Martin Schram: Is the Green Party just Liberals for Trump?
WASHINGTON: We have just learned an early lesson that may prove pivotal in November’s national elections: It is the mind-boggling possibility that Green Party activists can unintentionally end up playing the role of Liberals for Trump.
(READERS: Do not adjust your screens or dead trees. I will explain.)
In Ohio, Tuesday night, we witnessed the potential clout this liberal group may have in voters’ decisions about whether control of the U.S. House of Representatives will be shifted to Democrats or remain in the hands of President Donald Trump’s Republican rubber-stampers.
In an oddly timed special election to fill a vacant House seat outside Columbus that has been held by Republican for three decades, the Green Party’s candidate received just enough votes that he ended up performing the role of a de-facto candidate who might as well be flying the banner of Liberals for Trump. For even as the congressional contest was too-close-to-call, we could see that his candidacy helped Team Trump’s effort to keep the congressional seat occupied by the party of the president whose policies they despise.
Here’s the paint-by-the-numbers big picture: Of the votes cast Tuesday in the 12th congressional district, Green Party candidate Joe Manchik got 1,127 votes. That’s not much, but Trump-Republican Troy Balderson was leading progressive Democrat Danny O’Connor by a mere 1,754 votes — too-close-to-call. Then an audit found an error in suburban Columbus precincts and it got too-closer-to-call (the Republican’s lead shrunk by 190 votes). And the results of provisional and early absentee votes are still to come.
Read more: https://www.ohio.com/akron/editorial/commentary/martin-schram-is-the-green-party-just-liberals-for-trump
= new reply since forum marked as read
Isn't that right, Jill?
