CAMBRIDGE – Bill McKibben, dubbed “perhaps the nation’s leading environmentalist” by the Boston Globe, formally endorsed Democratic Senate Candidate Bob Massie and headline a fundraiser in Cambridge Thursday night.
The renowned author, journalist, and environmentalist is known as one of the world’s most visionary thinkers on the environment and global climate change.
“In climate change, the United States faces a problem of historic and global magnitude, which so far, the U.S. Senate has failed to address,” McKibben said, “Bob Massie offers a depth of leadership and commitment to solving this crisis unmatched not only in this race, but anywhere in the country.
. More here.
Bob at the Mass Democratic Convention this afternoon (sorry for my poor shooting, but the audio will give you the gist of it):
Here’s the complete speech, in better quality:
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For tech reasons which I do not understand, I was unable to listen to the video sent by a supporter of Bob Massie.
I will not deny that there are some “Good Democrats” out there.
As a member of the GRP, I do not support “Good Democrats”.
“Good Democrats” have a few functions important to the system:
Let us assume for a moment that Bob Massie is not only a “Good Democrat”, but the “Best Democrat” in the race. If I want to help him win the Democratic nomination, I would spend some of my limited resources (time, energy and $) supporting him. I may decide that it is so important to elect him that I would change my voter registration (to Democrat or Unenrolled) so I could vote for him.
From my point of view, the “Best Democrat” is not worth the price.
Let us assume that Bob Massie will not win the Democratic nomination? Will he endorse Peter White, a former member of the GRP who is running for the US Senate as an Independent?
You know that he won’t. Bob Massie will support the Democratic nominee, no matter who, because “it’s important for a Democrat to beat Scott Brown”.
If we in the GRP believe that it is important to create an Independent Progressive Party, then supporting “Good Democrats” undercuts our mission. It helps keep people in the Democratic Party. We want to help people with our values to leave the Democrats.
Mike Heichman
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McKibben not only endorsed Bob Massie but also was one of the people who went through all the tests to give Massie a liver transplant when he needed one.
I’m waiting for a candidate, any candidate for any office, to run as an organizer and leave something of real use behind whether he/she/it wins or loses. I’ve told Massie this and suggested a way to do this with energy policy but I doubt if he really heard me (http://www.greenmassgroup.com/diary/86/mr-franklins-folks-go-to-the-tea-party).
The Senatorial election is about 17 months away.
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Of course it’s not my blog or my state, but if you’re building a party, the absolute last thing you want to do is support another party. Democrats are Democrats are Democrats. If Kucinich and Massie and others had the balls to leave the Democratic Party, this country would be in a better place. Shame on them for not doing so.
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I agree with a lot of Michael’s points — especially about GMG not being a Green Party blog… and I agree that Massie would make for a better Senator than either of our current cream puff apologists…
That said, I think Massie is doing a good job of illuminating a false narrative, the same black-and-white thinking that Michael so abhors. “The right-wing Republicans are pure evil and the people-loving Democrats are fighting for good.” It’s pure bullshit, and most of the things he’s condemning the Republicans for are things the Democrats themselves are guilty of. Maybe to a lesser degree. But it’s simply not true that Ted Kennedy ALWAYS fought for us. He protected and defended an abysmal, exploitative system, one that did quite well by him.
Massie’s got the rhetoric down, and he’s got more moxie than Kerry or Brown or Coakley. But just like Howard Dean in 2004, and the mid-terms in 2006, and the presidential election in 2008, I just don’t see this amounting to anything more than a feel-good, Democrats-are-finding-some-spine theater piece. To the extent that Massie could make a concrete difference in people’s lives, it’s hard to begrudge anyone deciding to work for him, or even getting amped up about his campaign. But I very much doubt he’ll be part of any fundamental change… which is desperately needed.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Of course, I’d be happy for him to prove me wrong… I just wouldn’t put an egg in that basket.