Comments on: National Political Director reports on election results

By: Gregg Jocoy

Gregg Jocoy — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:17:38 +0000

GF, I agree with your analysis above. In fact, I am one who believes that our goals are important enough that every Green should undertake some efforts, however small, to advance the Green Party’s goals. A small contribution, a letter to the editor, a yard sign, a “thank you” email or phone call to a Green Party candidate will all go some distance towards our goals.

Remember the Grand Canyon…etched miles deep into the ground by centuries of water slowly following it’s natural path to the ocean. If we Greens can be persistent and follow our natural path, we too will wear down the stone hearts of those only looking out for “number 1″.

By: Gregg Jocoy

Gregg Jocoy — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:14:29 +0000

Ross…on that one we agree 100%!

I’d personally prefer four or five (or more) smaller political parties, none big enough to do too much damage.

My personal mantra is, Small is Beautiful.

By: Green Ferret

Green Ferret — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:52:56 +0000

I think the current poll on what level of races the Greens should focus on has it basically right. Not that we should focus only on a single level… but it would be smart to divide our efforts and resources proportionally so that local races are prioritized, followed by state legislative races (especially the non-contested ones), then statewide and congressional races. I think that governor’s races are always worth running, as they are good at publicizing the platform/party and giving more people a chance to vote Green. Any race that is important for ballot access also deserves a good effort.
In general, I think local and state-leg races are where Greens are going to start breaking through and proving themselves, especially in places that are currently one-party Democratic-ruled, like Massachusetts or NYC.

By: Green Ferret

Green Ferret — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:45:14 +0000

As the military-industrial-congressional complex, to use Nader’s phrase (or the War Party, to use Orwell’s) is constantly growing and taking more and more of our tax money, it’s not accurate to call Greens a big-government party. Instead, one could say that Republicrats want to spend more money to kill and control people, while Greens would spend it on things that would enable humanity to flourish: education, healthcare, sustainability, and peace.

By: PTK

PTK — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:23:21 +0000

Well I’m not saying that EVERY political party should be up in DC, but just that they should have just a little time up there to see how they work and switch out every once in a while.

By: Ross Levin

Ross Levin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 17:46:10 +0000

I meant that if they were all the size of today’s major parties the government would have to expand to accommodate them.

By: Gregg Jocoy

Gregg Jocoy — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:41:09 +0000

Ross,

Growth in the influence of the currently smaller parties to match that of the Republicans and Democrats does not have to mean more cooks in the kitchen. If all the smaller parties were to grow in influence I imagine a lot of that would come at the expense of the bigger parties. I would argue that the government would shrink if the smaller parties grew and the bigger ones shrunk in influence. While most non-Greens would try to convince us that Greens are “big government” types, a real look at our principles, platform, and the effoprts of our elected officials would show that this is not the case.

Of course, it’s easier to act all high and mighty, declaring Greens to be “typical liberals” and such that to actually look with an unprejudiced eye at our goals.

By: Ross Levin

Ross Levin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:40:31 +0000

PTK, I don’t hope that at all, because if there were that many major parties the government would have to be 100x the size it is today!

Val – don’t give up!

By: PTK

PTK — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:48:05 +0000

That’s strange for the number to go down that much. I just hope that one day the Green Party will become as major as the main duopoly two, and I hope the same with every other minor political party.

By: Ronald Hardy

Ronald Hardy — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:05:35 +0000

Number of Greens in office as of today: 157

This number is down from several years ago when there was over 225.

http://gp.org/elections.shtml