The 2008 Green National Convention took place on July 10–14, 2008 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

at the

Palmer House Hilton The Palmer House – A Hilton Hotel is a historic hotel in Chicago's Chicago Loop, Loop area. It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The first Palmer House opened in 1870, and t ...

and

Symphony Center Symphony Center is a music complex located at 220 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO); Chicago Symphony Chorus; Civic Orchestra of Chicago; and the Institute for Learning, ...

. This served as both the venue for the National Convention and the Annual Meeting of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

of the United States.

Venues

The convention was headquartered at the historic Palmer House Hilton, while the nomination event itself took place at the nearby

on July 12.

Theme

The theme of the convention was, "Live Green, Vote Green".

Events

July 10

;Main Events *Introductory news conference and a reception for international Greens. *Welcome Reception with International Greens ;Additional Events *Credentialing Committee meeting *Accreditation Committee meeting *Diversity Caucus meeting *Platform Committee meeting *Lavender Caucus meeting *International Committee Meeting *Ballot Access Committee Meeting *National Women's Caucus *New York State Caucus *Bylaws, Rules, Policies & Procedures (BRPP) Committee Meeting *California State Caucus *Workshops: **GPUS Budget & Finances in General: Input, Q&A, and more (presented by

Jody Grage Jody may refer to: * Jody (given name), a list of people with the given name * Jody (singer), French singer, real name Julie Erikssen * "Jody" (song), 1986 single by Jermaine Stewart *"Jody", a 1982 song by America from '' View from the Ground'' *" ...

and

Jim Coplen Jim or JIM may refer to: Names * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy People and horses * Jim, the nickname of Yel ...

) **Selling Yourself Without Selling Out (hosted by

Scott McLarty Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

) **A Clear Path Towards Dismantling and Ending All "ism" (Racism, sexism, classism and white privilege) within the Green Party by 2012 (facilitated by Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry) **Viral Campaign Marketing (presented by Jim Carr) **What Every Candidate Should Know (presented

Brent McMillan Brent McMillan (born December 22, 1958, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is the national executive director for the Green Party in the United States, working at the party's offices in Washington, D.C. McMillan has served as the GPUS Political Directo ...

) **What is Local Democracy? Building from the Bottom Up for Political Power (led by Juscha E. M. Robinson, Brenda Konkel,

Pete Karas Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ( ...

)

July 11

;Main events *National Committee Meeting *News conferences for elected Greens, Green presidential candidates, and candidates for other offices *Presidential Candidates Forum. moderated by Rich Whitney *Evening reception with John Nichols ;Other Events *Morning Yoga *Eco-Action Committee meeting *Presidential Candidate Support Committee meeting *Outreach Committee meeting *Black Caucus meeting *Dispute Resolution Committee meeting *Disability Caucus meeting *Youth Caucus meeting *Maine State Caucus meeting *Latino Caucus meeting *Workshops **Fundraising 101 (featuring panelists LaVerne Butler, Angel Torres, George Martin, David Cobb, Jody Grange, Emily Citkowski, Tamar Yager) **The Role of Peace Movement in an Election Year (presented by Bruce Gagnon, Steve Shafarman and moderated by Ann Wilcox) **What is Central to the Green Message: Ecology? Democracy? Social Justice? (presented Gloria Mattera, Ben Manski and John Rensenbrink, moderated by Mary Beth Sullivan) **Sustainable Activism (presented by Alison Duncan) **The 60th Anniversaries of the Palestinian Catastrophe (Nakba) and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Green Party's Response **The Constitutional MAP for Voter Disenfranchisement **Update on NAFTA and the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) **The Law of Diminishing Returns as a Principle for Deciding How to Deal with the Need to Reduce Consumption to Restore the Environment **Organizing Online for Everyone **Campaign Fundraising **Candidate Messaging **Making Green Food Choices – How our diet affects animals and the environment **Democratizing the Electoral College **Endless War and the Military-Industrial- Governmental Complex **Red, Black, Brown and 'Green': Positive Solutions to the Issues of Poverty, Immigration and Environment Destruction **A Democracy Movement for the U.S.A. **The Basic Income Guarantee - and the Power of Green Economics

July 12

;Main events *Platform vote *Keynote speeches by

Cliff Thornton Clifford "Cliff" W. Thornton, Jr. (born January 16, 1945, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American drug policy reform advocate and Green politician who served as one of the seven co-chairs of the Green Party of the United States. Career In the ...

, Kathy Kelly, Malik Rahim,

Jill Stein Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and perennial candidate who was the Green Party of the United States, Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the Jill Stein 2012 presidential campaign ...

, Omar López *Speeches by Green Party presidential candidates *Presidential nomination vote *Vice presidential nomination and speech *Presidential speech *Press conference *Post-convention reception at Palmer House

July 13

;Main events *National Committee meeting with the new presidential nominee ;Other events *Morning meditation led by Lewie Pell of the Network for Spiritual Progressives *Green Alliance Meeting *Workshops: **Agrarian Revival at the End of Cheap Oil **What to say when you're called a spoiler: instant runoff voting & proportional representation **LGBT Activism: Recent Victories and Future Goals **History of US-Iranian Relations and Its Impact on Current Tensions Regarding Iranian Nuclear Power **Strategic Thinking for Campaigns **Elections for Radicals

Speakers

Notable speakers included:

Presidential nomination

The presidential nomination took place July 12 at Chicago's Symphony Center.

Candidates

File:Blank.png, ''Withdrew''
Jared Ball of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, college professor and journalist File:Blank.png, ''Withdrew''
Elaine Brown, former

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

chairwoman Image:Hawkins 2010.jpg , Howie Hawkins of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, activist File:Blank.png, Jesse Johnson of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, former Mountain Party candidate for

US Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

and

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Image:CynthiaAnnMcKinney.jpg, Cynthia McKinney of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, former Congresswoman from

's 4th district
( Campaign �
Website
Image:Kent Mesplay by Gage Skidmore.jpg, Kent Mesplay of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, California Delegate to the Green National Committee Image:Katswift.jpg, Kat Swift of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, co-chair of Texas Green Party

Balloting

Running mate

After McKinney's nomination, the convention delegates selected her stated choice of running mate, Rosa Clemente, for the vice-presidential nomination through a voice vote of delegates.

References

Official Press Release

Video of Convention

State Delegate voting part 1

State Delegate voting part 2

Cynthia McKinney Acceptance Speech

Vote and Rosa Clemente Acceptance Speech

David Cobb Convention Speech

Malik Rahim Keynote Speech

Omar López Keynote Speech

Malik Rahim congressional candidate Louisiana

Jesse Johnson addresses Convention Delegates

External links

Official Convention Website

Green Party 2008 Campaign Web Page

Presidential Nomination Delegate Count
{{Authority control Green Party of the United States National Conventions

Green National Convention The Green National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS). Though the Green National Committee (GNC) meets annually in a "national meeting", the convention is convened by the GNC on ...

Political conventions in Chicago Cynthia McKinney 2008 conferences

2000s political conferences