[GNC] This is who we should be reaching out to, post November

[Aram Falsafi]

Assuming Kerry wins (if for no other reason than the fact that Wall Street has
decided that Bush is bad for profits) what will happen to all of those
disillusioned Kucinich Democrats that finally realize that there is no hope for
"their" party after President Kerry calls up another 25,000 reservists?

I propose that we start outreach to as many Kucinich supporters as we can,
immediately after November.

-Aram


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [GreenAllianceUSA] Fwd:  How Democratic Convention Muzzled Anti-War
Delegates (fwd)
Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 20:27:33 -0000
From: "obeynow20001" <obeynow20001 at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: GreenAllianceUSA at yahoogroups.com
To: solidaritygp at yahoogroups.com, ralphnader2004 at yahoogroups.com,
green_all_views at yahoogrouops.com, greenallianceusa at yahoogroups.com,
chiantiwar-disc at yahoogroups.com, logansquareagainstthewar at yahoogroups.com,
opctj at yahoogroups.com, progressiverogerspark at yahoogroups.com,
saicactivism at yahoogroups.com, uicnowariraq at yahoogroups.com

Another reason to vote Nader and build the Green Party:

Volunteer at www.votenader.org

More information at: www.greensfornader.org


Alex Briscoe

Illinois Green Party
Green Alliance
etc.




--- In IllinoisGreensTalk at yahoogroups.com, huckelberry at s... wrote:
What a farce.  I'm still waiting for someone, anyone in the ABB crowd 
to 
explain what they're doing to fight the BS described in this 
statement. 

In short, here's a Democratic delegate from Minnesota who found the 
convention so offensive that he honestly doesn't know what to do, 
except to 
keep fighting, somehow, somewhere.  The Democrats are actually 
ostracizing 
people from within their own ranks now. 

 - Phil 

 -------------------- 

A Kucinich Convention Delegate Statement: [Excerpts] 

Sunday 1st August 2004 

"I have been home a bit more than a day, and I wanted to give my
perspective on the convention in Boston.=20 

The first thing I want to say is that the entire convention was a
sham. Perhaps I was na=EFve, but I went in with the perspective of
Duluth (the MN Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party State Convention in
May), where there was lots of _expression from the delegates,
including wrangling over platform, motions from the floor,
significant interactions with other delegates. None of that was true
in Boston; there were no discussions of platform, no microphones on
the floor at all, no negotiations of any kind, no input of any kind
from the delegates. 

By the end of the first night, I was very deeply
upset, muttering things about "Stepford delegates" and wondering why
they didn't just get the crowd as extras from Central Casting,
instead of going through the delegate selection process they did. 

"Lock-step" doesn't begin to cover the management of delegates by
our minders. Since we were told that we could not bring in signs, I
didn't, but I made a sign on-site that said simply "Peace." It was
confiscated, and in a very clever way that left me with no
possibility of
confrontation. For the first two days, they were
ambivalent about the pink scarves we had printed that said "Give
Bush The Pink Slip; Delegate for Peace." By Tuesday night, they were
confiscating them by the hundreds at the metal detectors, and then
going around the hall taking them from individuals. We confronted
them on that one and got them to back off, but it was a tense battle
that carried the risk of being ejected from the hall. 

There was very tight control, even over the choreographed signs they
passed out. If you held up a sign too early or too late, you got a
reprimand. For example, if you held up a basically red Edwards sign
from 15 minutes ago when everyone else was holding up the blue
Edwards sign, you were in a bit of trouble. I saved myself grief by
not holding up any of their silly signs. 

So I want to say very clearly that this convention had absolutely
nothing to do with grassroots politics or representative democracy.
It was designed as a high-end infomercial. There was a constant
drumbeat for "unity" and "message." Sadly, the message was entirely
about how qualified John Kerry was to lead our nation in war. There
was no mention of our desire for peace, except for some of Dennis's
comments and a few unscripted remarks by Sharpton. 

One of my biggest goals in attending the convention was to deliver a
warning to a high level Kerry advisor. I believe that their strategy
of selling Kerry as a more efficient war-monger is extremely
dangerous. They run the risk of tens of millions of people staying
home, since they see little distinction between Kerry and Bush when
it comes to the war. 

I got my chance on Sunday, when I attended a teachers' union meeting
with Kerry's pollster Mark Millner. After his semi-rousing speech,
they asked for questions, and I obliged. I asked if he didn't think
it was dangerous to ignore the millions of people who want us to end
the occupation in Iraq, since it risks them staying home instead of
voting. 

