[statecom] (no subject)

[mikeheichman at verizon.net]

II. The Campaign for Congress, 208
Proposal to the April State Comm. Meeting

Mike Heichman
mikeheichman at verizon.net
617-265-8143

A. The Campaign for the US Senate

There are 3 ways for the GRP to maintain our party status after the
November, 2008 election. One way is to 
dramatically increase our membership to over 40,000 (which I believe would
be especially challenging in a 
presidential election year). The other way is for our presidential
candidate or US Senate candidate to get over 3% of 
the vote. I believe that our best chance is with the race for the US Senate.

While it will be very simple for us to get our presidential candidate on
the ballot, it will be a major undertaking to get 
the necessary signatures for our US Senate candidate. In 2002, we had
ballot status and it was a major task to get 
our 3 candidates on the ballot, even though 2 of them were running as a
team (Jill for Governor and Tony for Lt. 
Gov). That year, like 2008, we were a recognized party and we could only
get signatures from members of our party, 
those who belonged to other political designations and unenrolled voters.
In the recently completed statewide race, 
we had the enormous advantage of running 4 candidates on the same petition,
being able to received signatures 
from any registered voter, and having extra time to get the signatures.

We will need 10,000 valid signatures (beginning on February 12 and
delivering our signatures to 351 separate 
municipalities by May 6). Getting enough signatures for our US Senate
candidate will be the most challenging 
signature-gathering test for our party since the 2002 elections. While a
major challenge, we know that we can do it 
because we have done it before. However, this time let’s begin much
earlier. I believe that it is essential that we find 
our candidate and organize our campaign early (I would say no later than
the end of 2007 and preferably much 
earlier.). It would be best if we would find an “attractive” candidate who
will at least have the potential of raising 
additional resources beyond the base of our active GRP members.

One enormous advantage for this race is that John Kerry has decided not to
run for President again and will focus his 
energies in the US Senate and for his re-election for another six-year
term. If he had decided to run for President, 
there would have been a wide-open scramble by both the Democrats and
Republicans, and there would have been 
less space for our candidate. Instead, I believe that there is an excellent
chance that the Republicans will probably 
decide not to run a major candidate for this office and will focus instead
on building their base by running 
candidates for the state legislature. 

I’m hoping that we will be able to run a presidential and US Senate
candidate in active collaboration with each other. 
There will be opportunities for these two statewide (for us) campaigns to
support each other. Recently, our national 
party has established a separate committee to encourage and support
candidates to run for the US Senate across the 
country. (“The Green Senatorial Campaign Committee (GSCC) was granted
national Senate campaign committee 
status by the Federal Election Commission on Thursday, February 8, giving
the committee the ability to raise and 
spend money under rules similar to those for the Democrat and Republican
House and Senate national campaign 
committees.  The GSCC assists Green Party candidates running for the U.S.
Senate. “) We should take advantage of 
the additional resources that this committee could produce. We should also
keep in touch with the other Green Party 
US Senate candidates’ websites to “borrow” ideas for our campaign.

What if we will be unable to organize early (this year) and find an
“attractive” candidate with the potential of running 
a “serious’ statewide campaign? Then, I think that we should skip this race
and acknowledge that we will probably 
loose our ballot status after November 2008.

If we want our party to become engaged in this race, it is essential that
we recruit a candidate and develop an initial 
campaign plan before the end of this year. 

Draft Proposal for the 
State Comm.-Request Feedback

“I very much favor seeking a candidate to run for U. S. Senate in our GRP
primary next year. And I am convinced that 
the search does have to begin now, if we are to do it properly.  Sooner or
later, but perhaps only in the somewhat 
distant future, we will have matured ideologically to the point where
within our own dedicated membership we will 
have many people, of whom we could ask, or demand, that they take the time
from their lives as citizens in a 
commonwealth to serve the public good by serving in electoral office.  Who
would be honored to be asked?  At the 
moment, however, we are still operating under the dominant ideological
assumptions of personal ambition, 
paraphrased more than a century ago as "I want office!  I deserve office
because I want office!  Choose me!  Vote for 
me!"  So far, no GRP member has proposed herself or himself as a candidate
for this office.  And thus if we, CDLC, 
and others say, "We want you!" we will begin the "paradigm shift" to where
the party runs the campaign -- not for its 
benefit (like a duopoly player) but for the benefit of all concerned with
the outcome -- and not the candidate for 
office, for the benefit of the candidate's political career.” –Elie Yarden 



