This is the Democratic Underground and I'm here to support DEMOCRATS

[LynneSin]

And last time I checked the Green Party was NOT part of our party.

I know my party has corruption, I know my party has sell-outs and I know that there's a good chance that within 24 hours at least 5 different democrats will find 5 different ways to disappointment. But I continue to fight because of people like Paul Wellstone and John Conyers and Barbara Boxer and yes even Russ Feingold (although Russ - you still owe me for the Ashcroft vote you did :grr;). I know my party is flaw and I accepted the day I told a friend a college I'd help her form the Young Democrats on campus back at a time when the Young Republicans were flourishing under Reagan.

And I have argued with just about every one of you over the most inane issues out there but deep down inside I knew that most of you were still on my team and our disagreements is why I believe in the Democratic Party.

But then the Greens showed up and although I had reservations I tried to believe in them too, hell I briefly flirted with even helping one here in Delaware this election knowing that the Republican was pretty much a shoo-in (and a moderate you can almost stomach). I listened to your talks about how the Green Party was such much better than the democratic party because they were void of corruption and compromise in values and somehow you managed to make me feel perhaps I was a bit inferior for defending the party I've supported since I was 10 years old and fell in love with a man who grew the peanuts to make my peanut butter (you figure it out).

I heard the accusers on our side claim that the Greens were the spoilers and the rumors of republican collaboration. I even bit my tongue when you opted to add a candidate to a race that had one of the most progressive democrats up for a tight re-election race (Paul Wellstone). In reality I did my best to co-exist.

So now the scandal broke and someone in the Green Party did something that definitely did not fit the platform of the Greens. A Green party candidate knowingly accepted money from Lobbyists, Anti-Choicers, Homophobes and Oil Execs(Look it up - those were the professions of those who donated) in order to get on the ballot. There was no help with the Libertarian or Constitution candidate whatsoever just the Green party. And the money came from the one person that would best benefit from having that candidate on the ticket.

Now you're gonna argue about how there needs to be a 'choice' candidate, the difficulty of getting candidates on the ballot or perhaps the merits of publican financed elections. You'll probably even post again about how democrats are corrupt and have received money from the same type of questionable persons (which btw, was covered early on in my rant so save your breath).

This is about one thing. About a party and it's people that preached a principle and about a man who ignored that principle just to get on the ballot and without a doubt be used to help the donating party to win. This is about a principle that has been extolled way too many times here at DU as the reasons why the Green Party is better than the democrats. And yes, this is just one candidate - but he is YOUR candidate. I mean I'd like to disown Joe Lieberman but lets face it he is a democrat and part of our baggage too.

And in closing, my final thoughts are this - rule #2 from the DU rules:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html
#2) Who We Are: Democratic Underground is an online community for Democrats and other progressives. Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office. Democratic Underground is not affiliated with the Democratic Party, and comments posted here are not representative of the Democratic Party or its candidates.

I want greens to be a part of the discussion but they need remember that we're here to elect democrats and when see an obvious case of a Republican buying a Green Party candidate, we see a clear tactics being used to help prevent our democratic candidate, who was elected through a primary system, to win