David Cobb

Last updated
David Cobb
David Cobb at Oct 2016 Berkeley rally for Jill Stein - 3 (cropped).jpg
Born
David Keith Cobb

(1962-12-24) December 24, 1962 (age 56)
San Leon, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater University of Houston
Political party

David Keith Cobb (born 1962) is an American attorney, liberal political activist, campaign manager, and politician, who was the Green Party presidential candidate for the 2004 election. Cobb is also the co-founder of Move to Amend. Cobb later became the campaign manager for fellow Green Jill Stein for her presidential run in 2016.

Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on what many see as the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems and the separation of church and state, right to due process and equality under the law are widely accepted as a common foundation across the spectrum of liberal thought.

Green Party of the United States American political party

The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a green federation of political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory, grassroots democracy; gender equality; LGBT rights; anti-war and anti-racism. On the political spectrum, the party is generally seen as left-wing.

Move to Amend is a political organization in the United States that seeks to blunt corporate power via a constitutional amendment that ends corporate personhood and states that money is not speech. The group was created in response to the Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The ruling held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make expenditures from their general treasuries supporting or opposing candidates for political office. Move to Amend argues that the Court's decision disrupts the democratic process by granting disproportionate influence to the wealthy. Move to Amend's strategy has included supporting city councils, including the Los Angeles City Council, to vote to end corporate personhood. David Cobb, 2004 Green Party presidential candidate, has been a leader of the group, as has Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, executive director of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County. Riki Ott, a co-director of Ultimate Civics, is a co-founder along with Ben Manski, an executive director of the Liberty Tree Foundation.

Contents

Early life, career and political activities

Cobb was born on December 24, 1962, in San Leon, Texas. After working as a crewman on a Gulf Coast shrimp boat, a construction worker and a waiter, Cobb graduated from the University of Houston Law School in 1993. After several years in private practice as a Houston, Texas, attorney, he became engaged in politics. During the 1980s, he campaigned for the Democratic presidential candidacies of Jesse Jackson and Jerry Brown. Those experiences left him disenchanted with and disaffected from the Democratic Party. Consequently, he turned his activism to broad issues of democracy and corporations, joining with citizens' groups in lectures, seminars, and workshops throughout the U.S. He sought to promote his view that corporations became unelected governing institutions, which should be overthrown by means of a nonviolent democratic revolution.[ citation needed ]

San Leon, Texas Census-designated place in Texas, United States

San Leon is a census-designated place (CDP) in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,970 at the 2010 census.

Texas State of the United States of America

Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast.

Shrimp Decapod crustaceans

The term shrimp is used to refer to some decapod crustaceans, although the exact animals covered can vary. Used broadly, shrimp may cover any of the groups with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata. In some fields, however, the term is used more narrowly and may be restricted to Caridea, to smaller species of either group or to only the marine species. Under the broader definition, shrimp may be synonymous with prawn, covering stalk-eyed swimming crustaceans with long narrow muscular tails (abdomens), long whiskers (antennae), and slender legs. Any small crustacean which resembles a shrimp tends to be called one. They swim forward by paddling with swimmerets on the underside of their abdomens, although their escape response is typically repeated flicks with the tail driving them backwards very quickly. Crabs and lobsters have strong walking legs, whereas shrimp have thin, fragile legs which they use primarily for perching.

In 2000, Cobb answered the call of Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader to organize Nader's Texas campaign. He coordinated a successful ballot access drive in the state. Concurrently, Cobb became Green Party of the United States General Counsel.[ citation needed ]

Ralph Nader American consumer rights activist and corporate critic

Ralph Nader is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney, noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the United States, Nader was educated at Princeton and Harvard and first came to prominence in 1965 with the publication of the bestselling book Unsafe at Any Speed, a highly influential critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers. Following the publication of Unsafe at Any Speed, Nader led a group of volunteer law students—dubbed "Nader's Raiders"—in an investigation of the Federal Trade Commission, leading directly to that agency's overhaul and reform. In the 1970s, Nader leveraged his growing popularity to establish a number of advocacy and watchdog groups including the Public Interest Research Group, the Center for Auto Safety, and Public Citizen.

In the United States, ballot access refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized by Article I, Section 4, of the United States Constitution, ballot access laws are established and enforced by the states. As a result, ballot access processes may vary from one state to another. State access requirements for candidates generally pertain to personal qualities of a candidate, such as: minimum age, residency, citizenship, and being a qualified voter. Additionally, many states require prospective candidates to collect a specified number of qualified voters' signatures on petitions of support and mandate the payment of filing fees before granting access; ballot measures are similarly regulated. Each state also regulates how political parties qualify for automatic ballot access, and how those minor parties that do not can. Fundamental to democracy, topics relatred to ballot access are the subject of considerable debate in the United States.

In 2002, Cobb ran for Texas Attorney General on the Green ticket and used his candidacy to "barnstorm" Texas localities with little Green representation. His election bid was unsuccessful, winning just 0.92 percent of the vote. The Green Party of Texas lost its ballot access, which remained out of reach until 2010. In 2003, a Green committee tagged him as a possible presidential candidate.[ citation needed ]

Texas Attorney General attorney general for the U.S. state of Texas

The Texas Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Texas. The current Attorney General Ken Paxton has served in this position since January 5, 2015.

Green Party of Texas

The Green Party of Texas is the state party organization for Texas of the Green Party of the United States. The party was founded as the electoral arm of the political movements for grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom, and peace/nonviolence. The aim of the movement is to bring change to the Government such that it is brought in line with the Global Greens Charter.

