{news} 4th District nominating caucus press release

[David Bedell]

NEWS

For immediate release

Date: December 10, 2007

Contact: David Bedell, (203)581-3193, dbedell at greens.org

Richard Duffee, (203)588-0161, richard.duffee at gmail.com






GREEN PARTY CONSIDERS RUN FOR CONGRESS
Richard Duffee to Seek Nomination





NORWALK, CT—On Sunday,
December 16, the Connecticut Green Party will hold a nominating meeting
to select a candidate for Congress from the 4th District. Richard
Duffee of Stamford, a retired lawyer and impeachment activist, has
announced his intention to seek the nomination. The meeting will take
place at the Norwalk Public Library beginning at 2:00 PM on Sunday.



The
meeting is open to the public. All Green Party members residing in the
4th District are encouraged to attend and vote on the nomination, while
other interested voters are welcome to attend as observers.



When
asked his reasons for running, Duffee cited the need to reverse the
current Iraq war policies, to prevent war against Iran, and to counter
the Bush administration's environmental legacy and failure to address
global warming or public safety threats such as the nearby Indian Point
nuclear power plant.



Congress Has Failed to Impeach



Above
all, however, Duffee decided to run because Congress has not used its
power of impeachment to end what he describes as the criminal
activities of George Bush and Dick Cheney. "I believe the current
Congress has not taken seriously the oath of office to defend the
Constitution. We are in a constitutional crisis that cannot end until
we repudiate empire and imperial presidencies and return to our
Republic.



"We need a government based on trust, openness,
honesty, and disinterested public action. It is clear that Bush and
Cheney regard us not as citizens, but as subjects, using all the
techniques of ruling an empire—secrecy, deceit, betrayal, fraud,
mystification, and violence. These are inherently incompatible with the
moral prerequisites for maintaining a Republic based on the rule of
law."



Duffee has started a campaign blog at http://richardduffee.blogspot.com.



He
ran in 2006 for the same seat, but withdrew two weeks before Election
Day, citing an agreement with the local Greens to endorse Democrat
Diane Farrell because they felt she had a better chance of defeating
Republican Christopher Shays in a close race.



The same scenario
will not be considered in the next election, according to David Bedell,
Secretary of the Fairfield County chapter of the Green Party. "Richard
has offered to run, and we will entertain other nominations from the
floor, including None of the Above. But whatever we decide, if we put a
candidate on the ballot in 2008, we expect it to be binding this time,
not conditional as in 2006."



Bedell explained that minor parties
such as the Green Party have to petition their way onto the ballot, and
if they do not run a candidate in any given year, then they lose their
ballot line for that office.



For the Congressional seat, the Green Party will have to collect at least 2100 signatures of voters in the 4th District.
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