Interview with Maria Allwine, 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate of the Green Party

Stephen Roblin from the Indypendent Reader interviews Maria Allwine, 2010 Gubernatorial candidate of the Green Party.

Roblin: How did you and other Green Party Candidates perform in the last election?

Allwine: 300 Greens ran for office in November 2010, with 19 wins.  In the high-profile races, Green Party candidates made headway getting into debates and getting media exposure.  There are now two Green mayors in California, one a city of over 100,000, many elected to city and county councils, school boards and other local offices.  Green gubernatorial candidates in Illinois, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Arizona and New York were featured in televised debates with the Democratic and Republican candidates.  There are 4 elected Greens in Maryland, Michael Cornell on the Columbia Town Council, Dan Robinson Takoma Park Town Council, Christine Nagle, College Park City Council and James Wilkinson, Deputy Mayor and Town Council of Berwyn Heights.  Also, Gary Hull served in Sharpsburg’s Town Council from 06-10.

Unfortunately, here in Maryland, the Democratic party machine controls the electoral process and deliberately excludes all other candidates from forums, debates and media coverage.  I was excluded from the debates with O’Malley and Ehrlich even though I fought long and hard against it, including going to 1 debate and 1 forum and attempting to speak.  I was told by a station manager at WTOP radio that O’Malley and Ehrlich had made it clear that if “third-party” candidates were invited, they would not participate.  I confronted O’Malley face to face on two different occasions and demanded to be included, but received only the blank stare and no satisfactory answer.  The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County held a debate for all the candidates, but O’Malley and Ehrlich refused to participate, so myself, the Libertarian and the Constitution party candidates held a spirited, informative and substantive debate. 

In Maryland, if you are not a candidate groomed and anointed by the Democratic party’s state central committee, you are denied what is every candidate’s right to be heard.  This was my fourth run for office and on every level, candidates like myself must spend enormous amounts of time and energy fighting to be included in debates and get media coverage, which is exactly what the Democratic party machine wants us to do.

I got .64% (11,825) of the vote, which was a shock to all of us.  I had expected at least 2%, especially since an independent poll about 4 weeks before the election had me at 1.8%.  Most of my votes came from Baltimore city and Montgomery County where I am known as an activist, especially for my civil resistance against the wars and my work on BGE reregulation.  I had a great group of supporters who helped me in my campaign and had a wonderful lieutenant governor candidate, Ken Eidel, who is a long-time environmental activist in Frederick.  Here’s a link to my website:  www.allwineforgovernor.org.  We raised about $3500 which bought a lot of radio time (I recorded a commercial which I wrote), had a professional campaign flyer and Ken and I chased after the mainstream media and did finally get some coverage – although nothing in the Baltimore Sun.  I did a lot of speaking events and talk radio and attended various activist events where I either spoke or was introduced as the gubernatorial candidate.  We felt we had run a great campaign, given the limitations, and expected much more than .64% of the vote.

Roblin: Do you think the Green party faced an additional challenge from the threat of Governor O'Malley (D) losing his seat to the Republican contender, Robert Ehrilich?

Allwine: Yes, I do; however, the mainstream media reported at least 6 weeks before the election that O’Malley had a 14 point lead over Ehrlich (and indeed that was O’Malley’s margin of victory) so I expected that in this election, of all elections, people would finally understand that they didn’t have to waste their vote by voting for O’Malley or Ehrlich and would be angry and disgusted enough to vote for me.  But I think many went into the voting booth and became afraid, not realizing and believing that O’Malley and Ehrlich are two sides of the same coin.  It doesn’t matter whether a Republican or a Democrat wins – they’re all corrupt beyond saving because they participate in the same foul system and feed from the same filthy trough.

This makes the case that we desperately need electoral reform beginning with utilizing  instant runoff voting, a ranked system, so you can actually vote for the candidate you want (a true populist progressive like myself) without throwing the election to the candidate you don’t want.  It eliminates the “lesser of two evils” voting syndrome that has contributed to the demise of what used to be – at least somewhat – representative democracy. Now we are left with the shell of democracy on the outside barely covering a totalitarian, failing empire at the core.  This country is imploding and both major parties are responsible – as well as the American people (but that’s another conversation).

Roblin: What are the biggest challenges facing 3rd party candidates in Maryland?

