Calling Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry "a corporatist, militarist sellout" and proclaiming President George W. Bush a "quasi-fascist," Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb spoke before a packed audience in Wilson 101 Sunday afternoon.
Cobb, a vivacious 41-year-old Texan lawyer who exuded confidence and engaged the audience with his conversational approach, addressed topics as varied as the war in Iraq and a flawed electoral system during his 20-minute speech and subsequent question-and-answer period.
Making a campaign swing through Providence, Cobb drew a near-capacity crowd to his speech and discussion yesterday. Cobb's lively and casual manner of speaking captivated the audience and stood in contrast to independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's more staid speech at Brown two weeks ago. The audience included Brown students, local Green Party supporters and local residents.
Cobb, who is running with vice-presidential candidate Patricia LaMarche, was very clear about his opposition to the war in Iraq, telling the audience he would immediately apologize for the war and begin withdrawing troops if he were elected president.
A day after winning the Nov. 2 election, "I would go on the airwaves and make a public acknowledgement that the war in Iraq had been waged by an illegitimate president in the White House, based on lies around weapons of mass destruction," he said, adding that he would apologize to the American people, people around the world and "to the people of Iraq especially."
Cobb said he would immediately rescind all contracts issued to corporations that were connected to Bush or to Vice President Dick Cheney. He said that he would use the money given to the contractors, which totals about $10 billion to $15 billion, and give it to the Iraqis as a form of reparation.
Last month, Cobb told the Associated Press that if he were elected, within eight weeks of taking office, "we could have American troops out of Iraq." He said troops from neighboring countries would replace the American soldiers.
Cobb also discussed the problems of the current electoral system.
"Our current voting system is fundamentally flawed in this country," he said. "It can culminate in winners who do not have majority support."
Cobb said the solution to the problem is instant runoff voting, in which voters rank their first, second and third choices of candidates in a race. If no candidate receives the majority of the first-choice votes, the lowest vote-getter is dropped from the race and the votes of his or her supporters are given to their second or third choice.
"This is a system that can eliminate the spoiler effect, that can guarantee a majority winner and do it without having a series of runoffs that'll cost millions of dollars for taxpayers," Cobb said, adding that Cambridge, Mass., and San Francisco, Calif., use the system for municipal elections, and the Republican Party in Utah uses it for its primaries.
Cobb also complained that "corporate media" was not giving third parties enough unbiased coverage. Cobb said the media ignored that the Green Party is one of the fastest-growing political parties in the United States. He said the media also failed to question the link between oil and the war in Iraq.
Cobb was very critical of Kerry.
"John Kerry is a corporatist, militarist sellout," Cobb said. "John Kerry voted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. John Kerry voted for the Patriot Act, assaulting our civil liberty. ... On every measurement, John Kerry is no progressive."
But as harsh as Cobb was on Kerry, he saved his toughest words for Bush.
"As bad as John Kerry is, George W. Bush is worse," he said. "He and the neo-conservative cabal that surrounds him are a genuine threat to the planet. They basically declared war on the rest of the world over oil. They've declared war on American workers in the environment. George Bush is a genuine dangerous threat - he is a quasi-fascist." Cobb also alluded to a link between Bush and the destruction of ecosystems.
Many Green Party members, including Ward 1 City Councilman David Segal, have argued that Cobb should campaign actively only in "safe states," where the outcome of the election is not expected to be close.
But Cobb clarified that the Green Party is actually campaigning in swing states.
"I'm encouraging voters to vote for Green Party candidates," Cobb told The Herald. "No, I'm not encouraging voters to vote for Kerry. I'm encouraging them to vote for me."
However, when asked what he thought was the best-case and realistic outcome for the election, Cobb implied that he wanted Kerry to win.
Cobb said he hopes that "the Green Party continues to grow, that there are more Greens elected in this election cycle than that there were before, that there are more registered Greens than there were before, that Kerry wins the election because the Libertarian Party candidates spoiled it for Bush in a couple of key states," Cobb said.
Although Nader is running against Cobb as an independent candidate, Cobb praised his former colleague.
"Ralph Nader is a public hero and a public icon and a personal hero," Cobb said. "He's had more influence on my life than anybody who's not related to me."
Cobb did question why Nader, a lifelong progressive, would accept the nominations of the Reform Party, which in the past has nominated candidates such as ultraconservative Pat Buchanan and H. Ross Perot.
The speech and discussion drew a variety of people to the campus. Warwick resident Glen Bennett, a Green Party supporter who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, brought his wife, mother and 12-year-old son to hear Cobb speak. He wanted to hear Cobb's view on the military.
"I brought my son because the military draft is going to be an issue for him," Bennett said. "This government seems very intent on militaristic ventures."
Bennett said he enjoyed Cobb's speech and will support him rather than Nader this election.
"Cobb has an understanding that it's about more than the individual, but about building a stronger party," he said. "I think he's the only viable option for change in the country."
James DeBoer '05, a leader of the Brown Green Party, said he found Cobb's speech "very enjoyable."
"He's a fantastic speaker," DeBoer said. "I liked his plan for Iraq. I thought that was a good plan in terms of apologizing to the American people, to the rest of the world, and to the Iraqis immediately after his election. His ideas on how to handle Sept. 11 were also very good."
Although Cobb's speech was generally well-received, he did not manage to sway the intended votes of some audience members.
Josh Shulruff '04.5 said he came to the speech because he wanted to know more about the Green Party.
"It was good to put a face to the name of David Cobb," Shulruff said. "I got a better sense on how he's representing Green Party positions. It's exciting to see the way how he interacts with people."
However, Shulruff, who is from Colorado, said he will still vote for Kerry, although he would consider voting for Cobb if he lived in Rhode Island.
Alden Eagle '03, a volunteer for the Nader campaign, said that although he will still vote for Nader, he was glad to see people attend Cobb's speech.
"I think it's good to see how much interest there is in left, alternative politics," Eagle said. He criticized Cobb for not being "straightforward" about whether he believes voters in swing states should support him or Kerry.
The speech was sponsored by the Brown Greens, which invited Cobb to campus when it heard that he was going to be in Providence on Sunday.
Nationwide, support for Cobb is generally so low that he often does not appear in national polls or receive national media coverage. In a Washington Post poll conducted Oct. 13-16, Bush has 50 percent of the national vote, Kerry has 46 percent, and Nader is trailing with 2 percent. The Green Party is currently on 29 state ballots.
