Green Party Caucus and Committee Reports

Coordinated Congressional Campaign
By Brent McMillan
Political Director

One of the charges of the Coordinated Campaign Committee (CCC) is to keep various campaigns in communication with each other, so that resources and wisdom can be shared. One of the projects of the CCC is the Coordinated Congressional Campaign.

This campaign season the CCC developed two congressional listservs: one for discussion and another for announcements. Participants included candidates, campaign managers, CCC members, and media liaisons for the campaigns.

The CCC also held several conference calls, which focused primarily on two areas: 1) Comparing notes on what is working for campaigns and what problems they encounter; and 2) Development of what issues the campaigns work on in common. This year there was no question that the top issue was, "Get the U.S. out of Iraq." This was the number-one plank in the 2004 Unity Statement, which can be found at www.gp.org/unity2004.html. In 2002 a statement of what the campaigns were working on in common was used for the first time to help focus campaigns on their message, and to successfully get two or three ideas out to the general public rather than overwhelming them with the Platform.

In the October 25 issue of The Nation, the CCC ran a full-page color ad featuring the 2004 Unity Statement and 34 signatures. At the time this ran it was the largest advertising project that the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) had done in its history. Contributions to fund the campaign came from the congressional campaigns themselves. GPUS underwrote the project. Alan Kobrin from Florida donated the design work.

Fifty-eight Green Congressional Candidates were on the Ballot on Nov. 2: seven for U.S. Senate and 51 for U.S. House of Representatives. California ran the most candidates at 12.

Notable performances included Mike Miles, who ran for Wisconsin, U.S. House District 7 and received the most votes of any Green U.S. House candidate this year: 26,188 for 9.4 percent as of this writing. The next highest number of votes was for Dr. Jim Dunn of South Carolina who ran for U.S. House District 1 and received 23,957 votes for 12 percent. Third highest for number of votes, and highest for percentage, was Adam Eidinger of D.C. who received 22,754 votes for 12.7 percent of the vote for U.S. "Shadow" Rep.

Pat Gray of California received 18,556 votes for 9.2 percent for U.S. House District 12. Jay Pond of Minnesota received 17,983 votes for 6 percent for U.S. House District 5. Four out of the five top performers were active in the Coordinated Congressional Campaign.

Notable Senate races included Teresa Keane from Oregon who received 34,230 votes for 2.3 percent and David McReynolds of New York who received 32,182 votes. Both were active in the Coordinated Congressional Campaign.

The CCC plans to do followup work on this campaign season in order to better prepare for 2006.

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Presenting a Rural Green perspective
By Joanne Cvar
Oregon Green Party

The Milwaukee Green Party Convention in June brought Greens together from around the U.S. As a result of shared experiences, a group of Greens from traditionally conservative rural areas realized their common interests and decided to form a Rural Caucus to discuss rural issues, represent them to the party and work with rural locals to organize and advocate for Green values.

The idea took hold, and as of this writing the Rural Green Caucus has gained 92 members (100 are needed for accreditation) in more than 20 states nationwide.

The Rural Greens have agreed upon a mission statement and are working on by-laws. Their mission statement reads:

"The Rural Green Caucus of the Green Party of the United States advocates for rural perspectives within the party, promotes the growth of the Green Party in rural areas, and supports the efforts of its members to build a sustainable society."

In-depth discussions on a wide range of issues such as organic agricultural practices versus industrial farming, use and protection of natural resources, alternative energy possibilities, sustainability, equitable taxation and even spirituality are ongoing on their listserve.

If you are interested in subscribing to the list, contact ruralgreen-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. You need not be a resident of a rural area to join the Rural Green Caucus.

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Youth Caucus
By Mark Barney

The Youth Caucus has increased to a record 112 Youth Caucus members, from 28 states. This caucus has draft bylaws and is in good shape as it prepares for accreditation. Attention has been focused lately on the Cobb campaign and local elections as well.

If you are under 30 years old and want to join the youth caucus, please e-mail Mark Barney at mardbarn@pacbell.net.