{news} [usgp-dx] Hey Greens: respond to this AP article

[Tim McKee]

----- Original Message -----

From: "Scott McLarty"
To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org
Subject: [usgp-dx] Hey Greens: respond to this AP article
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:30:44 +0000



http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDgHGLpSnR4V9L_yGzr2USAwY4BQD933IPV02

This AP article, which was posted here by Ian and will get
published in lots of newspapers & online news sites, gives Greens a
perfect opportunity to write responses and put our nominees' names
in front of the voting public.

PLEASE write letters to the editor and encourage other Greens to do
so in the last two months before Election Day! When letters get
published, we reach thousands (sometimes tens or hundreds of
thousands) of readers. When we don't send letters, we miss this
chance. We can blame the media for ignoring our candidates, but
it's our own fault if we don't send newspapers & news web sites our
letters, column submissions, articles, etc.

Here are a few things we can say:

-- "Third party" candidates can't siphon or steal votes away from
Obama or McCain, because Obama & McCain own nobody's votes except
their own. Using language like "siphoning" assumes that the
Democratic & Republican candidates have a prior claim to our votes.
Voters have a right to vote for the candidates who best represent
their own needs & ideals, regardless of party.

-- While the media focus on the differences between Obama-Biden and
McCain-Palin, a lot of voters have come to realize that the debate
between Democrat & Republican is actually very narrow, and that
lots of important ideas (like single-payer national health care and
quick withdrawal from Iraq & Afghanistan) are getting excluded.
Many of the positions & ideas promoted by Cynthia McKinney & Rosa
Clemente have widespread popular support. Media coverage and the
presidential debates must include candidates outside the bipartisan
consensus. Voters have a right to know about all the candidates
whose names they'll see on the ballot, not just the pro-war
pro-corporate candidates approved by big-business campaign
contributors.

-- The media and some of the public believe that candidates like
Cynthia McKinney are not valid and don't deserve attention because
they lack the winnability factor. This reduces voting to the level
of placing bets on a horserace. When people vote according to who
they think is winnable, rather than who they think is the best
candidate, they throw away the chance to support their own
political ideals.

-- The Green Party and its candidates aren't an alternative, we're
an imperative. The problems of the 21st century won't be solved by
the two major parties, whose policies created the current crises we
face: illegal wars with no end in sight; addiction to fossil fuels;
Americans bankrupted by health care needs; breakdown of election
integrity; record numbers of Americans in jail; erosion of the US
Constitution; etc. Nothing could be worse for America than another
century of politics restricted to the two pro-war, pro-corporate
parties and their failed ideas. A vote for McKinney/Clemente and
other Green candidates will build the Green Party and help us
advance towards major party status in the coming years. The Green
Party is the Peace Party. We're the party of We The People, not
powerful corporations. We're the party of the 21st century.

These are just a few ideas -- I'm sure Greens can add to the list.

Keep your letters short and focused. Most newspapers have a limit
of 250 or 300 words for letters to the editor. If you send a
letter with five paragraphs, you probably won't get published, and
if they do publish it, it'll be severely edited, with your most
important points deleted.

Scott
Media Committee

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******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

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