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June 24, l997
STOMPING NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH RALPH NADER
Everything with Ralph Nader went well on his visit to northern California the weekend of June 21, 22. He was the featured speaker at 3 successful events and gave a radio interview, all in less than 24 hours. The man is awesome! What energy and optimism! He thrives on his activism.
Our first stop was a Saturday afternoon talk at SolFest in Hopland. Sunday's Ukiah Daily Journal had a good piece on Ralph at SolFest: Nader calls Americans to Action .
From SolFest in Hopland we went to an overflow crowd in Willits for an
evening talk. Ralph thought Willits was great.
From Willits we drove to his sister's place in Berkeley and talked the whole
way. By the time we got there at 2 AM, he had been up for almost 24 hours.
He slept for 6 hours and did a radio interview at 9. Then a speech from
12-2 at King Middle School in Oakland, attended by more than 800 people.
If this man doesn't inspire one to get off one's rear, I don't know who
does.
V.O.T.E. officially launched its Green Awareness Campaign:
The Ralph Nader campaign for the presidency raised public awareness of the Green Party and helped to build the party internally. Greens now have active organizations in at least thirty states, and are working to create a truly national organization.
Twenty Greens now hold public office in California, five times as many as in any other state, including three city councilmembers in the city of Arcata, giving it the distinction of being the first city council in the US with a Green Party majority.
Still, Green Party voter registration totals remain at the same levels as five years ago, when the party first achieved ballot status in California by registering 100,000 members. The number of Californians who voted for Ralph Nader in 1996 was more than double the number of registered Green Party members. Since approximately half of the registered Greens didn't vote in the election, Nader received at least four "non-Green" votes for every Green vote received. These numbers show that there is tremendous potential for building the Green Party in California and that the time is right.
The Green Awareness Campaign has three purposes:
First, to create greater understanding of who the Greens are and what they stand for. For example, the Green Party has unique qualities to publicize: a systemic analysis, ballot access, and international stature. Ralph Nader has called the Green platform "the most majoritarian of any party in the US."
Second, to register new Green Party members. We believe that it is possible for the party to double its registration numbers yearly for the next several years if people know who we are.
Third, to raise money for local Green chapters. These vital resources will be put to use to prepare and present outreach programs like the Green Awareness Program on the local level.
In order to promote our events fully, we intend to make energetic use of the media, including a broad range of alternative media. We will also produce high-quality audio and videotapes for distribution. Audiotapes of Ralph Nader's Green Party acceptance speech in Los Angeles were extremely popular. We anticipate great demand for other tapes that we produce.
The Green Party of California is key to the development of a strong national Green Party. And a strong national Green Party is key to the political future of our nation at this historic juncture. As Nader said, "Never again will citizens be forced to vote for the lesser of evils." The time to make this a reality is now.
Ralph, and my friend Peter Camejo (an old FSM Socialist, now CEO of Progressive Asset Management) brought up the subject of my running for gov. at all three events.
At this point, I am not running for governor, or anything else. I do feel, however, that the Greens should run candidates for statewide office, particularly if both major parties field candidates we can't stomach. For example, a Lundgren/Feinstein race opens up a lot of political space for the Greens. It would be inopportune to not at least consider taking that space.
There are several requirements that would have to be met for me to decide to run:
1. The support of a strong majority of Greens in the state. Before making a decision to run, I would meet with as many Greens as possible, making myself available to groups around the state to discuss the question of my candidacy. In my mind, the primary question is: Will it build the party?
2. The ability to continue to earn a salary as director of V.O.T.E. This seems possible, but I haven't yet explored the matter with an expert on California election finance laws. The mission of V.O.T.E., to be a catalyst toward the development of a progressive electoral alternative, would be furthered by this campaign. Of course, Ralph Nader ran for president while basically continuing his work as director of the Center for Responsive Law. But he also never filed with the FEC.
3. The likelihood of being able to raise sufficient funds to support a small staff, travel, a targeted mail program, etc. It might take roughly the amount of money I raised for each of my congressional campaigns, perhaps something less.
4. Overcoming my strong personal preference for staying close to home.
Ciao,
Dan
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