2004 presidential campaign

Cobb campaigning for President in Wisconsin in September 2004 David Cobb on fire.jpg
Cobb campaigning for President in Wisconsin in September 2004

With the announcement in late December 2003 that Nader would not seek the Green Party nomination for president in 2004, Cobb became a front-runner for the nomination. On January 13, 2004, David Cobb won the first Green primary in the nation, that of the District of Columbia, beating local activist Sheila Bilyeu and several write-in candidates and gaining an early lead in the nomination scramble.

A primary election is the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming general election or by-election, thus narrowing the field of candidates.

Nader eventually announced an independent campaign for president and sought the endorsement of the Green Party and other minor parties; his supporters continued to push for a Nader victory in the various Green Party primary elections in states across the country. Shortly before, [1] the Green Party presidential nominating convention, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in June 2004, Nader selected Green Party member Peter Camejo as his running mate. On June 26, on the second ballot, the convention selected Cobb as the Green presidential candidate – a process rocked by controversy as Nader had won the vast majority of actual Green Party votes in nearly all state primary elections (Cobb received only 12.2 percent support). The party also nominated Pat LaMarche as its candidate for vice-president.

Peter Camejo American politician

Peter Miguel Camejo Guanche was a Venezuelan American author, activist and politician. In the 2004 United States presidential election, he was selected by independent candidate Ralph Nader as his vice-presidential running mate on a ticket which had the endorsement of the Reform Party.

Patricia Helen LaMarche is an American political figure and activist with the Green Party of the United States; she was the party's vice-presidential candidate in the 2004 U.S. presidential election, with David Cobb as its presidential candidate, and was one of seven co-chairs of the party's national committee, the Green Party of the United States, elected to that position on July 24, 2005.

Cobb stated his intention to run a campaign focused on building the Green Party and pursuing a "strategic states" or "smart states" strategy which would take into account the wishes of Greens in each state, and which otherwise would focus on states that traditionally are "safely" won by the Democratic candidate, or "safely" won by the Republican candidate, with a large margin of victory. Such so-called "safe states" are also referred to in campaign literature as "neglected states" because the Democratic and Republican candidates traditionally put most of their campaign energy into more competitive "swing states." Cobb's campaign said that each state's campaign would aim to follow the wishes expressed by local Greens. While some of Cobb's supporters urged swing state residents to vote for Democrat John Kerry in order to stop the re-election of President George W. Bush, other Cobb supporters encouraged votes for Cobb and LaMarche everywhere. The candidates themselves used the phrase "vote your conscience," campaigning both in swing states such as Wisconsin and safe states such as California.

On October 8, 2004, Cobb was arrested in an act of civil disobedience, breaking a police line while protesting the Commission on Presidential Debates for excluding third-party candidates from the nationally televised debates in St. Louis, Missouri. [2] Also arrested was Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik. [2]

In the November 2004 presidential election, Cobb placed sixth in the popular vote total nationwide, earning over 119,859 votes (0.10 percent), but received no electoral votes. This represented a decline of over 90 percent support compared to the votes garnered by Nader.

2004 Ohio recount attempt

After the 2004 election, Cobb and Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik sought a recount of the Ohio vote and announced that they would challenge the 2004 presidential voting results in Ohio, even though neither challenger was claiming to have won the election, and even though Cobb had not even been on the ballot in Ohio. The challengers explained that it was an important matter of principle to make sure all the votes were counted accurately. They pointed to alleged voting irregularities.

Post-election activities

Since running for president, Cobb has become a member of the Board of Directors for the Green Institute, [3] and of the Sierra Club's national Corporate Accountability Committee, [4] a Fellow with the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, [5] on the Steering Committee of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, [6] along with being the group's campaigns director, [7] and is a Principal with Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy (POCLAD). [8]

Cobb facilitated the founding convention of the Green Party of Louisiana during a two-day convention which took place on August 31 and September 1, 2002, in New Orleans. [9]

After moving to Eureka, California in 2003, Cobb also won a seat on the County Council of the Green Party of Humboldt County in a hotly contested election on June 6, 2006, a position he maintains.[ citation needed ]

David Cobb is currently a spokesperson for Move to Amend. [10]

Cobb was the campaign manager for Green candidate Jill Stein in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. [11]

Election history

Texas general election, 2002: Texas Attorney General [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Republican Greg Abbott 2,542,18456.72
Democratic Kirk Watson 1,841,35941.08
Libertarian Jon Roland 56,8801.26
Green David Keith Cobb41,5600.92
Turnout 4,481,983
Republican hold

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Green Party Congratulates and Welcomes Presidential Nominee David Cobb, Vice Presidential Nominee Pat LaMarche Archived 2010-11-02 at the Wayback Machine , Green National Convention, Forward 2004
  2. 1 2 "Opponents fail to stop US debate". BBC News . 2004-10-13. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  3. ↑ Green Institute Board of Directors, accessed 1 April 2013
  4. ↑ Corporate accountability committee, Sierra Club Archived 2009-03-09 at the Wayback Machine , accessed 1 April 2013
  5. ↑ Deadlink 1 April 2013
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-04-11.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Deadlink 1 April 2013
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2009-04-11.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Deadlink 1 April 2013
  8. ↑ PROGRAM ON CORPORATIONS, LAW & DEMOCRACY, accessed 1 April 2013
  9. ↑ Everson, Bart. "GPL Founding Convention photo album".
  10. ↑ Spokespeople, accessed 1 April 2013
  11. ↑ Berenson, Tessa (September 22, 2016). "Here's Another Way Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Win". Time . Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  12. ↑ Office of the Secretary of State. 2002 General Election. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2008.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) (accessed 15 December 2006)
Party political offices
Preceded by
Ralph Nader 		Green nominee for President of the United States
2004 		Succeeded by
Cynthia McKinney
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