From the results of the 2000 election, Green Party vice presidential candidate Pat Lamarche knows that third-party candidates can have an important impact on an election's outcome.
She also knows that, more than anything, she wants President Bush out of office-- even if that means putting the objectives of the Green Party on hold temporarily.
Speaking to a small group of students last night, Lamarche focused on efforts to remove Bush from the White House rather than promoting herself. She accepts that voting for a Green candidate is not the feasible way to get this done.
Along with the party's presidential candidate, David Cobb, Lamarche intends to minimize that role in order to prioritize Bush's removal from the White House.
"It's time to get rid of George Bush," she said. "He's the worst president in the history of America."
Although not technically endorsing Sen. John Kerry for the presidency, Lamarche made it clear that she sees him as the lesser of two evils.
"I do not say vote for Kerry, I do not say the K word. So he's not the perfect solution, he's the only one we have," she said.
Lamarche justifies her running in order to continue the existence of the Green Party. Although she would have preferred that no candidate from her party run for president, thirty-seven states require them to run someone in order to continue to be officially recognized.
Lamarche made frequent references to independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, whom The New York Times once referred to as "the threat Democrats feared."
Lamarche voted for Nader in the 2000 presidential election.
This year she asked Nader not to run in the election in order to avoid an additional obstacle in removing the President from office.
However, he failed to comply with Lamarche's entreaty.
"I don't know what Nader's thinking," she said.
Nader, whose name will currently be appearing on the ballot in 34 states, will also be on the New Hampshire ballot.
The Cobb-Lamarche ticket will be not on the New Hampshire ballot, but a vote for them can be written in.
The Dartmouth College Greens, not affiliated with the Green Party, brought Lamarche to campus.
The group, which has approximately 30 regular members, is generally focused on showing support for third party candidates.
However, using a strategy similar to Lamarche, the Greens are currently focusing their energy on the Kerry-Edwards campaign, according to secretary Natalie Allan '06.
Lamarche acknowledged that winning is a pipe dream, but said she retains her faith in the Green Party in the long-term.
"Of course we can't make it, we can't win," she said, but added, "I like the Green Party. I think it's the future."
