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

Wed Feb 14 12:06:44 EST 2007

My guess is that an event criticizing Romney would have no effect on the party, no effect on the people and no effect on the national dialogue.

People are used to attacks on mainstream candidates from different quarters and unless there is a coordinated campaign then a media splash counts for little.  We can't "swift-boat" Romney... we don't have the resources... so why even try.  If Romney is going to be "swift-boated" then the Democrats will do it and we will play no role.

I do not agree that there would be no harm in standing with Democrats.  

The more that we take actions that confuse the public about the difference between GRP and progressive Democrats we are actually working against ourselves in terms of building our party.  (even if it means minor tactical gains on a particular issue - in this case it would be being a minor help to damaging Romney.. something the Democrats are gong to do anyway)

We need a clear document that gives the top 3 reasons to support the GRP and not the progressive Democrats.  Bill is right: make it two sentences and not four !

(By the way, if we want to expose Romney then someone should issue a call for a group named "Stop Romney From now until 2008" and do it seriously for a year.  If people in GRP were interested in it then it would grow and be a substantial part of GRP organizing... otherwise.. not worth it, and even possibly damaging.. and let's not forget the 8 to 10 person hours that it cost to do such a media splash.)

Colby is right that we can't keep the "capital" from the statewide races.   We are going to lose it if it is not already lost.

As to building the party.

We can build the GRP locally if we are willing to do the work, systematically and have a compelling message that challenges the progressive Democrats;  I work on the ground in Somerville and I can tell you that people feel that progressive Democrats have good "progressive" policies and can be effective in pushing the democratic party to the left and improving their lives.

What is our counter ?

If we have no clear, crisp, counter then we will lose the battle on the ground.

I look forward to strategic discussion about how to build the party locally and reliably reproducibly (say that ten times fast) from both a political and practical point of view.

I already indicated that the Local Ballots 2008 plan is the way to go politically, but I'm willing to be change my mind if someone has a better way of building the GRP.... I just haven't heard it yet.

In the meantime I'm laying the ground work to execute Local Ballots 2008 so that if a critical mass wants to do it then we are ready.

Ron

Colby Peterson <saphron at verizon.net> wrote: My colleagues (this is a response to the thread, not necessarily to  
you, Adam)-

Why do many of you keep framing these sort of activities as a  
distraction? As far as the outside world goes, we are fading away day  
by day and losing any public relations capital we gained from Grace,  
Jill, Martina, and Jamie's runs. Ron is correct that only local and  
substantive organizing will secure us a place in the long run- but we  
can slow the rate at which we disappear by doing small things like  
these. Grace offered to do the bulk of the organizing and simply  
asked for us to show up or offer any support- this would have taken a  
minimum of commitment. We had NOTHING to lose by doing this, and a  
modest gain.

I know people feel betrayed and stepped on by the Republicrats, and  
they should, but if we continue to refuse to even consider  
collaborating with any of them, then what does that say for how we  
work with others? It says that we're introverted and not willing to  
compromise- or even willing to listen. Appearing with progressive  
legislators who are in the wrong party to take down a common foe does  
not mean we are sacrificing our values or our principles- it means  
that we're willing to listen and talk with people and reach out to  
the public.

Adam said that the majority of folks are independents- That is  
because they can't identify with parties- what makes you think  
they're going to identify any more with us than with the  
Republicrats- its not an issue of the issues we stand for- which are  
largely populist ideas that many people want- it's an issue of  
affiliation. People want to be independent, but they want to see  
their leaders get work done and come together for the common good.  
That's what yesterday would have looked like- not some Green-Rainbows  
selling out. Democrats, GRs. and Republicans all suffered under  
Romney, and we're all suffering under Kerry as well- so of course we  
could go out and criticize Kerry (but it probably wouldn't work with  
Republicans b/c I think we'd be criticizing him for different  
reasons). The political atmosphere right now is one of  
multipartisanship or nonpartisanship, one of collaboration.

Please start believing in this party and believe that we can be out  
there and stand on our own- I was with Grace for 11 months out there  
doing it- people know us and want to hear from us- WE ARE READY- Come  
on!

Man oh man,
  Colby

On Feb 14, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Adam Sacks wrote:

> "It really makes me angry when I see the Democrats interfering with  
> the Green (Green-Rainbow) Party or with Nader. They should mind  
> their own business and we should focus on our own."
>
> Sorry, Mike, political parties, for better or worse, are open to  
> anyone who declares her/himself a member.  They are never going to  
> mind their "own" business.  And there will be crossovers, shifting  
> alliances and compromise.  If we want citizen participation there's  
> no other way that I know of - and of course, that's why half the  
> voters register as independents.
>
> As a former Kucinich campaigner, I have to say that we have to be  
> open to the vagaries of political practice - there is no absolute  
> purity in this messy arena we've chosen.  I don't like Dennis  
> personally, I find him dishonest and manipulative, and he is stuck  
> (by choice) within the Democratic Party.  However, he has done some  
> good things and continues to make statements that we could easily  
> agree with.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Adam
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "mikeheichman at verizon.net" 
> To: statecom-discuss at green-rainbow.org; statecom-discuss at green- 
> rainbow.org
> Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 8:45:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [statecom-discuss] Re: [ComCom] Here's an idea - For  
> tuesday
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I understand that we're picking on Mitt, because he is from MA. So,  
> would
> we have done something similar if (and
> when) Kerry decides to run?
>
> What is the message here? Who are we asking our Republican  
> "friends" to
> vote for? Who are we asking our
> Democratic "friends" to vote for? If Kucinich were from MA, would  
> we be
> doing something similar with our
> Republican friends?
>
> I thought that our message was that there is something "inherently"  
> wrong
> about the Democratic and Republican
> parties, and that we wanted to ask the public to vote for our party?
>
> It really makes me angry when I see the Democrats interfering with the
> Green (Green-Rainbow) Party or with Nader.
> They should mind their own business and we should focus on our own.
>
> Mike Heichman
>
> Original Message:
> -----------------
> From: Daniel Melnechuk isis at isisdesign.com
> Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:00:00 -0500
> To: statecom-discuss at green-rainbow.org
> Subject: Re: [statecom-discuss] Re: [ComCom] Here's an idea - For  
> tuesday
>
>
> 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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