Last week, the Wisconsin Green Party announced it is seeking a "genuine progressive candidate" to run against Gov. Scott Walker in a recall election.
Should the Green Party run a candidate, Democrats and moderate liberals will surely accuse the party of helping Walker win reelection.
"Being a third party, we're used to being accused of that," says Brenda Konkel, a Green Party activist and former Madison alder. "But we have a right to run candidates. Our votes don't belong to the Democratic Party. If they want our votes they have to earn our votes."
Konkel says that the Dane County Greens are unhappy with former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and the Milwaukee Greens are unhappy with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett - two of the biggest names being floated to run against Walker.
"Those candidates were not what people were hoping for when we started talking about recalling Walker," she says.
But Konkel adds, "There are other Democrats who the Green Party would say, 'Okay, that's good enough.'"
