set in their ways," Lopez said. "They just push the Democratic button, period."

For Lopez, Northwest Greens is an opportunity to "keep the issues alive, not just during an election."

Meenal Raval, a Mt. Airy resident and activist, volunteered to represent the 9th Ward on the Northwest Greens steering committee. "We have to turn our energy into something positive for the Northwest, even without a candidate," Raval said. She provided furniture for Hutt's campaign office and worked with her brother to get out the vote on Election Day.

While Raval expressed concern over military spending, Chestnut Hill resident Richard Biddle's had a more local focus. "I want to make sure that [Councilwoman] Donna Reed Miller doesn't win in 4 years," Biddle said, also citing tax reform and the R8 as important issues.

Biddle, who teaches at the Henry George School of Social Science, classified himself as an "ex-Green."

He shares the pain of losing an election.

Biddle ran for a City Council at-large seat in the late 1970s in a field of 150 candidates. Long before voters created the Tax Reform Commission, Biddle ran on tax and property assessment reform. He finished close to dead last with about 1,200 votes in the primary.

"The Greens get carried away with a lot of seemingly flaky issues," Biddle said, who is currently a registered Democrat.

But he lauded Hutt's campaign for focusing on crucial Northwest issues. Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, communities that were built around the rail lines, would experience plummeting land values if the R8 were to be cut, Biddle said.

Along with West Mt. Airy resident Bruno Moser, Biddle also pushed for the group to study and endorse the Tax Reform Commission's recent proposal.

Each of the 15 attendees added their own issues, including universal healthcare and racism in the justice system.

While the meeting's open format provided everyone an opportunity to express their voice, the effort soon spun into a gripe-session with little focus.

"As progressive activists, we're going to be juggling a lot of balls at the same time," Hutt said, "But we can't have too many balls in the air or we begin to sputter."

Hutt urged the group to target two issues for discussion at its next meeting: the war in Iraq and the reduced R8 service. "With Iraq we can have a secondary effect on the sidelines," Hutt said. "But we can be in the driver's seat with the R8 issue."

The Northwest Greens steering committee is planning a January meeting, and hopes to attract more residents like Mae Dooley of Germantown, who attended last week's event after reading one of Robinson's fliers.

"This may be the beginning of something great," Robinson said.

For more information on Northwest Greens, contact Chris Robinson at chrisrecon@netzero.net or 215-843-4256.