FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- September 21, 2004
Contact: Campaign HQ, 309-268-9913, phil@votephil.org
Phil Huckelberry, Green Party candidate for 88th State Representative, will be speaking on Thursday at Illinois State University on the role of political parties, especially third parties, in modern politics. The talk will be at 12:30 p.m. in Stevenson 401, as part of John K. Wilson's "American Democracy" series.
Huckelberry's talk will focus largely on his decision to join and run under the banner of the Green Party instead of one of the two controlling parties in America, and also what he sees as the roles of third parties in affecting political discourse past and present.
At a recent conference in Arlington, Virginia, Huckelberry participated in an eight-person panel presenting viewpoints from across the political spectrum. The conference, put on by the Arsalyn Program, invited about 150 students aged 17-22 from across the country to broaden their political awareness. For the panel, Huckelberry was asked to present his own political background, how he came to be in the Green Party, and what he sees Green politics as. Notable participants on the panel included Peter Beinart, editor of The New Republic, and Jonah Goldberg, editor of National Review Online. Huckelberry's talk at ISU will incorporate components of his presentation in Arlington.
"The first time I voted for President was 1996, when the main candidates were Bill Clinton and Bob Dole," says Huckelberry. "Neither man came close to articulating my political beliefs, and neither party they represented did either. There are a lot of good, thoughtful men and women in both the Democratic and Republican Parties, but they are not the people who run those parties, and their voices are largely marginalized. It was obvious then, and remains obvious now, that there is no place for someone like me who genuinely wants to address issues that matter to the vast majority of Americans, unless I want to stand on the sidelines and give a thumbs up to George Bush and John Kerry trying to out-macho each other. I'm not interested in that."
The talk at ISU is part of a busy week for the Huckelberry campaign. On Wednesday, the candidate will appear at Illinois Wesleyan's Far Left Carnival (4-7 on the IWU Quad) and has been invited to a reception put on by the American Association of University Women (5:30-7:30 at Vrooman Mansion). Huckelberry also plans to attend a school funding forum at Normal West on Thursday evening.
For more information on the Arsalyn Program, see www.arsalyn.org.
For more information from the Committee to Elect Phil Huckelberry, see www.votephil.org.
