Green Party Watch

Hat tip to On the Wilder Side for this:

***ACTION ALERT for Single Payer***

Write Your Representative Today!

It’s time to take action for SINGLE-PAYER NATIONAL HEALTH CARE!

The media are focusing on the debate between Democrats promoting Obamacare and ‘Tea Party’ activists who are determined to block any health care reform at all.  Whether Obamacare gets passed in Congress or Republicans succeed in defeating reform legislation, the for-profit health insurance companies will win and the rest of us will lose.

These are the worst economic times since the Great Depression and we need healthcare that is cost-effective for ALL.  Single-Payer will reduce health care costs by as much as a third and reduce ‘rationing’ — no more for-profit insurance company overhead, administrative costs, and skyrocketing CEO salaries.  Single-Payer will allow everyone to choose their physicians and hospitals, and no American will ever again face financial ruin over an illness or injury.

Take Action now!  Write your representative here!

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The Independent Newspaper interviews Green Party congressional candidate Jeremy Cloward and others in the campaign to represent California’s 10th congressional district.

Cloward’s coverage is below the fold.
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A potential Green Party Cook County Board (IL) President candidate, Tom Tresser, just posted a youTube ad. Tom has a background in the arts and we will definitely see a lot of creative campaigning from his team throughout the campaign.

John Reeder is running hard for election to the Arlington VA city council. Emily Canal covers his campaign for the Arlington Connection.

“We need to keep service for public safety, schools, recreational centers, and aid for the needy,” Reeder said. “We need to keep those rather than fund projects that are frivolous.”

In a piece at Reuters, covers the upcoming presidential race in Brazil, where current president Lula de Silva is prevented from running for re-election by term limits. There are many candidates covered, including hopeful Green Party nominee Marina Silva.

Marina Silva, environment minister in the Lula administration until May 2008 and an internationally renowned defender of the Amazon rain forest. She is considering running for the Green Party but is less well known at home. She has 8 percent support in opinion polls.

So says Noah Baron in a column posted to Columbia Spectator. His arguments in support of a vote for Green Party Mayoral nominee Rev. Billy Talen are common to many Green campaigns.

Those of us who are working on the campaign have the goal not only of getting our candidate elected, but also of bringing attention to important issues which are not being addressed by the main candidate and his Democratic challenger. (I say there is only one main candidate because most polling shows Thompson about twenty points behind in support, and tens of millions of dollars behind in fundraising.)

In what I think is a very wise comment, Baron points out

And, more importantly, the argument of a “wasted vote” falls immediately by the wayside: if the victory of one candidate appears inevitable, then the election serves largely as a means by which to express preferences — and why express any preference other than your actual preferences?

In two articles at The Local, Sweden’s Green Party is said to be poised to enter the government with the Centre, Moderate and Liberal Parties. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is quoted saying

“We are not going to render ourselves dependent on the Sweden Democrats, it is a party which has strongly brutalized its ‘us against them’ thinking,”

as his reason for supporting bringing the Greens into government, while Liberal Party leader Jan Björklund said the Green party (is) a prospective government partner because it

“is not a socialist party.”

In an article at the New York Post, Green Party City Council nominee David Pechefesky gets props for bringing a new approach to politics. In a move I predict will be copied by Greens elsewhere, Pechefsky’s campaign has been distributing campaign material in an unusual format.

Child’s play

Political wonks felt like kids all over again as they dove into the “Pechefsky for City Council Activity Book” distributed by the Green Party candidate for the 39th District.

After learning about the candidate vying to replace City Councilmember Bill de Blasio (D-Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Kensington, Borough Park) voters were able to color a picture of Pechefsky carting recyclables on his bicycle and find their way through a maze marked with horrible pitfalls such as legal constraints, the Speaker of the Assembly, lobbyists, borough Democratic bosses and the every scary Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget.

They were also able to play connect the dots. The message: “Vote Green.”

