Post-Standard Political Notebook
1:10 p.m., Fire Station No. 8, South Salina Street, Syracuse
Mayoral candidate Howie Hawkins was about to run out of fingers when he came up with the answer.
"Ten," Hawkins said after a few minutes of contemplation and tabulation. "I've personally run in 10 elections."
So how was this year different?
"The Green Party message and platform got far more exposure this year than in any local election I've been part of," Hawkins said. "I wasn't too keen on running for mayor. I wanted to run for council. But I knew this race would get a lot of attention and would bring us exposure. It certainly has."
Asked what would constitute success, Howie said it depends.
"It has already been a success in that our issues – public power, run-off voting, expanding the living wage law, and our sustainable Syracuse economic development platform – are going to be on the agenda after the election no matter who wins," Hawkins said. "So that's one measure of success. Another would be if I get more votes than I did last time I ran for mayor in 1997. I got 2 percent that year, so that seems like a sure thing. (Recent polls show Hawkins with about 7 percent.) From there, the more votes we get, the more successful a day today will be, and the more leverage we will have to push our agenda. If we win, that's the ultimate success."
Hawkins – who is about to come out with a book on the debate within the progressive community on whether to vote for Al Gore or Ralph Nader in 2000 – makes no apologies for being the potential spoiler for Democratic Mayor Matt Driscoll.
Hawkins, you may have guessed, voted for Nader.
Greg Munno, Post-Standard staff writer
Posted by syracusegreens at November 8, 2005 10:27 PM