From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Thu Nov 11 09:38:09 2010 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:38:09 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: [Womens-caucus] Post Campaign Reflections from Linda Piera-Avila Message-ID: FYI, Justine ----- Original Message ----- From: Holly Hart To: womens-caucus at lists.gp-us.org Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 11:47 PM Subject: Re: [Womens-caucus] Post Campaign Reflections from Linda Piera-Avila This is excellent. Would you mind if I forward this to our local and state lists? I think it's an excellent and clear rundown of what Green candidates need to know. Holly Hart Iowa City On Nov 8, 2010, at 9:10 PM, Linda Piera-Avila wrote: At the urging of Mike Feinstein, I wrote this and my awesome campaign manager, Lisa Taylor, asked me to share it...... Post Campaign Reflections...... Before the sweep of days erodes the impressions of these past few months I am sharing what I experienced as a Green Party candidate for California's 41st Assembly District, with hopes that my words may convey some insights into the journey of running for office. We've all heard the facetious adage, "*vote* early and often." Well, if one takes the leap and decides to campaign for an elected office, he or she instead needs to *run* early and regroup often in order to have the best campaign possible. As soon as those papers are pulled the gun goes off and the treadmill starts rolling, with a logarithmically increasing pace until election day. It is wise to develop task oriented skills and to accomplish as many tasks as possible as soon as possible in order to avoid stress and/or potential missed opportunities. Deadlines that sound so distant have a way of pouncing on one's psyche the night before they arrive. Case in point: collecting signatures in order to qualify to run can become a full time job if one is so inclined. Another example is adhering to the never ending schedule of filing deadlines that the Fair Political Practices division of the Secretary of State's office requires. How would *you* like to do your taxes every few weeks? Perhaps the biggest challenge, though, to becoming a candidate is just that, to self-identify *as* a candidate and to undergo the psychological metamorphosis necessary to proclaim oneself as running for office, to not shy away from the responsibility or the challenge and to develop the confidence that in a democracy, it *is* possible and should be more common for ordinary citizens to strive for such a goal. One also has to develop a response and rationale to address the confusion, skepticism and even disbelief on the part of others when one announces one's intentions publicly. Indeed, in order to undertake this mantle of "candidate," it helps to be part masochist and part type A personality! Declaring one's candidacy can sometimes be likened to painting a target on one's self as the disparagement rolls in from political adversary and supposed ally alike. Yet, despite this and the hectic, unpredictable nature of the milieu, we candidates feverishly persist, driven by our commitment to the cause, hopefully an altruistic, and not personally ambitious, one. We adopt a sense of urgency, based on our utter commitment to the philosophical underpinnings of our party's platform and the need to take a stand for them. When one assumes the role of candidate, another aspect of one's personality can emerge. There is the pre-candidate personality which represents the individual's cosmology and ethics. But, then, the candidate personality develops which represents the party's values and constituency when one is functioning as the representative of that party, at candidate forums, interviews, and social events. One needs to comport oneself with extra professionalism, diplomacy and presentability in order that the party be perceived as credible and worthwhile in order to advance our ten key values and platform. It is an added responsibility and an important part of leadership and, if kept in mind, should keep one humble in the face of the temptation to become politically ambitious. It may also keep one accountable to the honor of serving as a leader and not succumbing to the banalities of mere politicians bereft of a larger common vision. The sacrifices and inconveniences inherent in campaigning are, for me, like a form of political sundancing, for those of you familiar with that Plains tradition. There often is an economic burden in the form of lost work hours due to campaigning. Sleep deprivation definitely is involved because of heavily booked schedules and due to studying the issues, formulating a platform that does justice to the party *and* addresses the concerns of voters, writing cogent responses to questionnaires and preparing for interviews and forums, again to be credibly prepared. Stress levels soar with the unexpected demands and short deadlines that a campaign presents. And one's social life is put on hold while campaign commitments temporarily take precedence. Anxiety and emotional vulnerability have to be kept at bay even though