Green Party

"Mmmmm ... " my friend DeNeice Kenehan of San Diego purred while stretching on our picnic blanket. "I think I'll take a little nap." The sun peeked through a big hole in a mosaic of cumulus clouds. It warmed the air and, with the able assist of a glass of wine, leadened our eyes. As we reclined, a breeze brushed across the downy meadow and caressed us like satin. Engelmann oak limbs arched overhead while a painterly landscape of spring-green slopes and a reflecting pond spread at our feet.

An astute politician and international charmer, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer would seem a hard man to bring down. He and his Green Party positioned themselves as the conscience of a nation, embracing environmental protection and popular liberal causes. But the snowy-haired Fischer, who a few months ago was the toast of the tabloid press as he rushed about town with his 28-year-old girlfriend, faces a scandal that jeopardizes his career.

The Green Party of California has rejected a request from Ralph Nader to hold a special nominating convention that would have given him another shot at appearing on the state's ballot as a presidential candidate. Nader fell far short last week of submitting the 153,035 signatures required for him to make the California ballot as an independent presidential contender.

Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman Philip Johnston, the grandson of Irish immigrants, recalls when he first got to know a young Vietnam vet, John Kerry, who was trying to build support for his 1972 run for Congress. Kerry had a powerful Irish American ally, Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, at his fundraisers and rallies, and Kerry courted the district's ethnic political bases, shooting pool at Mike Malloy's Pub, and buying a round of drinks for the Irish Catholic crowd.

The Green Party chose a little-known California attorney as its presidential nominee Saturday -- a serious blow to Ralph Nader and a potential boon to Sen. John F. Kerry. Nader, the Green candidate in the last two presidential elections, sought the party's endorsement this year for his independent candidacy -- a move that could have gained him ballot access in at least 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Ralph Nader faces an unlikely rival in his latest effort to boost his presidential campaign: David Cobb, a lawyer from Northern California. Cobb sounds the same policy notes as Nader: Both oppose the war in Iraq and support universal healthcare, stronger environmental protection and stricter regulation of business. Both want to change the two-party system, and both want President Bush defeated. Cobb has even worked as Nader's political ally.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader named Green Party activist Peter Camejo as his vice presidential running mate Monday, adding to his ticket a two-time contender for governor in California who once ran for president as a Socialist. Nader's selection of Camejo gives further shape to a left-leaning, antiwar campaign many Democrats fear will spoil their effort to unseat President Bush.

His first try at qualifying for the ballot in a key state fell short. Nor is he yet certified anywhere else. But Ralph Nader, the independent candidate many Democrats revile as a spoiler, claims steady progress in his quest to put his name in contention for the presidency in every state. He is starting his own party, the Populists; rebuilding once-frayed ties to the party that nominated him four years ago, the Greens; and even working with remnants of the Reform Party founded by Ross Perot.

When Taiwan's president won reelection last month, his Southern California supporters celebrated quietly, at small gatherings. Orders from Taipei instructed that there be no parties, no loud singing, no rowdy rallies -- nothing that might antagonize the losing party. In Taiwan, disputes over election results had led to fistfights and riots. Party leaders did not want similar brawls in the United States.

Move over, sunflower; the Green Party's longtime symbol is facing retirement. The party launched a logo design contest Thursday to choose a new image to be splashed across posters, stickers, T-shirts and letterheads at its nominating convention set for June 23-28 in Milwaukee. "We want to get people inspired and invigorated about being Green," said Green Party fundraising director Kara Mullen.