Now to spend campaign money on an activity book could be a gamble, after all, even Green party candidates know that children can’t vote.

But Pechefsky’s team said the move paid off.

“It’s cute and people love them,” said one campaign staffer. “It’s really different and it’s getting our message out there.”

In an article at Your Nabe.com, writer Nathan Duke covers the only debate between Peter Vallone Jr., incumbent Democratic City Councilperson from Astoria, NYC, Green Party challanger Lynne Serrpe, and Populist Party nominee Jerry Kahn.

The three candidates answered anonymous questions from audience members at Astoria’s Riccardo’s by the Bridge in the mostly cordial debate. Vallone, who was first elected in 2001, touted his record in the Council, while Serpe emphasized environmental issues and Kann pushed for higher taxes on the city’s wealthier residents.

Zwire.com has a fairly indepth review of each of the three candidates.

The candidate (Serpe) has raised about $100,000 including matching funds, only a few thousand less than Vallone

Javier Del Sol is running for Mayor of Lake Worth, FL. His campaign sent out the most recent weekly titled “Have we inspired you?” The full text can be found here.

You can donate to his campaign here

Javier maintains the largest community organic garden in Palm Beach County. His gardening programs turns school yards into sanctuaries, butterfly gardens, and micro organic farms. He has taught generations of Lake Worth’s children about the importance of maintaining a balance with nature by using gardens as the classroom. The next time you spend an afternoon gardening, bring a kid along. The blooms may only last a season, but the memories will be a lifetime.

GPUS Press Release:

WASHINGTON, DC — The National Committee of the Green Party of the United States has confirmed the election of four new co-chairs, Mike Feinstein (from California), Farheen Hakeem (Minnesota), Jason Nabewaniec (New York; reelected), and David Strand (Minnesota); and the reelection of Holly Hart as the party’s national secretary.
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NZ Green Co-leader Metiria Turei unfurls a 350 banner in parliament. Story at 350.org.

CONNECTICUT:

Allan Brison – New Haven – Alderman, Ward 10

Cole Stangler – New Canaan – Constable

Daphne Dixon – Fairfield – Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate (write-in candidate)

David Bedell – Stamford – Constable/Board of Representatives, District 12

Estela Lopez – New Canaan – Constable

Hector Lopez – New Canaan – Constable

Jean de Smet – Windham – Mayor

John Russell – New London – City Council, At-large

Leif Smith – Redding – Constable

Mary Farrell – Stamford – Constable

Megan Cassano – Fairfield – Board of Education

Rolf Maurer – Stamford – Constable/Mayor

Ronna Stuller – Fairfield – Board of Education, At-Large

Thaddeus Hanser – Stamford – Board of Representatives, District 20

MAINE:

Anthony Zeli – Portland – School Committee, District 2

David Marshall – Portland – City Council, District 2

Jason Bergquist – Brunswick – Town Council, District 4

Kevin Donoghue – Portland – City Council, District 1

Oliver Outerbridge – Portland – Water District

Rebecca Minnick – Portland – School Committee, District 1

MASSACHUSETTS:

Bruce Menin – Newburyport – School Committee

Chuck Turner – Boston – City Council, District 7

J.D. Hebert – Pittsfield – City Council, Ward 7

Luc Schuster – Cambridge – School Committee

In a column published in The Barrie Examiner, Canadian Green Erich Jacoby-Hawkins writes about his city of Barrie joining the “Transition Town” movement. Begun in England, Jacoby-Hawkins describes a “Transition Town”, or a resilient community, this way:

What is resilience? Basically, it means the ability of a person, community, or whole economy to survive and function in the face of change or outside shocks. Someone or something resilient can roll with the punches and adapt as needed, absorb disturbance and reorganize, still retaining essentially the same function, structure, and identity despite undergoing change.

In a message to supporters sent Tuesday, Reverend Billy Talen encouraged his supporters push forward, with two weeks to election day. The campaign’s latest video is below, and the text of his message is below the fold.

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