they are ever present lurkers, whispering doubts about how the press will cover your campaign, if at all, and how you will answer "the tough questions" during an interview or forum. Running for office entails "putting yourself out there" to endure any verbal assaults that can potentially come your way. Then, if and when a personal crisis hits during campaign season, one is challenged to muster the courage to put one's feelings on hold for the sake of the party and continue with the rigors of campaigning. The voters need to see and the party needs to present a stable candidate. The Green Party community makes all of the above manageable, though. Guidance from seasoned Greens, support from friends and colleagues, advice from mentors, volunteers who donated time and skills, gratitude from fellow Greens for placing myself on the ballot, and campaign contributions to help get the word out about our campaign made all the difference. I am so lucky to have so many good Greens in my political and friendship circle! It is also important to develop self-care skills to help you cope with all of the above so that the experience becomes an overall positive one. You know that feeling you get when you're on a roller coaster and you're right at the threshold of the big, final drop after whirling up and down and all around? Well, that's sort of how you might feel the day before the election! You've done all you can do and now it is time to let go, give out a yell if you want to, watch the returns come in and savor the exhilaration of the moment, knowing that you made a difference for the better, if only to participate in the dialogue and increase voters' awareness of the issues and to let the world know that we Greens are here to stay! Nuts and bolts: Set up a campaign committee even if you don't intend to raise more than $1,000. You never know! Keep track of all the filing deadlines - mark them on your calendar or iphone. Identify a solid campaign manager. That person will be your lifeline. Get a good webmaster and share the password with a trusted campaign volunteer. Set up paypal. Get a political advisor who has an institutional memory for the party and its stance on the issues. Get professional photography head shots for web and printed material so it's ready to go at a moment's notice. Develop your "top three priorities" early on and expand as the campaign evolves. Write your platform or borrow from others, with permission. Post on your website. Translate your platform into Spanish or other significant second language for your jurisdiction. Practice discussing the issues with colleagues to increase your comfort level discussing them before a larger audience. Be ready to give interviews and answer questionnaires at a moment's notice - this is the nature of political campaigning. Write op-eds and letters to the editor of local papers. Raise donations for a specific goal, like producing a campaign video. Hold meet and greet events. Decide what form of publicity makes the most sense for your targeted voters with the money available; allow enough lead time to get the address lists and produce the piece to get it to voters the week before the election. - Linda Piera-Avila www.linda-piera-avila.org 4,555 votes (4%) received on Nov. 2, 2010! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From j.desmet at att.net Thu Nov 11 09:32:42 2010 From: j.desmet at att.net (Jean de Smet) Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:32:42 -0500 Subject: {news} CTVotersCount - Update & Observation Sign Up Message-ID: Thought this might be of interest to you. As part of the change-over to optical ballot counting machines, actvitst groups insisted on the right to observe the mandated hand re-count of ballots (audits) of districts. Now they are looking for volunteers to be observers of the official audits. I'm signing up, and so is Doug Lary. Wndham has been randomly chosen before, but there's no telling which towns will be recounted. I'm particulary interested because I know that one of my votes was not counted--I had a write-in that's not listed on the official tally. Were there others? Did the machines work? Jean de Smet -----Original Message----- From: CTVotersCount.org [mailto:Update=CTVotersCount.org at emailcampaigns.net] On Behalf Of CTVotersCount.org Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 12:39 AM To: j.desmet at att.net Subject: CTVotersCount - Update & Observation Sign Up ************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: - Sign Up NOW! For Nov Post-Election Audit - Invite Others to Join the Observation Team -- News from CTVotersCount.org ************************************ *************************************** - Sign Up NOW! For November Post-Election Audit *************************************** Investment? One Day Value to Democracy? Priceless We are pleased to announce that the Connecticut Citizen Election Audit Coalition (League of Women Voters of Connecticut, Common Cause, Connecticut Citizen Action Group, and CTVotersCount.org) will observe the Connecticut November 2010 Post-Election Audits. The observations will occur