Opinion: Campus Greens endorse David Cobb

Matt Yurkanin

David Cobb is an honest, passionate, generous and hard-working man who deserves your vote in this presidential race. As the Green Party presidential candidate, he's worked to spread the Green Party's message of peace, social justice, real democracy and environmental protection to people all over the country.

The Green Party presidential candidate speaks to views that a large number of U.S. citizens support, yet were not at all represented at the presidential debates. David Cobb wholeheartedly opposes the war in Iraq and calls for the end of the U.S. military occupation. He supports a single-payer universal health-care plan that guarantees health insurance to all people as a basic human right. He calls for raising the minimum wage to a living wage. He seeks to end the racial divide - reflected by the disproportionate number of people of color in prison, on death row and U.S. soldiers in Iraq - that continues to harm this country.

While not on the ballot in Illinois - our state boasts some of the most restrictive ballot-access laws in the country - Cobb is a qualified write-in candidate.

David Cobb describes Sen. John Kerry as a corporatist and a militarist. John Kerry voted for the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act and NAFTA. He is on record for opposing a living wage and a universal health-care system. President Bush not only sold out to corporate interests and is ready to continue war at the expense of U.S. citizens, but he also is a danger to the world. David Cobb wants to end his campaign with President Bush out of the White House.

David Cobb probably will not win his race for the presidential seat; still, he's perfectly capable and ready to be president, as he asserted at Allen Hall during a visit on Oct. 25. Because of his help and support, local Green Party candidates for Champaign County Board - Susan Rodgers, Ken Urban, and Zach Miller - do have a chance to win their races.

Cobb supports electoral reforms such as instant-runoff voting, a system that allows voters to rank their choices and requires a majority for any candidate to win (for more information, visit www.instantrunoff.com).

Because Illinois is not a swing state, voters in Illinois do not need to worry about voting for a "lesser of two evils." They can vote for a candidate whose positions they actually support. I encourage all of you to invest your vote in the Green Party, invest your vote in a progressive candidate and write in David Cobb for president on your Nov. 2 ballot.

Jen Walling

president, Students for David Cobb

Campus Greens outreach coordinator