[GPCA-SGA-Votes] Discuss ID 145: GPCA endorsement for Governor

Fri Feb 16 14:36:32 PST 2018

Erik, many of us have been working to help the candidates that had already
stated intent to run, and have chosen to focus their efforts on those who
have the best chances of success, and best represent green values. How do
you think they got their signatures in??

On Feb 16, 2018 12:35 PM, "Thomas Leavitt" <thomleavitt at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm abstaining, but I'll point out that we're not going to have one
> candidate, we're going to have however many appear on the ballot. Further,
> whatever decision we make here will be functionally irrelevant to upwards
> of 95% of the voters casting a ballot for one of our candidates (or any of
> them), as they'll never hear about it. The "resources" that the state party
> can provide to any endorsed candidate are almost non-existent. City Council
> candidates in my town regularly raise upwards of $20,000 on an individual
> basis; that exceeds what I believe was our entire budget for the state last
> year, approaches our entire "aspirational" / Plan A budget for this year
> (based on what I recall seeing), and certainly exceeds whatever financial
> support we can provide to a candidate. It's unlikely that we'll even be
> able to afford anything as basic as sending a postcard listing our
> endorsements to every registered Green in the state; even if we could
> somehow manage that, said voters would still only amount to a small
> percentage of the total vote for our candidates. Along those lines, even
> spreading our endorsements via email and social media will still only reach
> a tiny percentage of even the registered Greens, let alone the vast mass of
> Democrats, No Party Preference voters, and others who might be inclined to
> vote for our candidates.
>
> Again, if we have candidates running for multiple statewide offices, any
> one of them could serve to get us over the 2% threshold. Historically, up
> and down the ballot, we've often run well above that, and it seems to me
> that we'd have an argument for having exceeded the threshold even if we had
> two candidates running on our party line, each of whom only gained about 1%
> of the vote, for any such office...
>
> If all that happens is that the endorsement process mirrors internal
> divisions otherwise present in our party, what exactly does it accomplish?
> Do we really want to effectively delegitimize particular candidates seeking
> to run for office within our party, and use the "spoiler" argument against
> our own candidates?!? When we had primaries, decisions about who should run
> were left up to registered Greens voting in our primary, except in extreme
> cases. Then we coalesced (generally) around whoever the voters picked, and
> moved on. It seems to me that the more folks running, and the broader the
> representation and point of view they provide, the BETTER OFF the party is,
> as that will draw MORE voters to us, and in turn, for races where we have
> less or only one candidate, lead to more votes for those folks.
>
> It might be argued that having a single candidate makes it easier to talk
> to the press about "our party's candidate", but isn't it a signal of
> strength that we could have multiple candidates running statewide
> campaigns? The Democrats aren't concerned about splitting their votes, why
> should we be? I just don't see what purpose this process serves; folks
> supporting an unendorsed candidate aren't going to quit doing so based on
> how the SGA votes, and all it is going to do is provoke a meta discussion
> about the process at the local level, and lead to rumors about power plays
> and backroom deals, etc.
>
> Regards,
> Thomas Leavitt
>
> On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 10:51 AM, Anthony Krzywicki <
> chefkrzywicki at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> In it to win it is the point of getting 2% then, right?   Doesn’t having
>> one candidate give us a better opportunity to get that 2% ?
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 10:22 AM Nicole Castor <nmcastorsilva at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Anthony & Others,
>>>
>>> I agree that this process should have been started at least six months
>>> ago. At this point, candidates and their teams have already done the work
>>> to get on the ballot and it is likely there will be more than one Green
>>> candidate for the offices of SOS & Governor.
>>>
>>> If we're not in it to win it, what is the point? There is a point,
>>> actually. We will benefit from having any of the statewide candidates
>>> reaching 2%, thus securing ballot access. In addition, Green Party benefits
>>> by campaigning our platform, Key Values and the type of electoral reforms
>>> which are necessary to empower alternate parties. I do not feel it is
>>> useful to delude ourselves into thinking that we are in fact "in it to win
>>> it," because until these reforms are accomplished, we are severely
>>> disadvantaged in realistically competing to win.
>>>
>>> I also do not feel it is useful to put so much weight on pandering to
>>> so-called "berniecrats," as it dilutes our values in specific ways which
>>> compromises what the party actually stands for. Of course such pandering
>>> has its merit in reaching registration goals, but for a race like this, we
>>> should be careful in pretending we share more in common with that core than
>>> we really do.
>>>
>>> There has to be a party which stands firmly against war, firmly supports