between November 17th and December 8h. HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! The Coalition needs to increase the number of volunteer observers by 50% to fully cover this election. Sign-Up http://ctelectionaudit.org/sign-up-for-post-election-audits-now/ More information, flyer http://www.ctelectionaudit.org/ObservationFlyer.pdf ***************************************** - Invite Others to Join the Observation Team ************************************************ To reach our goal of covering every audit with at least two observers will require more volunteer observers. We have added new observers but need more! - in total we need about 50% more than last year. Our largest gaps are in the areas of North Western, Northern, and all of Eastern Connecticut. We need more observers in those areas and more observers willing to travel a little further to provide us the flexibility to cover the entire state. Who might be interested in Litchfield County? The Quiet Corner? near Rhode Island? or near Massachusetts? We have a flyer at: http://www.CTElectionAudit.org/ObservationFlyer.pdf Plus a sample email to friends at: http://www.CTElectionAudit.org/SampleEmail.doc ************************************ News from CTVotersCount.org ************************************ Wee are covering the November Governors race, see our summary of the integrity issues raised by the close race and controversies surrounding the counting: http://www.ctvoterscount.org/connecticut-governors-races-integrity-issues/ Perhaps the winner will be election integrity, caused by long overdue public awareness. Nationally, attention is finally being brought to the risks of Internet voting, based on recent testing in Washington D.C. http://www.ctvoterscount.org/internet-voting-faces-the-music-hats-off-to-d-c -and-michigan/ While Connecticut provides real service to our service people, long with overseas voters: http://www.ctvoterscount.org/connecticut-follows-move-act-avoids-flaws-other s-follow-the-money/ And the recent Coalition audit report, released October 20th. From the report: http://ctelectionaudit.org/aug-10-election-observation-report-incremental-im provement-new-integrity-issue/ Citizen observation and analysis shows some improvements along with a newly uncovered problem with the random selection process.We conclude that August post-election audits still do not inspire confidence because of: * failure in the integrity of the random district selection process, * lack of standards for determining need for further investigation of discrepancies, * weaknesses in the ballot chain of custody, and * lack of, consistency, reliability, and transparency in the conduct of the audit. the list of polling districts for the random audit drawing was missing some districts and is otherwise inaccurate and ambiguous. The integrity of the audit requires an accurate list of districts that is verifiable by the public. We have extended our recommendations to the Legislature to include an efficient fix to this problem. This message sent to J.deSmet at att.net by Update at CTVotersCount.org. Unsubscribe | Update Profile/Email Address | Forward To A Friend | About This List -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Sun Nov 21 10:50:18 2010 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:50:18 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: British MDs Warned to Expect UnrestOver Healthcare Reforms Message-ID: > British MDs Warned to Expect Unrest Over Healthcare > Reforms > > Exclusive: GPs'[general practioniers]leader > criticises Lansley's reform plans and predicts > that doctors will face demonstrations by angry > patients > > By Denis Campbell, health correspondent > Guardian (UK) > November 19, 2010 > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/19/doctors-warned-expect-unrest-reforms > > Doctors face demonstrations outside their surgeries and > questions about their high salaries by angry patients > because of the government's radical NHS shakeup, the > new leader of Britain's GPs warns. > > Desperate patients denied life-extending drugs or > surgery for their ailments may also vent their > frustrations on GPs, because they are due to assume > control of deciding how ??80bn-a-year of health funding > is spent, said Dr Clare Gerada, who takes over tomorrow > as chair of the Royal College of GPs. > > In an outspoken attack on health secretary Andrew > Lansley's NHS reform plans, she also hit out at his > decision to transfer responsibility for rationing > access to treatment from the National Institute of > Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) and primary care > trusts to GPs in England from 2013. > > "At worst, the negative impact for GPs could be > patients lobbying outside their front door, saying, > 'You've got a nice BMW car but you will not allow me to > have this cytotoxic drug that will give me three more > months of life,'" Gerada told the Guardian in an > interview. > > "I'm concerned that my profession, GPs, will be exposed > to lobbying by patients, patient groups and the pharma > industry to fund or commission their bit