NONE OF THIS is to say that the Greens haven’t made significant political inroads since 2000. For the first time, the Green Party will run three candidates for statewide office — Stein, Lorenzen, and James O’Keefe, who is running for treasurer. It’s fielding six candidates for state representative in districts across the state — Cambridge and Somerville (Paul Lachelier), Barnstable (Peter White), Lawrence (Leavitt), Northampton (Michael Aleo, who garnered 38 percent of the vote in an April 9 special election), Boston (Ken Ostrander), and the Second Hampshire (Sue Bartone). It’s even backing candidate Ralph Lopez, a Cambridge-based writer, for the state-senate seat being vacated by Senate president Tom Birmingham. Meanwhile, the party hopes to increase its clout in progressive circles by merging with the Rainbow Coalition Party during its April 27 convention. And the promise of Clean Elections dollars — should they materialize — will only strengthen the party.

Still, it’s much easier to run a third-party protest campaign for president than a nuts-and-bolts statewide gubernatorial campaign. With less than a month remaining — the deadline is May 28 — Stein, by her own estimate, is still more than 2000 donations short of collecting the 6000 she needs to qualify for Clean Elections funding. And the longer she campaigns without qualifying for Clean Elections, the tougher her prospects look. Right now, for example, her campaign employs only three paid staffers to help with the signature-gathering effort. "We had to create an infrastructure overnight for the petitions," said Stein, after her Northeastern University appearance. "No doubt the playing field is stilted against us."

Stein won’t say it, but building on Nader’s "success" in Massachusetts is harder than it looks. In 2000, Nader, who already enjoyed a considerable amount of name-recognition and street credibility with the left, offered a third choice to voters who believed, somewhat erroneously, that there were no serious differences between Gore and Bush. But the Green Party's statewide organizational backbone, reflected in Nader’s relatively strong showing in Massachusetts in 2000, now appears to have been illusory.

Stein’s campaign manager, Jenny Kastner, describes the situation in blunt fashion. "There is no party structure," she says. "That’s what a lot of this campaign is about — helping to build the party. You’re doing a bunch of these things at once. You’re helping the Green Party to construct itself as a party, a really viable functioning party."

For her part, Stein readily admits she knew running a statewide Green Party candidacy in Massachusetts wasn’t going to be easy. "I came into this with no guarantees," she says. "I came into this because we have no choice but to try to break this system."

Beyond its organizational problems, moreover, the Green Party’s gubernatorial efforts have been hurt by the candidacies of Tolman and Reich. If it weren’t for them, Stein, like Nader before her, might be experiencing a surge of popularity. After all, her issues cover a panoply of progressive concerns: single-payer health care, the environment, and Clean Elections. But the core of the progressive electorate seems to be lining up behind Reich, who has the support of about 26 percent of Democratic-primary voters, according to recent polls. And Tolman, meanwhile, continues to enjoy the support of those most interested in Clean Elections.

In fact, no event took more political wind out of the Stein campaign’s sails than Reich’s entry into the race last January. Almost immediately, pundits such as WLVI’s political commentator Jon Keller remarked on how the ultraliberal "black turtleneck"–wearing gang was rallying behind Reich. At the Democratic caucuses in February, Reich’s strong showing among committed progressive voters, many of them new or newly returned to Democratic politics, cemented this notion. He performed best in many of the communities perceived as bastions of Green support — Jamaica Plain, Cambridge, Brookline, and Northampton. With so many activists going out of their way to work for Reich, the Greens lost a vital part of their constituency.

"I think Bob Reich — especially in the caucuses — showed you could bring not only new people but also progressive elements who drifted into the Green Party," says Reich campaign manager Mark Longabaugh. "Bob Reich can bring those people back into the Democratic Party."

Stein doesn’t buy it. "Reich seems to take credit for the boom of the Clinton years, but not responsib[ility] for the way that boom played out," Stein says, mentioning "the loss of jobs overseas" and "the growing gap between rich and poor." She also criticizes — somewhat guardedly — the former labor secretary for taking in $851,000 in speaking fees from such companies as Ford Motor Company, Merrill Lynch, and Aetna Financial Services last year. "I think people can put two and two together and make their own conclusions," she says. "People have wondered why Reich’s opinions are not as clear as they ought to be" on such issues as health care, the environment, Clean Elections, and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Stein eschews even the appearance of impropriety when accepting honorariums from speaking appearances. "That has been an issue for me," she says. "A variety of doors and speaking engagements have been open. I’m very careful to make sure that I don’t have a financial stake or earn any money in the world of health or environmental advocacies."

(Reich-campaign spokesperson Dorie Clark maintains that it’s "absurd to suggest" that Reich’s speaking schedule raises conflict-of-interest issues. "It’s actually a testament to Bob’s skills and the fact that he’d be a good governor that corporations are willing to pay to hear his thoughts," Clark says.)

In some ways, however, Tolman presents as much of a challenge to Stein as Reich does. While he may be at the bottom of the polls, Tolman has already collected his first Clean Elections check for more than $500,000. This means that in promoting her message of reform, Stein must fight through Tolman, who is in many ways the same type of candidate, albeit much better funded.

"I am a reformer and [Greens] recognize that we are in serious need of reform," says Tolman. "The majority of the voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are unenrolled. To the extent that I can get unenrolleds and Democrats to support me, I’m going to be in good shape come November.

Stein takes a gentle shot at Tolman for "still drawing a salary" from the corporate law firm Holland & Knight, at which he once worked. (Tolman drew the balance of his 2001 salary upon leaving Holland & Knight after he filed suit against House Speaker Tom Finneran, a client of the firm, demanding that the state fully fund the Clean Elections Law.) But she allows that Tolman is "pretty forthright on the issues." Stein says she often finds herself agreeing with Tolman in many of the debates in which both participate.

So why is she running for governor as a Green if Tolman is in the race? "If I had confidence that he would get somewhere in his quest," Stein says. "I wouldn’t run."

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