On Saturday, I attended a house party/fundraiser for Kevin Zeese’s Senate campaign exploratory committee held at the home of Bill Barry, Baltimore professor, labor and political activist. Kevin is an articulate, passionate spokesman who is on the right side of every issue that he is concentrating on.

Kevin has managed to ruffle a few Green feathers in the past, largely (as I understand it) stemming from his support for the Nader campaign in 2004 when he helped found the Maryland Populist Party to put Nader on the ballot. My impression is that Kevin has not developed the politician’s skill for pleasing all people at all times–which is not a bad thing. I found his enthusiasm refreshing, even when I disagreed with him.

The main issues of the Zeese campaign will revolve around “peace, justice and democracy;” ending the Iraq War and occupation; election reforms, including a paper voting trail for computerized voting, debates that include all ballot-approved candidates, instant run-off voting, universal registration, same day registration, clean money campaigns; ending the failed war on drugs, ending the rich poor divide, corporate welfare for national and international businesses that create unfair competition for local entrepreneurs and big business control of government.

Kevin has been active in all of these areas, working with Democracy Rising, Linda Schade’s TruevoteMd, and the Treatment not Incarceration Coalition. He also served on Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke’s Working Group for Drug Policy Reform.

My only qualm comes from my own personal political leanings. I consider myself the radical green wing of the Green Party. I am not liberal, progressive, socialist, leftist or any other of the traditional labels; I am Green. I believe that the world is already in a population overshoot, with disastrous consequences. Rivers and lakes are drying up from overuse, aquifers shrinking, deserts advancing. Food production has not kept up with consumption in recent years. Oil production will peak within a matter of years (at best), then roll over into decline which will drasticly change our suburban living/mall shopping lifestyle.

I believe that 50 years from now we will be living in a sustainable society. The only question will be whether we take the measures needed to build that society ourselves or whether we simply go into free fall until our appetites get back within the limits the biosphere will allow.

All other issues pale when compared with the calamities involved in doing nothing on this issue. So naturally, I’d like to hear a Green candidate make it more central to his campaign.

Having said that, I fully support Kevin’s candidacy. It is important for the party to run candidates in major races; I believe it is vital to build the party. As I said, Kevin is on the right side of every issue. As the radical green wing of the party, I intend to use his campaign and any other that comes along as an education tool to get my view of our predicament across.