of the > service. There could be letters from MPs and patient > groups, and begging letters from patients." > > Making GPs "the new rationers" of NHS care could ruin > the long-established bonds of trust between them and > their patients, undermine "the sacredness of the > consultation" and turn patients into little more than > "customers" who shop around trying to get the best > treatment for their ailment, Gerada added. Inherent > conflicts of interest in the new system could also > jeopardise GP-patient relationships, she warned. > "Patients might think that the decision made about > their healthcare will be based on self-interest - GPs > saving money for themselves rather than spending it on > patients." Certain treatment decisions, and a GP > consortium's need to balance its books "could be > misconstrued". > > The NHS will not survive intact Lansley's plans to > scrap many existing NHS bodies, introduce GP > commissioning and push through greater competition > between hospitals, she predicted. > > "I think it is the end of the NHS as we currently know > it, which is a national, unified health service, with > central policies and central planning, in the way that > [Aneurin] Bevan imagined," said 51-year-old Gerada, who > represents Britain's 40,000 family doctors. Lansley's > shakeup will lead to a much greater role for private > healthcare companies, the likelihood that England's > health system will look more and more like America's, > and GPs being blamed for things such as the NHS's > inability to cope with a winter crisis, long waiting > lists and the decommissioning of services to save > money, she added. > > GPs in their new role will bear the brunt of the NHS's > need to save ??20bn by 2014, which will lead to far more > "postcode lotteries" in services such as IVF, expensive > drugs, and even access to particular hospital > specialists such as surgeons and gynaecologists. > Leaving each of the new GP consortiums to decide > individually what treatment should or should not be > available locally will lead to disputes over access to > care. "I don't understand why he's putting in a system > that in Scunthorpe you can get a different service to > Scarborough, when we've spent the last 60 years working > against that", said Gerada. Her comments are the most > detailed criticism yet made by any senior doctor of > Lansley's plans, which have caused serious unease among > medical organisations. > > John Healey, Labour's shadow health secretary, used > them to portray Lansley as dogmatic and out-of-touch. > "These criticisms from an influential GP again reveal > how Andrew Lansley is failing to listen to the warnings > of doctors, nurses and health experts to slow down on > his high-cost, high-risk plans," said Healey. > > "With plans for the biggest reorganisation in the NHS's > history, it is also becoming clear that he is running a > rogue department, operating in isolation from his > colleagues in government." > > Healey echoed Gerada's concern about patients in future > questioning GPs' motivations. "Patients will worry > about treatment decisions - are they being taken in > their best interest or the best interest of the GP > consortium's budget?" > > The British Medical Association warned the changes > could see the NHS fragment. Dr Laurence Buckman, > chairman of the BMA's GPs committee, agreed with some > of Gerada's concerns. "GPs are fully aware of the > difficulties facing the NHS as we enter a very > difficult financial period and that tough decisions > will have to be taken. The BMA has repeatedly expressed > its concerns about the timing of the white paper > proposals as well as the potential risks and benefits > that may result from the government's plans," he said. > > Prof Chris Ham, chief executive of the King's Fund > health thinktank, endorsed Gerada's view that Lansley > should move more slowly. "With international evidence > this week showing our health system performing well > compared to other countries, and the NHS facing > significant financial pressures over the next few > years, evolutionary change building on existing > arrangements offers a more promising route to improving > the NHS than radical structural changes," he said. > > A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Our reforms > will indeed mark a new era for the NHS - one where > patients and clinicians are at the heart of the > service. Our reforms aren't an option, they are a > necessity in order to sustain and improve our NHS. The > reforms are far-reaching but they also build upon > existing designs. We share a common goal with the RCGP > that we all want patients to get the best health and > care services." > > But she added: "We understand concerns around > implementation. That's why we have consulted > extensively on our plans, and have already announced a > programme where GP consortia can start testing white > paper principles. We will announce the outcome of the > consultation later this year. We believe that both > purpose and pace are vital to improve services for > patients." > > ___________________________________________