It's Democracy Day today, and Massachusetts voters have a clear choice before them. They can support the one candidate who refuses to take corporate money to fuel her campaign, or the 3 candidates who swim through lobbyist-fueled campaign coffers like Scrooge McDuck. They can support the one candidate who unequivocally stands up for justice and sustainability, or the 3 candidates who treat ill-fated and harmful get-rich-quick schemes as though they were sensible, thoughtful, and helpful policy. They can support the one candidate who is standing up for real democracy -- clean elections, open meeting and public records laws that apply to the legislature, and meaningful transparency and oversight of government spending -- or the 3 candidates who laugh at real democracy as though it were a joke.
With the Green-Rainbow Party putting 3 candidates for statewide office on the ballot November 2nd -- Jill Stein for Governor, Rick Purcell for Lt. Governor, and Nat Fortune for Auditor -- Massachusetts voters have some real choices. These candidates will unwaveringly support, and fight for, government of, by, and for the people. They have great ideas to strengthen the Commonwealth and a compelling vision of our common future. While Bill McKibben laments the shameful collapse of the mainstream environmental movement's ability to push climate legislation, the Green-Rainbow Party's leadership never held out hope that our government -- nearly entirely beholden to corporate interests -- would have the answers.
(Massachusetts voters have a fantastic choice for State Auditor thanks to Nat's run. The public interest (not to mention our pocketbooks) will be well-served by taking advantage of his commitment to a just, sustainable Commonwealth. - promoted by eli_beckerman)
Welcome! I'm Nat Fortune, and I'm the Massachusetts Green- Rainbow Party candidate for state auditor. I teach physics and environmental science and policy at Smith College in Northampton, and I'm chair of the school committee for my town of Whately. I've been on the committee for the past 7 years. My wife Joyce serves on the town select board, and our two children, having graduated from Whately Elementary, now attend Frontier Regional High School.
I understand how hard it is for our towns to pay for the schools and services we need and deserve. I want ensure that we have a government worth paying for, at a price we can afford to pay.
So why auditor?
Because the state auditor's job is to make sure that you are getting your money's worth from your taxes, and that those taxes are being spent where they're needed most. The state auditor's job is to be your fiscal watchdog.
(You need look no further than our candidate for Lt. Governor when it comes to walking the walk. Rick's a populist in the very best sense of the word, and his devotion to both country and community is unquestionable. Yet another candidate on our slate of whom we can be unabashedly proud! - promoted by michael horan)
Rick Purcell is a long-term resident of Holyoke, Massachusetts, a distinguished community activist, a compassionate health care worker, and decorated US Army veteran who served 10 years of active duty.
He's also Jill Stein's running mate for Lt. Governor!
Holyoke Resident Running for Lt. Governor, by Dennis P. Hohenberger (Holyoke Sun, 25 June 2010)
Richard P. "Rick" Purcell, a longtime Holyoke resident and community activist, is making a run for the state's second highest office as the Green-Rainbow Party's candidate for Lt. Governor.
During a lunchtime stroll in West Holyoke on Tuesday, Purcell spoke of his candidacy, the issues that matter most to him and the way the city has shaped him and his political views, which eventually led him to be Jill Stein's running mate.
While Purcell and members of his party gather the necessary 10,000 signatures needed to be placed on the fall ballot, his campaign, though grassroots and relying on small, individual donations, continues to speak out on affordable healthcare, schools, the environment, gambling, and issues that matter to working class families.
Jill Stein is running for Governor of Massachusetts. Green Change is proud to endorse her campaign. Her record of public service and passionate advocacy for healthy communities makes her an exceptional candidate for governor.
As Governor of Massachusetts, Jill will make extraordinary commitments to creating green jobs, pursuing real health care reform, saving public education, enacting fairer taxes, and cleaning up the environment.
In the likely four-way race, Jill Stein potentially could be elected governor with as little as 26% of the vote, which translates to roughly 800,000 votes. This is not beyond reach considering that she won 18% of the vote as a candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2006.
Jill Stein refuses to take lobbyist money, and vows to end the “pay-to-play” politics that dominates the Massachusetts state legislature. Her campaign is eligible for 1-to-1 public matching funds for every dollar raised over $125,000, meaning that as soon as she raises $250,000 from supporters, she’ll be able to mount a half-million-dollar campaign. She plans to mobilize thousands of grassroots volunteers across the state to bring their message of a healthy Green future to the people of Massachusetts.
This exciting array of candidates means the GRP will be taking it to the next level this year. 2010 is the year of the Green-Rainbow Party!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 27, 2010
CONTACT: Daryl Sprague, 617-459-0784
GREEN-RAINBOW CANDIDATES TO CHALLENGE INCUMBENTS IN 2010: FIELD REPORTS SAY VOTERS ARE READY FOR CHANGE
Voters are in the mood for change, according to the Green-Rainbow Party candidates nominated at the weekend meeting of the Party's State Committee in Northampton. Nominated were: health and environmental advocate Jill Stein for Governor, Holyoke veterans' activist Rick Purcell for Lieutenant Governor, Nat Fortune, a physicist at Smith College, for State Auditor. Scott Laugenour was nominated as a candidate for state representative in the 4th Berkshire District. The Party also endorsed independent candidate Peter White who is running for Congress in the 10th Congressional District (being vacated by Rep. William Delahunt).
