Green Party courts Van Jones for future run

The Green Party invited President Barack Obama’s green-jobs czar to join their ranks, possibly as a future presidential candidate, after he stepped down last Sunday following controversial statements and activities.

Van Jones had recently come under fire for making derogatory comments about Republicans, calling them “a—holes,” earlier this year, and likening former President George W. Bush to a “crackhead” in a speech captured on YouTube.

The Green Party compared Obama’s restraint in coming to Jones’ aid over the recent controversy to President Bill Clinton’s lack of defense when his African-American nominee for Assistant Attorney General, Lani Guinier, was attacked and ultimately withdrawn.

“The targets tend to be Black -- consistent with Republican fury over the election of Barack Obama to the White House,” the Party said in a statement about the comparison.

Jones is an African-American environmental activist from California and has been championed by liberals as pioneering the “green jobs” movement – or jobs that add to the quality of the environment.

“Like the Greens, Van Jones sees green jobs and a healthy environment as interconnected pillars of a sustainable and just economy, said Mike Feinstein, co-chair of the Green Party.

“We encourage Van to bring that agenda into the electoral arena as a Green Party member, leader and possible future candidate, either nationally, statewide in California, or locally in Oakland, his home.”

Marian Douglas-Ungaro of the DC Statehood Green Party and the Green Party Black Caucus agreed with the call for Jones to join the party.

“As a Green, Van Jones can be a strong national voice for justice and the environment, independent of the constraints of the Democratic Party hierarchy, the corporate lobbies that pull their strings, and the right-wing appeasement and selling out of grassroots social movements that appears to be their strategy,” she said.