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A Peace Primary?
Oct 16, 2007
If the presidential primaries were decided based on candidates' positions on war and peace, the frontrunners would be quite different. Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Bill Richardson would score points for supporting immediate withdrawal from Iraq. John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson would merit consideration based on their pledges to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons.
Of course, this is not going to happen. Other factors will intercede, from positions on other issues to money for advertising. But there is a "peace primary
Sponsored by the Ploughshares Fund, a long-time supporter of work towards nuclear disarmament and other peace issues, the primary has twelve "candidates" -- organizations like the American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, and Women's Action for New Directions (full listing available at www.peaceprimary.org
The primary is a one-dollar, one-vote affair (i.e., votes are based on contributions to one of the groups, with twenty-five dollars equalling twenty-five votes, for example). The organization receiving the most votes will receive a $100,000 grant from the Ploughshares Fund.
This may seem like small potatoes (paging Dan Quayle -- please spell check this for me!) compared to the tens of millions that are being expended in the presidential primaries. But a little funding goes a long way in the world of non-governmental organizations. Polls close on October 31st -- vote early and often, as they used to say.
William D. Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation, is the author of How Much Are You Making on the War Daddy?--A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration
(c) 2007 TPM Media LLC
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William Hartung
William D. Hartung is a Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and the author most recently of "Pathways to Pentagon Spending Reductions: Removing the Obstacles."
If the presidential primaries were decided based on candidates' positions on war and peace, the frontrunners would be quite different. Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Bill Richardson would score points for supporting immediate withdrawal from Iraq. John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson would merit consideration based on their pledges to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons.
Of course, this is not going to happen. Other factors will intercede, from positions on other issues to money for advertising. But there is a "peace primary
Sponsored by the Ploughshares Fund, a long-time supporter of work towards nuclear disarmament and other peace issues, the primary has twelve "candidates" -- organizations like the American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, and Women's Action for New Directions (full listing available at www.peaceprimary.org
The primary is a one-dollar, one-vote affair (i.e., votes are based on contributions to one of the groups, with twenty-five dollars equalling twenty-five votes, for example). The organization receiving the most votes will receive a $100,000 grant from the Ploughshares Fund.
This may seem like small potatoes (paging Dan Quayle -- please spell check this for me!) compared to the tens of millions that are being expended in the presidential primaries. But a little funding goes a long way in the world of non-governmental organizations. Polls close on October 31st -- vote early and often, as they used to say.
William D. Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation, is the author of How Much Are You Making on the War Daddy?--A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration
(c) 2007 TPM Media LLC
William Hartung
William D. Hartung is a Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and the author most recently of "Pathways to Pentagon Spending Reductions: Removing the Obstacles."
If the presidential primaries were decided based on candidates' positions on war and peace, the frontrunners would be quite different. Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Bill Richardson would score points for supporting immediate withdrawal from Iraq. John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson would merit consideration based on their pledges to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons.
Of course, this is not going to happen. Other factors will intercede, from positions on other issues to money for advertising. But there is a "peace primary
Sponsored by the Ploughshares Fund, a long-time supporter of work towards nuclear disarmament and other peace issues, the primary has twelve "candidates" -- organizations like the American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, and Women's Action for New Directions (full listing available at www.peaceprimary.org
The primary is a one-dollar, one-vote affair (i.e., votes are based on contributions to one of the groups, with twenty-five dollars equalling twenty-five votes, for example). The organization receiving the most votes will receive a $100,000 grant from the Ploughshares Fund.
This may seem like small potatoes (paging Dan Quayle -- please spell check this for me!) compared to the tens of millions that are being expended in the presidential primaries. But a little funding goes a long way in the world of non-governmental organizations. Polls close on October 31st -- vote early and often, as they used to say.
William D. Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation, is the author of How Much Are You Making on the War Daddy?--A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration
(c) 2007 TPM Media LLC
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