(This is a Democracywise special profile of Syracuse resident Howie Hawkins in his 2010 run as the Green Party candidate for governor.)
For Green Party veteran, Howie Hawkins, each year feels like “two steps forward and one step back.”
Hawkins is running in his 18th bid for office. This time for New York’s governor. He has never been elected.
“You got to put it in perspective.” Said Hawkins. “This is not a career move for me. This is a civic commitment. It’s not about being a professional politician. It’s about moving policy.”
He has watched the ebb and flow of his party standing throughout the years. In the early 1990s the Greens took shape but progressive excitement over Democrat Bill Clinton pushed the party “downstream,” Hawkins recalled. In the later part of the ‘90s the Greens ran more candidates and started galvanizing support. But that progress was sidelined by the 2001 election, said Hawkins. In that election, Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader was widely blamed for draining away enough Democratic and independent voters to give victory to Republican George W. Bush.
Today, Hawkins sees a progressive constituency with “buyer’s remorse” and yet another opening for the Green Party to make strides.
“We’re on the upswing again,” said Hawkins. Voter frustration with both Democrats and Republicans, he said, gives the Greens a chance to get a second look. “I think a lot of people are looking at Greens again,” Hawkins said, “We’re in a position to really jump up another level this time.”
The Green party platform, termed the “Green New Deal” focuses on employment, healthcare, education and the environment. Hawkins said he’ll look to bring full employment to New York State with the government offering jobs in public works and services. He’s also a supporter of a single, public-payer universal health care system in which the government collects premiums through taxes and pays medical bills from the public fund. Education initiatives include more funding to public schools and free tuition at the public universities, CUNY and SUNY. Public investments in clean carbon and renewable energy will result in economic stimulus as well as safeguard the environment, Hawkins said.
But to push these issues into the main consciousness Hawkins wants to see the Green Party win a more permanent footing on the ballot.The party’s goal for the gubernatorial election is 50,000 votes. It would qualify them to have an automatic ballot line on all state ballots for the next four years.
“It would put us in a position to enter the main narrative of New York politics instead of being a sidebar program,” Hawkins said. “We’d be right in the thick of things. Then we could grow.”
Hawkins, 57, grew up in San Mateo, Calif., where he entered politics during his teens protesting the Vietnam War. He left Dartmouth College his senior year and founded the anti-nuclear clamshell Alliance in 1976 and helped form the Green party in 1984.
Since his move to Onondaga County in 1991, Hawkins has worked at the United Parcel Service, and run for every major office except president.
When he’s not campaigning, Hawkins likes to read books on history, economics and social theory. But an ideal Sunday is less academic. It begins with a trip to the gym and ends with takeout Chinese food and an evening of football. He’s a self-described 49ers and Raiders fan, though he knows New York politicians are supposed to favor the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills.
“I’m an honest politician,” Hawkins said, “I’m tied to the teams I grew up with.”
(Julia Terruso is a senior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and political science. She is the staff of Democracywise for 2010-11.)
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