>>> environmental protections, among other issues and Sanders does not reflect
>>> these values in his actions. There are already "progressive" democrats who
>>> will woo voters with compromised ideals and so rather than GP moving to the
>>> right, we stand firm, campaign and demonstrate our values to a growing
>>> population of individuals who agree, and keep our stances so that we may
>>> secure a place for them when they realize the duopoly does not serve their
>>> interests and that these voters no longer wish to compromise their values.
>>>
>>> I will vote against the SGA proposal to endorse candidates at this point
>>> because it was brought in too late, serves little purpose and is proposed
>>> without a strategy which delegates could examine and decide upon.
>>>
>>> -Nicole Castor
>>> GP Sacramento County
>>> On Feb 16, 2018 7:52 AM, "Anthony Krzywicki" <chefkrzywicki at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Another major concern is breaking up our parties voting base.  We need
>>>> to all get behind someone and that someone hopefully will reach out and get
>>>> votes from independents, progressives and possibly bernicrats.  Otherwise
>>>> were not in itvto win it, so then whats the point?  We have a such a small
>>>> percentage of green voters to make a win, why should we split that?
>>>>
>>>> Also i beliwve that this process should be started 6 months ago, so we
>>>> could already be backing a unified candidate.
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 9:41 PM james clark <faygodrinkit at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> One major concern is that this process would take power out of the
>>>>> voters hands to decide which candidate best represents their values. It
>>>>> seems to much the DNC and their delegates picking who people get to vote
>>>>> for. Not to mention at several candidates already have their names on the
>>>>> ballot.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Feb 15, 2018 11:14 AM, "Victoria Ashley" <victronix01 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Since the vote doesn't start until late March, that would give some
>>>>>> time to send out a list of all the GP candidates on the Inform List.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 8:20 AM, John-Marc Chandonia <
>>>>>> jmc at sfgreens.org> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 10:25:47PM -0800, james clark wrote:
>>>>>>> > I feel it is not in the best interests of the party to follow
>>>>>>> through with
>>>>>>> > this ill timed endorsement process. If we were to perform such a
>>>>>>> process it
>>>>>>> > should have been done prior to candidates reaching their ballot
>>>>>>> access
>>>>>>> > goals. To do so at this juncture will only create animosity and
>>>>>>> division,
>>>>>>> > and will not effect candidates placement on the ballot.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Don't they have until March 9 to raise funds for the ballot?  If
>>>>>>> that's the case, we should know by the time the SGA votes who is in
>>>>>>> and who is out.  I agree that we should not make an endorsement
>>>>>>> before
>>>>>>> then, because we haven't had any process for informing Greens about
>>>>>>> all the Green candidates running.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> JMC
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> John-Marc Chandonia (jmc at sfgreens.org)
>>>>>>> http://sfgreens.org/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
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>>>>>>> gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
>>>>>>> https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpca-votes
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
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>>>>>> gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
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>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>> gpca-votes mailing list
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>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Anthony J. Krzywicki,
>>>>
>>>> *Co-coordinator GROW- Green Party CaliforniaCo-coordinator Ventura
>>>> County Green Party County Council*
>>>> www.venturacountygreenparty.com
>>>> greenpartyvc at gmail.com
>>>> instagram: greenpartyvcc
>>>> facebook group: Ventura Green Party
>>>> facebook group: Ventura County Green Party
>>>>
>>>> *It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our
>>>> daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to
>>>> desist from harming them. *
>>>> -Dali Lama
>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>>
>>>> --
>>> gpca-votes mailing list
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>>>
>> --
>> Anthony J. Krzywicki,
>>
>> *Co-coordinator GROW- Green Party CaliforniaCo-coordinator Ventura County
>> Green Party County Council*
>> www.venturacountygreenparty.com
>> greenpartyvc at gmail.com
>> instagram: greenpartyvcc
>> facebook group: Ventura Green Party
>> facebook group: Ventura County Green Party
>>
>> *It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our
>> daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to
>> desist from harming them. *
>> -Dali Lama
>>
>> --
>> gpca-votes mailing list
>> gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
>> https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpca-votes
>>
>>
>
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>
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