The State Committee will establish a diverse committee that will recruit
one or more potential candidates to become 
the GRP candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008. (“Expcom US Senate 2008
Committee”)

I.	This Committee, which will be appointed by the co-chairs of our party,
will be diverse. Non-white, professional, 
heterosexual males will be encouraged to join the committee.
II.	The Committee will be authorized by the State Committee to recruit one
or more candidates. 
III.	The decision to nominate our candidate will either be made by the GRP
2007 convention or by a special 
meeting. Either way, the state party will do its best to publicize this
meeting to our membership.
IV.	If we do not nominate a candidate by the end of 2007, the State Party
will automatically be deciding that this 
race will not be a major priority for 2008.
V.	The Expcom will coordinate the work of other GRP Committees to
accomplish the following:

A.	The CDLC will provide overall campaign support for the Expcom. It will
make sure that the party and potential 
candidates will know about the legal requirements, will provide the
potential candidates with a campaign manual, 
etc. The CDLC will support the candidate who has been nominated until the
September Primary and the winner of the 
September Primary until the November election.

B.	The Platform Committee will coordinate the initial issue support for the
campaign. It will provide research and 
develop 2-4 (?) issue papers for the campaign before the end of 2007. It
will do the same kind of work in 
coordination with our candidate after her/his nomination.

C.	ComCom will provide a “public relations” manual for potential candidates
in 2007. It will work with the 
campaign of our nominated candidate.

D.	The Finance Committee will provide information and assistance to
potential candidates and continue to work 
with our nominated candidate after the convention.  It will seek support
from the Green Senatorial Campaign 
Committee (GSCC) for our endorsed candidate.

E.	The Tech Committee will provide space on our website for potential
candidates, and continue to work with our 
nominated candidate after the convention.

VI.	The Expcom will also do the following after coordinating with our 2006
Slate of Candidates:

A.	Create a questionnaire for potential candidates to make sure that they
have the legal qualifications to run for 
the US Senate, that they are in agreement with our “10 Key Values”, and are
in general agreement with our platform.

B.	With the assistance of the 2006 slate of candidates, it will create a
“contract” between the party and the 
candidates which would spell out the 


1.	expectations the party will have from our candidates.
2.	expectations that our candidates will have from our party.

C.	In collaboration with the other GRP Committees, Expcom will come up with
an initial campaign timetable and 
campaign for our nominated candidates.


B. The Campaign for Congress, 2008

Should we run one or more candidates for the House of Representatives in
2008?

John Kerry’s decision not to run for President probably broke the hearts of
many members of the MA congressional 
delegation. However, they are so happy to be the majority party in the
House and so hopeful, as of now, of 
increasing their control of the House in 2008 that I doubt that any of them
will decide not to run for re-election.

The advantage is that a congressional district is a much smaller race (10%
of the population and much smaller in 
size) than running statewide. There may not be a significant Republican
challenger, who would need to run a major 
campaign against an incumbent Democrat, because the Republican are very
weak right now in this state. 

However, if we decide to focus our major resources on the presidential and
US Senate campaigns, I do not believe 
that we will have the resources to run anyone for the US House in 2008.

On the other hand, if we decide that we do not have the resources for a
major effort for the presidential race and if 
we decide that this is not the year to run for the US Senate, then one or
more Congressional races might me an 
excellent idea.

The more immediate focus of our attention should be to explore the
feasibility of running a candidate for the US 
Senate. If we decide to investigate this race, we can also ask potential
candidates if they would be interested in 
running for Congress instead.

While a race for Congress is much smaller than a statewide run for the US
Senate, it still would require major 
resources from our party. Therefore, I believe that just like the US Senate
race, we should only become involved in a 
contest for the US House if we find and endorse a candidate in 2007.



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