The Democratic party machine controls everything, including the mainstream media, powerful religious leaders, unions and allegedly progressive organizations like Progressive Maryland, Equality Maryland, MaryPirg and the various environmental advocacy groups.  By that I mean these groups are either joined at the hip to the Democratic party and emasculated by it - or are so in love with their own access to legislators and the feeling of power and importance it brings that they will do nothing to upset that access.  Of course, these organizations perpetuate the corrupt and destructive system that keeps us all in bondage and penury even as they tout their progressive bona fides.  These organizations are a primary obstacle to the kind of fundamental, radical change we need.  Let me give you an example:  I am the only candidate, no matter which race I’m running in, who states publicly and loudly my unequivocal support for marriage equality.  It’s on my campaign literature and website, unlike O’Malley or Ehrlich.  While Equality Maryland knows this and many in the group are supportive of me as a candidate, I cannot get them to endorse me, which is quite sad considering O’Malley’s waffling on the issue.  It’s the same with organizations which are nothing more than extensions of the Democratic party like BUILD, which is openly hostile to me, even going so far as to physically block me from entering a forum in 2007 when I ran for City Council President. I got in anyway and distributed my literature, but I was prevented from speaking.  It was the same this October when BUILD held what was billed as a “Jobs Accountability Forum.”  In reality, this event was nothing more than a campaign event for O’Malley.  Of course, it is against the law for BUILD to engage in electioneering, hence the ruse (I have filed a complaint with the IRS and MD State Board of Elections).  I tried before the event to be included and was refused.  I and many supporters went to the event anyway and I intended to speak.  O’Malley was on stage and I asked him for 2 minutes to address the over 700 people there.  When he ignored me, I got up and faced the audience and began speaking.  At that point, the ministers on stage cut me off with a rousing rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”  It was disgraceful and pathetic for African-American ministers to use the most powerful civil rights anthem to deny a populist progressive like myself the opportunity to speak.   So, Green candidates face a huge challenge in Maryland that most other Green candidates do not – the state is ruled and controlled by one party which intends to retain its power into perpetuity and does everything it can to ensure that, including lying to Maryland citizens and denying them their right as voters to hear all the candidates running for office.  I said publicly “what are O’Malley and Ehrlich so afraid of that they cannot trust the voters to hear all the candidates and then vote for the one they feel will best represent their interests!”

Allwine: The Maryland Green Party has a core group of active members who are advocates on many issues:  from BGE reregulation, opposition to nuclear power, election reform, the Chesapeake Bay and local environmental issues, opposition to the Remington Wal-Mart and for a steady-state development model, reducing the defense budget and getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan and all the other countries where the American empire intrudes and a host of others.  Most Greens feel the best way to overcome our lack of visibility is to be visible and active in our own communities where these issues affect all of us.  It’s a slow process, but all movements to change the minds of the majority of people take time.  This is no different.  It is a given, especially in Maryland which is so controlled by the Democratic party machine, that getting people to vote in their own self-interest requires commitment and hard work.  And Greens here in Maryland are committed and hard working, no doubt about that!

Allwine: We just finished out petition drive and hope to be re-certified as a political party in Maryland.  Every 4 years we must gather 10,000 signatures of registered voters in order to “re-form” our party.  This is an onerous requirement which is designed to keep other parties off the ballot.  Many of other states require a much higher number of signatures, but nonetheless, it is a task which requires dedication and a willingness to see it through.  We intend to run candidates in the upcoming Baltimore city elections this year and to continue our grass-roots advocacy on the issues that concern us all.

Allwine: I have run for office 4 times: US Senate in 2004 (1% of the vote), State Senator in the 43^rd district (11%); Baltimore City Council President in 2007 (17%) and Governor in 2010 (.64%).  Running a campaign as an independent party candidate takes an enormous amount of time and energy – and a little bit of money.  I work full time and have a supportive and loving spouse, but I will not be doing this again anytime soon.  While I still think running for office is important – mostly to change the debate as best we can and to raise awareness of the Green Party – I do not believe that the change we so desperately need right now can come from the electoral process.  For me personally, I am exploring other means and methods to wake the American people up from their over-consumptive, under-engaged, anti-intellectual slumber.  People should turn off their TVs, tune in to Democracy Now! and get out in the streets, for starters! 

Allwine: I did an interview on Russia TV in which I stated my unequivocal support for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks (http://rt.com/programs/crosstalk/crosstalk-cyber-wars-wikileaks/).  I cannot state in strong enough terms how much I admire and support what they have done.  WikiLeaks is what journalism should be but is no longer.  When governments lie, they must be exposed by any means.  I have no doubt the US will try to extradite Assange from Sweden and will attempt to try him under the Espionage Act.  At the very least, if Assange is brought to the US, he will be held and tortured as Bradley Manning is being held and tortured now.  Of course the US has no legal leg (much less a moral one) to stand on, but that doesn’t stop the empire.  I take every opportunity I can to encourage those in government to expose its wrongdoings.  There have been many brave souls, Katharine Gunn, SIbel Edmonds, Mordechai Vanunu, Joseph Wilson, Jeffrey Weigand, Joe Darby, Wendell Potter and of course, Daniel Ellsberg, who have told the truth at great personal risk to themselves and their families.  We need thousands more like them to turn the tide and make government in this country accountable again.

Roblin: Any last words?

Allwine: People in the US had better wake up and get active.  And I don’t mean clicking a mouse or writing a letter to a legislator.  It’s past time for that.  This country is being dismantled before our eyes – right now – and this time the “pendulum” won’t swing back.  There will not be any correction unless we force it.  Getting out in the streets in large numbers is the first thing we should do (after turning off the TV).  But drastic and profound action is required if we want to live here or anywhere else.  The global financial crisis lifted the veil on the determination of the wealthy global elite, who use the power of corporations to enslave us, to amass ever more wealth for themselves as they make governments their servants. Wait much longer and we won’t be able to act.  If you value what’s left of this country, inform yourself about what is really going on and then commit yourself to fighting it.