David Keith Cobb is an American political

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

who was 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 ...

presidential candidate for the 2004 election. Cobb later became the campaign manager for fellow Green

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 ...

for her presidential run in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2004 presidential campaign

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 Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

in the nation, that of the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, beating local activist Sheila Bilyeu and several write-in candidates and gaining an early lead in the nomination scramble. 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, the Green Party presidential nominating convention, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in June 2004, Nader selected Green Party member

Peter Camejo Peter Miguel Camejo Guanche (December 31, 1939 – September 13, 2008) was a Venezuelan American author, activist, politician and Sailing Olympian. In the 2004 United States presidential election, he was selected by independent candidate Ralph ...

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 Patricia Helen LaMarche (born November 26, 1960) is an American political figure and activist with the Green Party of the United States; she was the party's Vice President of the United States, vice-presidential candidate in the 2004 United Stat ...

as its candidate for vice-president. 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 In United States politics, a swing state (also known as battleground state, toss-up state, or purple state) is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often refe ...

residents to vote for Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

in order to stop the re-election of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, 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 Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

, 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 St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Also arrested was

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

candidate Michael Badnarik. 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.

Post-election activities

Since running for president, Cobb has become a member of the

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

for the Green Institute, and of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

's national Corporate Accountability Committee, a Fellow with the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, on the Steering Committee of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, along with being the group's campaigns director, and is a Principal with Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy (POCLAD). 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. Cobb co-founded Cooperation Humboldt. Cobb was the campaign manager for Green candidate

in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Election history

References

External links

*
Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County website

2004 nomination acceptance speech
2004 Green Party Convention
2008 Green Party convention speechDavid Cobb discussing third parties
Protests outside of 2004 DNC {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, David 1962 births 2004 United States election voting controversies American anti–nuclear power activists American democracy activists American environmentalists California Greens Consumer rights activists Green Party of the United States presidential nominees Living people People from Galveston County, Texas People from Eureka, California Texas Greens Candidates in the 2004 United States presidential election University of Houston alumni Activists from California Activists from Texas

2004 presidential campaign

Post-election activities

Election history

See also

References

External links