40 years ago tomorrow, millions of people around the country took part in the first-ever Earth Day. The event was designed "to shake up the political establishment and force the environment onto the national agenda," according to Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin who was one of the driving forces behind it.
Despite 40 years of successful Earth days, our environment is at greater risk today than ever before. We face an increasingly threatened climate, unabated oil addiction, expansion of polluting coal and biomass plants, degradation of forests and fisheries, shrinking open space, ongoing toxic threats and senseless wars that are as harmful to the climate as they are to global security. On this Earth Day, let us make a new commitment to the vision of a whole and healthy planet - to a revitalized grassroots democracy, new leadership, and green economic transformation. Each of these are critical if we are to stop the ongoing destruction and achieve the healthy, just, secure green future we deserve.
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.
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.
Prepared Remarks of Jill Stein
Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts February 8, 2010 at the State House, Boston, Massachusetts
INTRODUCTION
Thank you so much for being here today. This is the year we the people regain control of our Commonwealth and our common future. It's time for a Commonwealth that listens to the people, works for the people, and answers to the people. It's time to bring the voices of ordinary people into this election and into the halls of power. It's time to break the stranglehold of lobbyists and insiders, and get Beacon Hill back to work for the families and communities of the Commonwealth. It's time to start building the healthy, secure green future we so urgently need, richly deserve, and is within our reach. My name is Jill Stein and that's why I'm running for governor.
I wasn't going to vote today. I was lukewarm on a few different options that I was considering:
1) Write in a candidate I believe in - the clearest statement my vote could make.
2) Vote for Joe Kennedy - support a third party anti-war, anti-corporate-duopoly candidate
3) Vote for Martha Coakley - keep the Senate seat out of the hands of a regressive/oppressive Republican.
But leading up to today I felt stronger and stronger about throwing in with the largest bloc of Massachusetts residents -- those who won't be voting at all.
Then along came the pleas from friends. Now, I'm not moved by the inside-the-box thinking that accompanies these pleas. But today I'm making a swap. While my heart wants to stand in solidarity with the people of the world that the corporate duopoly is ravaging, and raise my voice against this brutal and unjust system instead of tacitly supporting it, I've made another decision -- a somewhat crass political decision. I asked one of my Coakley-appealing-friends to cast their vote in November for the Green-Rainbow Party candidate for governor, no matter what impact that vote might have on a precious Democratic victory. The result is that today I will begrudgingly vote for the Democratic Party candidate for US Senator.
According to this Globe article, the chair of the Framingham Democratic Town Committee, abruptly resigned her post because of disillusionment with the Democratic Party. What they interesting leave out is that she quit the party altogether and registered Unenrolled, which she makes clear in her letter to the Democratic Town Committee (which they did publish).
Sivan says:
1. Our state of Perpetual War is continuing and even expanding. Next thing you know we'll be in Yemen. Our resources are being spent, horrible atrocities are being committed by US troops, and the wars are pointless and unwinnable...
2. The bailout which favored the very people who were to blame in the first place and has left in place the deregulation and too-big-to-fail institutions, while doing very little for the bottom 95% of us.
3. The continuing erosion of our civil rights to the point where American citizens are no longer guaranteed due process or habeas corpus, which basically means anyone the government deems as troublesome can be "disappeared"...
The final straw was the travesty of the Health Care Insurance Reform bill that was passed in the Senate on Christmas Eve. Not only is this a huge giveaway to Insurance companies, not only will this leave millions uninsured, not only does this bill include no cost controls and is structured as a means-based entitlement, which means that like welfare it will constantly be under attack from the Right, the 30% co-insurance will leave many families unable to utilize their insurance without going into bankruptcy. Just like today, except that today they aren't forced into buying something they can't afford. And as a final insult, it includes provisions stripping women of the most basic right of all - ownership of their own bodies. Note to Democrats - pro-choice is in the party's platform and you don't compromise on principles.
Dr. Jill Stein plans to join the race for 2010 race for governor, running as a Green-Rainbow candidate and pushing the issue of universal health care, posing a challenge to Gov. Deval Patrick's left flank.
Stein told the News Service late today that she plans to formally announce her campaign later this month. Her candidacy will further complicate a field that already has two major Republican candidates, a state treasurer running as an independent, and Patrick, the Democrat seeking reelection.
"I am very excited to offer voters a real choice for change," Stein told the News Service in an interview. "We're looking at three candidates for governor who have very similar opinions on a variety of key issues. It's very important that voters have a second choice."
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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Quotes
Only one species on earth does not have full employment and that is Homo sapiens.
--Paul Hawken (Blessed Unrest)
We built what history will record is the broadest and best-organized grassroots organization this Commonwealth has ever seen... We didn't build up this grassroots just to win an election. We built up the grassroots to govern in a whole new way, to make change real, and lasting, and meaningful.
Deval Patrick acceptance speech
Nov. 7, 2006
and Now...
We had this incredibly rich relationship that we built with the grass-roots network the last time. And then we got in, and we let it go. And there are reasons for that. But I think it's a terrible thing. We missed it. I missed it personally. And I think a lot of the folks in the organization missed it.
Governor Deval Patrick, to a room of supporters, trying to reignite the grassroots
February, 2010
