When Kevin Zeese shows up at a forum for U.S. Senate candidates, as he did Monday night in downtown Baltimore, he has one considerable edge over the other hopefuls: He already knows he?s going to be on the November ballot.
Zeese is not just the Senate nominee of one small party ? the Greens, who once nominated Ralph Nader for president ? but also of the Libertarian Party and the tiny Populist Party.
“It?s the first time in history they have both endorsed the same candidate” for office, Zeese said. “Both organizations have their strong views. Both have their members who say, ?We can?t work with them.? ”
Libertarians emphasize personal and economic freedoms and oppose government intervention, while Greens often favor greater government controls and protections.
Particularly hard for the Libertarians to swallow was Zeese?s support for single-payer universal health insurance, making government the insurer for all health care.
“We liked his position on every other issue,” said Doug McNeil, former Libertarian chair in Baltimore City.
His stance on health insurance stirred fierce debate among the party faithful and bloggers. McNeil said Zeese?s positions that brought the parties together included getting out of Iraq, ending the war on drugs ? essentially decriminalizing drug-taking and possession ? and ending corporate welfare.
“It?s always the large corporations that get the big help,” McNeil said.
“I?m not pushing a British health system,” Zeese said. “The problem with our market approach is that it amounts to corporate welfare,” with big corporations getting tax breaks and big insurance companies skimming off 25 percent in administrative costs. He said having a single-payer approach would actually increase competition by allowing patients more choice in which doctor they can see ? not just the ones chosen by their insurance plan. It will also relieve doctors and health
providers the huge burden of dealing with multiple insurers. Zeese also favors free college tuition and requiring payment of a “living wage” to bring full-time workers above the poverty line.
Zeese, whose full-time job is running Democracy Rising, an anti-war group, is under little illusion about the daunting task. The Green Party has 7,800 registered voters in Maryland and the Libertarians have 3,700; there are 1.6 million Democrats and 900,000 Republicans.
