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

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the

Palmer House Hilton The Palmer House – A Hilton Hotel is a historic hotel in Chicago's Loop area. It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Palmer House was the city's first hotel with elevators, ...

and Symphony Center. 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 social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

of the United States.

Venues

The convention was headquartered at the historic

, while the nomination event itself took place at the nearby Symphony Center 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 *Evening Reception hosted by

Rich Whitney Rich Whitney (born April 21, 1955) is an American politician and civil rights attorney who was the Illinois Green Party's nominee for Governor of Illinois in the elections of 2006 and 2010. During the 2006 campaign Whitney received endorsements ...

;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 and Jim Coplen) **Selling Yourself Without Selling Out (hosted by Scott McLarty) **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) **What is Local Democracy? Building from the Bottom Up for Political Power (led by Juscha E. M. Robinson, Brenda Konkel, Pete Karas)

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

*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 John C. Rensenbrink (August 30, 1928 – July 30, 2022) was an American political scientist, philosopher, journalist, conservationist, and political activist. He has initiated and helped found many organizations, the most prominent of which ar ...

, 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 th ...

Kathy Kelly Kathy Kelly (born 1952) is an American peace activist, pacifist and author, one of the founding members of ''Voices in the Wilderness'', and, until the campaign closed in 2020, a co-coordinator of ''Voices for Creative Nonviolence''. As part of p ...

Malik Rahim Malik Rahim (born Donald Guyton in 1948) is an American housing and prison activist based since the late 1990s in the New Orleans area of Louisiana, where he grew up. In 2005 Rahim gained national publicity as a community organizer in New Orlean ...

Jill Stein Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and former political candidate. She was the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections and the Green-Rainbow Party's candidat ...

, 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 MalikRahimSkylineEditorB (cropped)

Speakers

Notable speakers included: * David Cobb activist and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Green Party presidential nominee *

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-presidential candidate in the 2004 United States presidential election, with Davi ...

, activist and 2004 Green Party vice presidential nominee *

, Green candidate for

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

* John Nichols, journalist *

, activist, former

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

and Green Party candidate for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district *

, activist * Cliff Thornton, Jr., activist and Green Party politician *Omar López, Green candidate for

Illinois's 4th congressional district The 4th congressional district of Illinois includes part of Cook County, and has been represented by Democrat Jesús "Chuy" García since January 2019. In November 2017, incumbent Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would retire from Congress at ...

, physician and Green candidate in the

2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election The 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican acting governor Jane Swift chose not to seek a full term in office. Republican businessman Mitt Romney defeated Democratic Treasurer Shannon O'Brie ...

* Brent McMillan * Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry * Jim Carr * Ben Manski *

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 state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

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

Elaine Brown Elaine Brown (born March 2, 1943) is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther Party chairwoman who is based in Oakland, California.Wheaton, Sarah (December 12, 2010)"Inmates in Georgia Prisons Use Contraband Phone ...

, former

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

chairwoman Image:Hawkins 2010.jpg ,

Howie Hawkins } Howard Gresham Hawkins III (born December 8, 1952) is an American trade unionist, environmental activist, and perennial candidate from New York. A co-founder of the Green Party of the United States, Hawkins was the party's presidential nominee ...

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

, activist File:Blank.png, Jesse Johnson of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, former Mountain Party candidate for

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and Governor of West Virginia Image:CynthiaAnnMcKinney.jpg,

Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is an American politician, academic, and conspiracy theorist. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first African American ...

of Georgia, former

Congresswoman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

from Georgia's

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

( 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, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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

Kat Swift The 2008 Green National Convention took place on July 10–14, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois at the Palmer House Hilton and Symphony Center. This served as both the venue for the National Convention and the Annual Meeting of the Green Party of the ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, 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 once e ...

Political conventions in Chicago Cynthia McKinney 2008 conferences