Dreadlocked, Ready to Run

Ask the average voter to name a Green Party presidential candidate and chances are that he or she will say Ralph Nader -- even though he did not have that party's nomination in 2004 and isn't seeking it in the current election. A small percentage may say Cynthia McKinney, the outspoken former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia who is seeking the Green nomination this year. It is doubtful, however, that many would name kat swift (and yes, those are all lowercase letters, just like e.e. cummings).

However, among Green Party circles, though far from a celebrity, the dreadlocked swift is a fairly familiar player. One can catch her in videos from Green Party meetings and events, often delivering impassioned speeches about her vision for the party and her reasons for being involved with it. Swift has previously served as the co-chair of the Green Party of Texas and announced her intention to run in 2008 all the way back in 2004 at the party's National Convention in Milwaukee. Last year, she ran for a seat on the City Council in San Antonio, finishing second with almost 30 percent of the vote.

Though a search of opensecrets.org reveals no donations to her campaign, and instances of her receiving media attention are almost nonexistent, swift still hopes to be the first female president and the youngest president in history (if elected, she would be just the minimum required age upon inauguration). With only $5,000 raised as of early February, she faces a long and difficult road ahead.

Though an extremely long-shot candidate, swift has remained in the race for the Green Party's nomination, where she will face McKinney, Californian Kent Mesplay (who also ran in 2004), and West Virginian filmmaker Jesse Johnson. Though Nader is not seeking the party's nomination, there is, as there was in 2004, a faction of Greens who wish for the party to support his campaign. Former contestants for the party's nomination, Jared Ball and Jerry Kann, have both exited the race, throwing their support behind McKinney and Nader, respectively.

So who is kat swift? What does she stand for? As a long-shot candidate with little if any media coverage, details about swift's positions are not very easy to come by. Additionally, there appears to be two separate Web sites that claim to represent her campaign. Aside from a link to her blog and a single quote, it seems that votekat.org is still unfinished, a state it has been in for some time. The other site voteswift.org features some more information and positions on issues but points visitors to a college student's essay for her biography.

The latter site prioritizes kat's issues as such: she is against capital punishment, concerned about global warming, for the decriminalization of marijuana, and for what she simply calls "the right to die," suggesting support for assisted suicide. The list continues to state that she is against forced prayer in schools, pro-choice, for better relations with Cuba, critical of the education system, against the criminalization of flag burning, and for the separation of church and state. Concerning gay rights, kat believes that "if one class of people has rights that another class of people do not, we are not a just society."

On her blog, she devotes considerable time and space to debating the issues of electoral reform. She believes that electronic voting machines should be owned locally by the people who use them, that they should provide a printed hard copy of votes registered, and that they should operate on open source software, to provide a more open and transparent voting process. Additionally, she wants proportional representation in place of the electoral college, and believes that all elections should include the option to vote for "none of the above."

However, as much as she wishes to see change in these areas, swift must recognize that her chances of winning the elections are extremely slim, especially given her nearly complete lack of media coverage this election season. On this, she states: "Candidates who are covered by Big Media [sic] seek to maintain the power and economic structure that exists in the U.S. of A. It is not in their interest to do otherwise."

So why should anyone vote for her? She says, "If you want to see the changes that will create a just society, then you must stand for your right to vote regardless of who is deemed to be the ‘winner' or whether you think your vote counts or not. How will you know unless you vote and the results are obviously fraudulent? If you were ever a youth and thought you could do a better job than those in power, then Vote Kat in '08."

Will Greens agree with swift and nominate her for the presidency when they meet in Chicago in July? So far, with the exception of California where Nader won, McKinney has won each of the party's primaries. The nomination could still go to any of the candidates, but one thing is clear: swift faces a difficult, if not impossible path to the presidency in 2008. However, with age on her side, one has to wonder what might be in store for a motivated Green activist such as herself in the years beyond 2008.