[statecom-discuss] Re: [ComCom] Here's an idea - For tuesday

[Ron Francis]

Well said Dan, very coherent comments I thought.

I am also late to this thread and must say that I have only read each email once on this thread.

I don't know if we would have gotten much coverage and if it would have been worth it.... It's hard to predict these things.  My hunch is that the Dems would have gotten 90 to 100 % of the coverage and coverage that we got would not necessarily have been positive because of what has already been well stated by Bill and others.

But it's your other point that I want to address.

All of our statewide candidates did a good job representing the party and there is a chance that we can capitalize on it.  There also is the possibility that it will make no difference whether or not we ran statewide.  No one really knows.  When Jill ran people had a very favorable impression and the one big debate was more focused than the multiple debates that happened in the 2006 race that didn't really matter because many people felt Deval had it wrapped up.

But I'm not convinced that Jill's running was something that we could have caplitalized on. Having talked to Jill she told me that she felt that we weren't ready as a party to capitalize.  She may be right but I don't think so.  My hunch is that it would not have mattered even if we were ready !  I say this because building a party simply does NOT happen spontaneously.  People are not more open to doing local base building as a result of statewide campaigns, presidential campaigns or debates.  There is no evidence for it and it also doesn't follow from fundamental principles of organizing.   Building a base of support in a local community has little to do, in my opinion, with any statewide activity basically.

However I am a betting man ! ...and i'm willing to take a chance that there is an advantage to having run statewide and so I'll do my best to help the party capitalize on any advantages that may be there.....even if I doubt their existence ! 
To wit I am working on some local initiatives and will soon know if the statewide organizing had any effect as we talk to ordinary people and carry out the local initiatives.

Also, people have short memories for politics and will soon focus on whether or not a Green presidential race is something that they can support; that is much more likely to determine whether or not someone has a favorable disposition of the GRP than anything candidates did.  Memories of Jill, Grace, Jamie will be long gone in a few months (despite the great job that they did).

In the end of the day, local organizing will be all that matters basically.  Press coverage here or there will not determine in any significant way whether or not the GRP will be a factor in years to come.   

The decisive factor is grassroots local organizing in a systematic fashion as done by the progressive Democrats in Somerville for example; if we focus on systematic replicatable grassroots local organizing then we will be a factor in some years to come.  If we don't we will continue to be a marginal player.

Besides the hurdle of learning how to do local organizing well, we also have a key political problem and that is separating ourselves from the Progressive democrats in a way that people can understand without reading a Ph.D. thesis.

We must solve both of the above problems: first perfect some local organizing methods and then have a compelling, clear and concise message as to why someone should support the GRP rather than a progressive Dem.  Each matter  is a major stumbling block right now.

Ron

Daniel Melnechuk <isis at isisdesign.com> wrote: On Feb 12, 2007, at 2:54 PM, gracegrnrnbw at aol.com wrote:
>
> I believe we must learn to be at home on the inside and on the  
> outside.  then our choices become about strategy
>
> not the emotional reality of where we are comfortable.
>

I think the above sums it up for me. I am responding late to this  
thread. But i will add that what Grace says above goes hand in hand  
with being the part we want to be. And if that means, and it does to  
me, getting elected and standing by our values at the SAME time, then  
we need to be out there about our values. We will be on the inside  
when we get elected and we should also stay on the outside organizing  
for more change!

Strategy wise, i might not include the dems in what would have been  
today's event to show that we can stand on our own. But since Grace  
did such a fantastic job at the governor level of discourse that  
people have opened their minds to the possibility of what the GRP may  
have to say abotu things, or at least Grace may say -- and we should  
use that to our advantage to tell about how bad Romney really is. It  
would have cost in time and organizing a bit to get a few people out  
but worth it.

Another reason to keep hitting on the press is the recognition  
factor. From marketing, it takes people 7 times on average seeing the  
same product to get comfortable with it enough to buy it. We are not  
selling, nor selling out, but Grace got 4 debates on major news and  
in that way has set the stage for more recognition of the GRP, again  
not as a bunch of wackos but possibly as people who actually think  
about things and have some good ideas.

Peace,
Dan


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