[statecom-discuss] Fwd: Surprising 19 percent vote for Rand Wilson earns ballot status for Massachusetts Working Families Party

[BillCunningham]

Not really. Since fusion (Question 2) was defeated 2 to 1, it's hard to see what the WFP can do. Its strategy, like that of theno-longer-extant New Party, was completely dependant upon fusion endorsement of democrats.

-----Original Message-----
>From: John Walsh <john.walsh at umassmed.edu>
>Sent: Nov 8, 2006 5:08 PM
>To: Jill Stein <jstein at massmed.org>, graccross at aol.com, Discussion List for StateCom members <statecom-discuss at green-rainbow.org>, NeedToKnow at green-rainbow.org, Ron Francis <ronwf777 at yahoo.com>
>Subject: [statecom-discuss] Fwd: Surprising 19 percent vote for Rand Wilson earns ballot status for Massachusetts Working Families Party
>
>Isn't that dandy!  Now the  Dems have a second way to counter the GRP.
>jw
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: "Rand Wilson" <rand at mindspring.com>
>> Date: November 8, 2006 5:02:53 PM EST
>> Subject: Surprising 19 percent vote for Rand Wilson earns ballot  
>> status for Massachusetts Working Families Party
>> Reply-To: rand at mindspring.com
>>
>>
>> Wilson for Working Families
>> 44 Foskett Street  ?  Somerville, MA 02144  ?  617 697-0380
>> www.randwilson.org
>>
>> Press Release
>> For immediate release: November 8, 2006
>> Contact: Rand Wilson, (617) 697-0380 or rand at mindspring.org
>>
>> New party on the block?
>> Wilson campaign for State Auditor earns ballot status for new  
>> Massachusetts Working Families Party
>>
>> Surprising 19 percent vote sends message to Beacon Hill about need  
>> for elected officials to refocus their priorities on economic  
>> justice issues
>>
>> With all precincts in Massachusetts counted, the Wilson campaign  
>> for State Auditor achieved ballot status for the Working Families  
>> Party on Nov. 7 with surprising support from 19 percent of voters.   
>> Only 3 percent was needed to get ballot status for the new party.
>>
>> Over 60 grassroots labor and community organizations backed the  
>> formation of a new Working Families Party and ten unions and ACORN  
>> took the bolder step of endorsing Rand Wilson for State Auditor as  
>> the party's first Massachusetts candidate.
>>
>> "Over 369,500 citizens cast a vote for a brand new Working Families  
>> Party to send a message urging our elected officials to refocus on  
>> the bread and butter issues that matter most to working people,"  
>> said Wilson, a veteran union organizer who was virtually unknown  
>> prior to the election campaign.  "It also shows the widespread  
>> interest in a party that is committed to an electoral strategy that  
>> won't risk spoiling an election or asking supporters of our  
>> platform to waste their votes on purely symbolic candidates."
>>
>> Wilson campaigned vigorously for the passage of Question 2, a  
>> statewide referendum allowing independent parties to build  
>> coalitions with candidates from other parties, but count their  
>> votes on a separate ballot line.  Unfortunately the ballot  
>> initiative failed.
>>
>> "Half a million people voted for Question 2," said Wilson.  "That's  
>> a good start for an innovative idea to improve our democracy so  
>> that people in Massachusetts would have more choices and a better  
>> chance to have their voices heard."
>>
>> "Many unions and community groups united behind Rand Wilson's  
>> candidacy to build support for the Working Families Party.  Now we  
>> have earned a new place on the ballot for the voice of working  
>> class people," said Teamsters Local 122 Secretary-Treasurer John  
>> Murphy.  "In the absence of the election reform we sought with  
>> Question 2, the future of our party depends on whether we can use  
>> that ballot line to support our platform in a meaningful way."
>>
>> For more information, please visit www.randwilson.org or call (617)  
>> 697-0380.
>
>John V. Walsh, MD
>Professor of Physiology
>University of Massachusetts Medical School
>508-856-3360 (Office)
>508-868-1653 (Cell)
>john.walsh at umassmed.edu
>
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Bill Cunningham