in 2002, the Senate

You'd think if there was at least one Democrat the Green Party could get behind, it would be Minnesota's Paul Wellstone. Wellstone is the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate; and Greens are always insisting that their problem with the Democratic Party is that, in the words of Ralph Nader, "the party has been seized by its conservative, reactionary, pro-corporate wing." But Wellstone evidently isn't liberal enough for Minnesota Greens. Although the senator is engaged in a tight race with former Saint Paul Mayor Norm Coleman--a candidate strongly backed by President George W. Bush--and the outcome of that race could easily determine control of the Senate, the Minnesota Greens last week ignored calls to forego fielding a Senate candidate and nominated Ed "Eagle Man" McGaa to run against Wellstone. The reason, Minnesota Green Party Spokesperson Holle Brian told The Progressive's Ruth Conniff, is that Wellstone has been too supportive of Bush's war on terrorism. "We want to give people in Minnesota the opportunity to vote their conscience," Brian explained, "[i]f they're opposed to military actions in the Middle East, the Patriot Act, the sanctions on Iraq." But it turns out the man the Greens have nominated--McGaa, a former Marine who fought in Korea and Vietnam--is no pacifist. He told Conniff that he disagrees with the Greens' platform plank opposing the war on terrorism and thinks the United States was justified in its military response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. As for whether he will siphon off votes from Wellstone and throw the election--and perhaps the Senate--to the GOP, McGaa told Conniff, "I'm an American Indian. We're not as analytical as you folks are." Fine. But what's the excuse for the rest of the Minnesota Greens?

By NO BYLINE