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Towards a just & healthy democracy in the Commonwealth... and beyond!
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Wed Feb 10, 2010 at 11:14:55 AM EST
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| There are good discussions popping up in some different places about Green-Rainbow electoral strategies, and I'd like to take this opportunity to create an ongoing dialogue that could help catalyze some action.
Leo Maley points out on Blue Mass Group that there will be something like 25 open seats this year in the Legislature. In the same space, he also argues that the Green-Rainbow Party has no business running for high office without having demonstrated political viability or acuity at any level other than a small crop of municipal officials.
Jason Pramas ponders pretty much the same question at Open Media Boston, with a little less devotion to the Grand Old Democrats, and a little more interest in seeing a local electoral focus take hold.
And Peter Vickery makes an eloquent case to run for office and to run Green right here at GMG.
Of course, the Green-Rainbow Party's electoral strategy for 2010-2012 was to go after State Rep. seats with an eye towards winning one or two in 2012. And Jill Stein's gubernatorial bid emerged as a powerfully synergistic opportunity to help spur stronger legislative challenges. A strong municipal field in 2011 would also be synergistic with this top-to-bottom-and-up approach. |
| eli_beckerman :: Green-Rainbow strategy for challenging the State Legislature |
| Now, it's February 10th, and we've got about 8 months 'til election day. I believe the deadline for registering Green-Rainbow in order to run on that ticket is February 23rd, and the deadline for submitting signatures for State Rep. seats is April 27th.
I know of a few people who are likely to throw their hats into State Legislative campaigns, and a few more who are thinking about it...
Let's put our heads together and see what we can do to get at least 10 State Rep. candidates this year who are willing to run again in 2012! We can use this space to organize information about open seats and other districts worth targeting, and let's invite more people to this important conversation!
It's only in the absence of serious challenges that Beacon Hill can act with such impunity when they throw out Clean Elections on a voice vote, exempt themselves from Public Records and Open Meeting laws, and generally disregard the will of their constituents at the behest of lobbyists and big campaign contributors.
The Republicans are surely trying to take advantage of a changing tide, but there is a window of opportunity for the Green-Rainbow Party to become the second party in Massachusetts, and the only party that will shun corporate influence and stand vigilantly for justice, sustainability, and common sense. |
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Green Mass Group is an online forum for Green thought and collective action in Massachusetts. It is a community forum for justice, sustainability, democracy and health in the Commonwealth and beyond.
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"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
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Then and Now
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Then...
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
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