[Sosfbay-discuss] Green Party Finances (was: No great press out of Pennsylvania)

[Sam Rafter]

Hello All!

Sorry for my slow response.  I'm only subscribed to the digest of this list. 
My primary exposure to the Green Party has been through Mr. Camejo's
gubernatorial candidacy, and I'd assumed other Green candidates shared his
policies on not accepting campaign contributions from corporations.  I did find
some evidence of this policy in the Green Party online store:

https://secure.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizations/Greens/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=4

Scroll to the bottom to read the fine print in the donation section which
states, "Contributions from the following individuals and entities are
prohibited: corporations, labor organizations, national banks, government
contractors, foreign nationals, or people under 18 years of age."

If it is party policy to not accept donations from corporations, would it be
much of a stretch to refuse donations from Republicans?  Given the economic and
environmental policies of the Republican party candidates, it seems reasonable
to group these two classes of donors.  I would recommend a policy at the
national level for the Green Party that any candidate who does willingly accept
donations from a Republican donor, and / or does not return the monies in, say,
30 days, would be booted from the Green Party, and would therefor have to run
as an independent (and only trash their own name).

For what it's worth, this report goes into a bit more detail on the
contributors to Romanelli's campaign:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001247.php

Thanks for reading!

-Sam

--- Erik Kiehle <erik at kiehle.com> wrote:

> For those who remember me I was seriously interested in running in  
> 2004 for State Assembly District 24. Long-time Assemblyman Joe  
> Simitian was termed-out and I thought it would be interesting to run  
> as a Green candidate in the Silicon Valley area where I grew up.
> 
> I filed the "Intention to File" paperwork that became public record  
> of my intention to run. I was getting a late start and realized I  
> would probably need to pay the Filing Fee instead of gathering  
> signatures. In then end I moved with my family just outside of the  
> district boundaries and therefore couldn't run in that district.
> 
> However, as the filing deadline approached I received calls from two  
> very determined persons interested in paying my filing fee for me to  
> get me on the ballot. Since the election had a very strong Republican  
> candidate (who spent millions of his own money), the race was won by  
> only 3.2 percent in the Democratic candidate's favor.
> 
> After reflection I realized that during the November 2002 election  
> the average vote for the statewide Green candidates was about 4.5  
> percent. It may not have made any difference in the AD 24 election  
> results but I had to think that for about $1100 filing fee donation  
> to my campaign, any Republican may have made it a very narrow margin  
> for that election.
> 
> I think the statistics in past elections (especially the recall  
> election) show that the Democrats are their own worst enemy. But, I  
> think it is a relatively cheap tactic for the Republicans to pay for  
> a 3rd party candidate's filing just to stir things up. I'm actually  
> surprised we haven't seen more Republican's changing party  
> registration just so they can try to draw off Democrat voters. (This  
> strategy could also be used in reverse where there are Republican  
> majorities though maybe with Libertarian candidate or other parties).  
> I'm not sure if there are any statistics of numbers reflecting how  
> often Republicans vs Democrats vote for Green party candidates.
> 
> Thanks,
> Erik Kiehle
> 
> On Aug 1, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Larry Cafiero_Liaison wrote:
> 
> > I'm going to assume, Sam, that your statement about Greens taking  
> > money
> > from Republicans is sarcasm, as there is no "tradition" of this  
> > sort at all.
> >
> > However, we have had Republicans co-opt the party for their own  
> > purposes
> > right in our own backyard. In 2004, a Monterey Republican Central
> > Committee member named Paul Bruno put up the filing fee for Carmel
> > electrician unknown to anyone in the local party in Monterey for the
> > 15th Senate District in an effort to take votes away from the Democrat
> > in that race.
> >
> > I don't know this guy Romanelli, or the Green Party gubernatorial
> > candidate they mention, but I would be willing to bet that they are
> > Greens by registration only, and nothing else (or, worse, Republicans
> > trying to game the electoral system at our expense). I think they are
> > props set up by the Republicans in the same way this guy in SD15  
> > was set up.
> >
> > True, it looks bad, but then it would be interesting to see how the  
> > Pa.
> > Green Party reacts to this.
> >
> > Larry Cafiero
> > Liaison to the Secretary of State
> > Green Party of California
> >
> > Sam Rafter wrote:
> >> The proud tradition of Green Party candidates taking money from  
> >> Republicans
> >> continues?
> >>
> >> http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/15166569.htm
> >>
> >> I couldn't get www.Romanelli2006.com to load, but I'm curious how  
> >> Romanelli
> >> spins this.  Greens taking money from Republicans seems like an  
> >> unhealthy trend
> >> to follow.
> >>
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> 


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