[candidate-development] Fwd: [statecom-discuss] Congratulations on your wonderful showing in the election!!!!!!!!!!

[Merelice]

Of considerable interest to CDLC.... Please scroll down to David
Spanagel's good description of his campaign.

Doesn't the party also have a library of helps for candidates? How can
we get the word out broadly enough so someone like David would have
learned about the party's resources?
Merelice


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Walsh <john.walsh at umassmed.edu>
Date: May 16, 2007 8:24 PM
Subject: [statecom-discuss] Congratulations on your wonderful showing
in the election!!!!!!!!!!
To: David Spanagel <davidspanagel at comcast.net>
Cc: Discussion List for StateCom members
<statecom-discuss at green-rainbow.org>, adcom.members at green-rainbow.org,
gracegrnrnbw at aol.com, NeedToKnow at green-rainbow.org


PLEASE POST:

Hi David,
Thank you for your kind comments and your interesting commentary on
your campaign.

BUT I think you made a mistake.  People are fed up with the Dems (and
of course the Republicans).  You should have pointed out to people
that by voting for a Green they would be building a party that is a
genuine alternative to the two parties of war, empire and the police
state.  Grace Ross and before her Jill Stein, for all their
considerable virtues, had the same shortcomings.    And they lost
handily despite their considerable personal talents.

Had you made that argument, you would have tied into the number one
issue on people's minds according to every poll, the war.  The
campaign could have assumed larger dimensions and hinged less on
personality.

And the empire has more wars to come -unless we can stop them from
the bottom up.  I am confident that you will be an important
component here in MA.
Best,
jw

On May 16, 2007, at 7:49 PM, David Spanagel wrote:

> Dear John,
>
> Let me just say, as a preamble, that I think your campaign for
> Congress back in (was it 1992?) was a real inspiration for me.  My
> wife Becky (a primary care physician at UMass Med's Benedict Bldg.
> now; practicing at the Fallon Clinic back then) and I had just
> moved to Shrewsbury at the time.  We kept one of your campaign lawn
> signs up inside our garage for years and years afterward!
>
> This election had entirely to do with the abysmal job our town's
> current Moderator has been doing.  He was abrasive, arrogant about
> his own power, cantankerous, occasionally hostile, always unhelpful
> to those citizens who needed gentle guidance for their own
> effective participation in town meetings, and too often himself
> confused about the procedures over which he was supposed to be
> preside.
>
> I was not alone, however, in feeling compelled to take an active
> part in bringing about a change.  Stanley Starr, the man who easily
> beat me in Monday's election, had also never served as a Moderator
> before.  The two of us independently decided to take out nominating
> papers this spring and run against the incumbent, Eugene
> Christoph.  Mr. Christoph was apparently so discouraged by this
> show of spontaneous multiple challenges, that he did not even run
> for re-election.
>
> Stan Starr has lived in Clinton and Lancaster for his whole life,
> and his family name is well known around these parts.  I moved with
> my wife and son to Lancaster less than 3 years ago.  I knew I had
> an uphill climb on name recognition, and that turned out to be
> true.  Approximately 100% of the letters to the Editor of the
> Clinton Times Courier and the Lancaster-Clinton Item (our two local
> papers) that mentioned the Moderator's race in Lancaster at all,
> were written in favor of Stanley Starr; no letters mentioned me by
> name, but every one applauded him for stepping forward and
> explained how they had worked with him in this or that other capacity.
>
> I had purchased a book on how to run a local campaign GETTING
> ELECTED (by Thomas F. Renk), and I tried to adapt its
> recommendations about strategy to my situation.  With only a few
> spring weekends available in which to campaign, I chose four
> neighborhoods (including my own) where the majority of registered
> voters have relocated relatively recently (since 2000).  These were
> the select areas in which to concentrate upon for some door-to-door
> self-introductions - places where my low name recognition could be
> most quickly overcome.  I ended up visiting 125 homes, and speaking
> with about 70 voters in this way over the past 4 weekends.  I also
> appeared at the town's candidates night (which was a very well-run
> event - aired occasionally on local cable over the ensuing two
> weeks), and I handed out leaflets the final weekend outside the
> local post office.  [Note, Lancaster has just under 4000 registered
> voters.]
>
> Stan Starr turned out to be a very genial person, witty and
> distinguished-looking.  He was also more or less committed to
> virtually the same agenda for change in our town meetings as I
> was.  Even though I articulated my views more forcefully and in
> more detail, it became clear that he was a more comfortable
> (familiar) figure for townspeople to turn to. I think, however,
> that he even gained some clarity about how to handle the job in a
> better way, from our personal conversations over the final days of
> the campaign.
>
> Altogether, I was hoping to get at least 25% of the vote, or at
> least 144 votes, based on how many people I had actually canvassed
> and on the assumption that turnout would be in the typical low
> range (10-20%) for mid-May Monday local elections in our town.
>
> So the net result is that Lancaster will probably have better town
> meetings. 236 votes is extremely heartening to me.  Evidently, a
> lot more people in town know my name and respect me than was the
> case just two months ago (even my opponent has very nice things to
> say about me now).  If for any reason Stan Starr falls short or
> disappoints expectations, I can always run again for his position.
>
> If he turns out to be a good Moderator, some other opportunity to
> expand upon my first attempt at public office will surely emerge
> before next year's local election cycle comes around.  We have 3
> Selectmen whose 3-year terms come up in a staggered way for re-
> election every year, a Planning Commission, a School Committee, and
> a Finance Committee, all of whose seats are elected and which hold
> considerable influence on local decision-making; there are also
> several other publicly-appointed commissions (like Conservation)
> where I might gain more credibility and contacts if I can get
> actively involved, in the meantime.
>
> People knew I was "green," "progressive," and a "peacenik" from the
> slogans I sport on my automobile, and from my own occasional
> letters to the Editor. Now people are learning that I'm really
> intelligent, even-tempered, compassionate, and that I care about
> our town, from talking with me. There's no reason to suppose that I
> will fail to gain a meaningful position in local politics, so long
> as I persist.
>
> Thanks for asking.
>
> David Spanagel
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Walsh"
> <john.walsh at umassmed.edu>
> To: <davidspanagel at comcast.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 4:56 PM
> Subject: Congratulations on your wonderful showing in the
> election!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
>> Hello David,
>> You deserve a lot of respect for this.
>> Can you write something, if only four or five paragraphs, about
>> the issues and strategies that led to this wonderful result?
>> I hope you do.  It would be very helpful.
>> jw
>>
>>
>>
>> John V. Walsh, MD
>> Professor of Physiology
>> University of Massachusetts Medical School
>> 55 Lake Avenue, N.
>> Worcester, MA, 01655-0127
>> Phone (work): 508-856-3360
>> Phone (cell): 508-868-1653
>> email: john.walsh at umassmed.edu