He replied that it was all the fault of the God-damned
Republicans who were paying to get Nader on the ballot. I came back,
saying that I was not talking about Nader or Republicans, but loyal
Democrats who wanted to vote for somebody against the war in Iraq.
He repeated his Republicans/Nader mantra again. 

In other words, they have their plan: Run like Bush-lite, then blame
Nader when you lose. 

As I talk to you now about the actual delegate vote, I want to be
very specific about the exact sorts of pressure we were all feeling. 

Going into the convention, Kucinich had already released his
delegates and strongly requested that they vote for Kerry on the
first ballot. After Sunday's emotional meeting, Dennis became clear
that he could not direct our votes that easily, that many felt bound
by conscience to vote for him, despite his unity urgings. Or perhaps
it was rather that many delegates could not morally vote for Kerry
while he voiced support for war and for the occupation. 

At our Minnesota state delegation level, the pressure was enormous.
I imagine it was the same in other states. Dennis had released our
votes; if we didn't follow our leader, he would lose all credibility
at the national level. Dennis was not even on the ballot; if we
voted for him, it would only be recorded as "present" - - a sort of
abstention. We were in a life or death fight against Bush and party
unity was paramount; if we voted for Kucinich, it would be our fault
if Bush won, and the state and local Democrats would be unwilling to
work with us on anything - - our credibility with the party would be
finished. 

In that context, there was absolutely nothing to be gained by voting
for Dennis, but everything to lose. In that context, our Kucinich
votes would not be seen as votes in favor of peace and progressive
issues, merely signs of party disloyalty which would benefit the
Republicans. Nearly all of my fellow delegates, in deep anguish,
abandoned what they saw as a quixotic fight, in favor of building
alliances within the party. 

I held out for some language of withdrawal from Iraq as a condition,
got stubborn, and became very much the spoiler in what would have
been a very practical deal. 

In the end, I became weary of so much talk about strategy. I just
couldn't vote for a guy who spoke so fondly about a more
international and more efficient occupation of another country. It
just doesn't fit with what Mrs. Walker taught me back in the 3rd
grade, about self-determination, the Declaration of Independence,
and who has the right to rule a people. 

The next morning, I gave a speech to the Minnesota delegation,
explaining my vote of conscience, and my hopes for cooperation. In
the end, I do not know whether the DFLers will work with the Dean
and Kucinich types among them, or carry an ongoing resentment toward
us
because of my own willful decision. Time will tell. I only know what
the consequent loss will be as great for them as it is for us, if we
are shut out and cannot find ourselves in the DFL. 

I hope you can forgive us all for any decisions we made in Boston.
Please understand that we were all isolated, sleep-deprived, living
in circumstances where others dictated our choices and asked for our
moral decisions in a context controlled by them and totally new to
all of us. With each hour since my return to Minnesota, I see more
clearly that it was a situation, in fact, much like the context of
brainwashing or the psychological operations used in Guantanamo. We
were never tortured, and never stripped naked (although the security
checkpoints at the entrance and at the airport had hints of that).
We were, however, isolated from our community, from our usual
context, and even perhaps from the moral parameters we usually have. 

The question arises: Should we now support Kerry? It's a hard one. 

How can we support someone whose idea of progress is to put a velvet
glove on the iron fist of colonialism? How can we support someone
who speaks of a willingness to support unilateral wars (under the
right conditions) and whose campaign is so overwhelmingly military
in his values. 

But what would happen if we all stayed home or voted for Nader?
Wouldn't we then risk the true hell of what W. and his neocons would
do if they won an actual mandate of sorts? 

I do not know what you can morally do in this situation. Perhaps you
can find it in your heart to go to the polls with a clothespin on
your nose and vote for Kerry. Perhaps you can even find the energy
to do voter registration or phone canvases or door-knocking. Perhaps
you will not find any energy at all for the non-choice of this
presidential campaign, but you will throw yourself into something
like Patty Wetterling's race or one of the Legacy Project's
candidates for Minnesota House. 

In the end, we must still support all candidates who reflect our
ideals. In the end, we must examine our own beliefs and
temperaments, and throw our energies into the causes and
institutions we want. So keep buying your food at the co-ops. Keep
marching and conducting vigils, when you can. Keep writing your
senators and writing the
president and sending letters to the local papers. 

If you are tired or discouraged, take a break. But please don't quit
altogether. Go to the grass roots and keep organizing like crazy. In
the end, we will need these millions behind us, whether Kerry or
Bush holds the title of president. 

Peace, Charley Underwood" 

by : Charley Underwood
Sunday 1st August 2004
--- End forwarded message ---




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