The morning after
By Stacy Malkan
D.C. Statehood Green Party

Local and state parties are encouraged to republish the "morning after" ad that originally ran in the New York Times in November. Download a copy.

There's one way for the Green Party to get into the New York Times -- pay for it. The Greens did just that when the party took out a full-page advertisement in the Times that ran November 16, the party's first-ever paid ad in a national publication.

"Sick of cleaning up after other people's parties?" asks the ad, which depicts the back ends of a donkey and an elephant. "Join the party that won't make a mess of things."

The ad is part of the Morning After Campaign, an ongoing effort to reach out beyond the traditional Green Party base and build support for a third party movement to challenge the two corporate parties.

"In the wake of the 2004 election, it's clear that America needs a strong independent, non-corporate party more than ever," said Jody Grage Haug, co-chair of the national party. "America can do better than widespread election fraud, ballooning deficits, massive job losses, and a disastrous war in Iraq that has made the world less safe."

The Morning After Campaign includes ongoing Green house parties across the country, stepped up outreach efforts and more ad placements in national publications (next up, Clamor magazine) to raise the issues that are being ignored by the mainstream media. See www.gp.org for details on the campaign.

Green Party fundraiser Kara Mullen, architect of the Morning After Campaign, explains the party's unusual decision to run an ad after Election Day. "People are open to listening now. The Green Party is the place for people who feel they have no representation. The party needs to do a better job at outreach beyond our core base," Mullen says.

"The national (party) can serve a huge role in concentrating resources in standard fare -- ads, events, media -- that will draw attention to the locals. The beginning step in that process is the ad."

Mullen acknowledges that it's been a tough year for the Green Party. "We had to make difficult decisions that created diversions that are basically illusions. The divisions on strategic direction at the presidential level didn't have to do with the core base of the party. Now is the opportunity to move forward. People in this party share core values and beliefs, and we need to get back together, regroup and celebrate our strengths."

Whatever small differences there are within the Green Party, the party stands far apart from the Democrats and Republicans -- as the ad makes clear. "Election fraud, job loss, low wages, the war in Iraq, expensive healthcare, air pollution, unsafe drinking water, poisonous chemicals in our food...aren't you tired of their mess?" asks the ad.

"Join the global party that has practical solutions to the mess made by the other parties. Register Green. Vote Green. Give Green."