David Cobb

For the 18th & 19th century U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts, see David Cobb (Massachusetts).

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David Keith Cobb (born December 24, 1962 in San Leon, Texas) is an American lawyer and activist, and was the 2004 presidential candidate of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS).

Related Topics:
December 24 - 1962 - San Leon, Texas - American - Lawyer - 2004 presidential - Green Party of the United States

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Cobb graduated from the University of Houston Law school in 1993 and for several years maintained a successful private practice as an attorney in Houston, Texas. During the 1980s, Cobb had campaigned for the Democratic Presidential candidacies of Jesse Jackson and Jerry Brown. As a result of his experiences, however, Cobb became disenchanted with the Democratic Party and declined to campaign for them any further. Instead, he turned his activism to the issues of democracy and corporations, appearing at lectures, seminars, and workshops throughout the U.S. with various citizens' groups to promote his view that corporations have become unelected governing institutions and that a nonviolent democratic revolution is needed in response.

Related Topics:
University of Houston - Law school - 1993 - Houston, Texas - 1980s - Democratic - Jesse Jackson - Jerry Brown - Democracy - Corporation

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In 2000, Green Presidential candidate Ralph Nader asked Cobb to organize his campaign in Texas, and Cobb closed his law practice to do so. He coordinated a successful ballot access drive in the state. Concurrently, Cobb became the GPUS's General Counsel.

Related Topics:
2000 - Ralph Nader - Texas - Ballot access

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In 2002, Cobb ran for Attorney General of Texas on the Green ticket and used his candidacy to "barnstorm" in areas of Texas with little Green representation. He was unsuccessful in the election, but the Green Party of Texas grew dramatically during his campaign, from four local chapters to 26. The next year, Cobb was tabbed as a possible Presidential candidate by a Green committee, and he accepted the challenge, taking an indefinite leave of absence as General Counsel.

Related Topics:
2002 - Attorney General - Green Party of Texas

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With the announcement in late December 2003 that Nader would not seek the nomination of the Green Party for President in 2004, Cobb began to be considered by some Greens as the front-runner for the party's nomination. On January 13, 2004, David Cobb won the first Green primary in the nation, that of the District of Columbia, beating local activist Sheila Bilyeu and several write-in candidates and gaining the early lead in the race for the nomination. Nader eventually announced an independent campaign for president and sought the "endorsement" rather than the "nomination" of the Green Party. Shortly before Forward 2004!, the Green Party presidential nominating convention, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in June, 2004, Nader selected Green Party member Peter Camejo as his running mate. On June 26, on the second ballot, the convention selected Cobb as the Green presidential candidate. The party also nominated Pat LaMarche as its candidate for vice-president.

Related Topics:
December 2003 - January 13 - 2004 - Primary - District of Columbia - Sheila Bilyeu - June - Peter Camejo - June 26 - Pat LaMarche

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Cobb stated his intention to run a campaign focused on building the Green Party and to pursue a "strategic states" or "smart states" strategy that 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, in each state, the campaign would aim to follow the wishes expressed by Greens in that state. While some of Cobb's erstwhile supporters urged swing state residents to vote for Democrat John Kerry in order to stop the re-election of President George W. Bush, other Cobb supporters encouraged votes for Cobb and LaMarche in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The candidates themselves used the phrase "vote your conscience," campaigning both in swing states such as Wisconsin and safe states such as California.

Related Topics:
Swing state - Democrat - John Kerry

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On October 8, 2004, Cobb was arrested for what he and his supporters consider an act of civil disobedience, breaking a police line while protesting his exclusion from the presidential debates in Saint Louis, Missouri. Also arrested was the Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik. The private entity Commission on Presidential Debates describes its candidate selection criteria on its website.

Related Topics:
October 8 - 2004 - Civil disobedience - Presidential debates - Saint Louis, Missouri - Libertarian - Michael Badnarik - Commission on Presidential Debates

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In the November 2004 presidential election, Mr. Cobb placed sixth in the popular vote total nationwide, earning over 118,000 votes, but received no electoral votes.

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Mr. Cobb currently serves as a Fellow with the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, and as an organizer with Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County.

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