{news} (New London Day) "Green Party Already Gearing Up For '06"

[Tim McKee]

Featured in Region
Green Party Already Gearing Up For '06
Candidates To Run Against Simmons, Lieberman, Rell 
It's really not about the Democratic Party. It's about trying to grow our party. 
Tim McKee,a member of The Green Party's national committeeBy TED MANN
Day Staff Writer
Published on 3/30/2005 
Hartford — The Green Party of Connecticut is planning to take aim at big political game in the next two years, party members said — including Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Republican Rep. Rob Simmons, two incumbents they feel have not been sufficiently challenged in recent years. 
The party will also try to run candidates for statewide office, including governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of the state, said Tim McKee, a member of the party's national committee from Connecticut. 
Plans remain sketchy — no candidates to oppose Simmons or Lieberman have yet come forward, McKee said — but the party will meet at noon Saturday at the New London Public Library to discuss strategy for future elections. 
Movement among the Greens comes as Democrats are trying to mobilize early to defeat Simmons, a third-term incumbent in a once-Democratic seat, and to challenge Lieberman over what some see as an undue willingness to go along with Republicans. 
Fairfield University Professor John Orman, a former candidate for Congress in the 1980s, announced earlier this month that he is considering challenging Lieberman in a primary. 
And Joseph Courtney, an attorney from Vernon who lost to Simmons in 2002, is already running again — raising money and seeking support from Democratic town committees nearly 20 months before Election Day. 
But recent candidates have left much to be desired, said McKee, who called Courtney and 2004 challenger Jim Sullivan “weak” candidates in a press release. 
“It was just really hard for us to get behind any one of these candidates,” McKee said Tuesday. 
“I think there was quite a bit of anticipation that these candidates would have much closer races, that the races would be almost razor-thin,” he said, referring to the 2002 and 2004 contests. “These were targeted races, that really, numerically, weren't that close.” 
The Green Party hopes to build its own party, he said, by presenting an alternative to both the Democrats and Simmons, driving home differences with the major parties on issues like land development in eastern Connecticut, and the future of the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, which McKee suggested could be redeveloped. 
The prospect of a Green Party candidacy does not appear to have caused great concern among Democratic leaders, and McKee said the party could expect maybe 7 to 10 percent support at best, assuming it actually fields a candidate. 
State Democratic Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo suggested that Green Party members who really want to see Simmons unseated would have better luck getting behind Courtney, who said he planned to focus on his own campaign. 
But beating Simmons — and Lieberman — is not necessarily the goal, said McKee, who noted that a 2nd District run could help the party in areas where it is not yet strong, like Norwich and surrounding towns. 
“It's really not about the Democratic Party,” he said. “It's about trying to grow our party.” 
t.mann at theday.com 
  
© The Day Publishing Co., 2005



http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=A0533D80-BD54-43EA-97DF-2E8EDD0A4E59 


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