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When I read Spencer's notes from last night's meeting, I was a bit
surprised that there was so much opposition to the idea of a paid
staff. In particular, I noted the comment that Cameron was opposed
to the idea because " the hired staff component had a substantive
negative impact on the party. "<br>
<br>
Personally, I feel that the lack of a full time staff is one of the
most important reasons that the party's numbers have stagnated, are
in decline and that we are basically ignored by media. <br>
<br>
Here is what I posted on the subject at <a
href="http://cagreening.blogspot.com/">California Greening</a>
this week. If you got to that site, you will find this supported
(in comments) by Alex Walker. <br>
<br>
<h3 class="post-title"> GPCA poised for gains… or not </h3>
The General Assembly of the Green Party of California takes place
this weekend. For those who will attend, there are a few things I
hope you consider while deciding the next steps we will take. <br>
<br>
Never before has money played such a key role in politics. Greens
have been taking steps to counteract the effect of the Citizen's
United decision. However, it does not appear that any great gains
have been made on that front, even with key people spending a
significant amount of time in the <a href="http://movetoamend.org/">Move
to Amend</a> effort. <br>
<br>
While washing dishes last night, I listened to the Rachel Maddow
show. She was making a very important point regarding the now nearly
infamous Paul Ryan budget that passed the House. Republican Congress
Critters, including Wisconsin's Ryan, are not being warmly received
while back in their districts over the Easter Recess. In fact, they
are being confronted with almost as much rancor as was directed at
the Obama Health Care plan last summer. Her key point is that, while
Progressive organizations have contracted for $106,000 in media buys
now, just 4 organizations with ties Corporate Cash, have put up over
$2 Mil to support Ryan's budget… the one that would, among other
things, end Medicare as we know it. <br>
<br>
I introduce this point about money in order to underscore just how
uneven the playing filed is. The GPCA has not been so successful
raising money. We managed to have a mini-fundraising drive that
netted $7,000 just before the General Assembly.<br>
<br>
So, what are we going to do if we can't compete on money. Greens
back a set of policies that make a lot more sense than those
embodied in the Ryan Budget,but who knows what they are. <br>
<br>
In a <a
href="http://departments.oxy.edu/orsl/pdfs/MoyersSpeechOccidentalCollege.pdf">speech
given at Occidental College</a> of few years back, Bill Moyers
made the statement that "The only answer for organized money is
organized people." In fact, this was important enough that he
repeated it several time: "The <b>only</b> answer…" and then "is <b>organized</b>
people." <br>
<br>
It is clear to some that the wheels are coming off the American
version of Capitalism. Even Alan Greenspan acknowledged that he did
not truly understand just that organizations, like banks and
insurance companies, do not act in their <b>own</b> long term best
interest, but are tilling to take excessive risks in order to get
immediate profit for the executives of these companies. Greenspan
was a devotee of Ayn Rand, the same Ayn Rand whose selfish version
of living in the world inspires many Republican leaders today. <br>
<br>
It is a given that we don't have the money top play the corporate
media game. I note the number of people who actually participate in
our social media, and it does not yet add up. <br>
<br>
If we are to take the next step, and the world needs us to do so,
then I think we need to consider just how we can accomplish it. Look
around the General Assembly. How many students do you see? If these
are the future of the Party, what are we doing to build that future?
If we can't answer the question of how many Campus Green chapters
exist and who those leader are, it does not speak well for our
future. <br>
<br>
Maybe it does come back to money, and how we choose to spend what
resources we have. We need, at a minimum&hellip' and need to
keep it to a minimum… to have full time fundraising that is not
dependent on another full time job to live on. <br>
<br>
We need to be able to more nimble in how we deal with the media. It
is not just that smart cell phones, Android aps and social media
have expanded the range of possibilities, they have fundamentally
changed the expectation of just how quickly a political organization
can respond. This is one more aspect of being a political party that
needs full time attention and, once more, there is a need to
professionalize it so that no one has to give up making a living in
order to do that work. <br>
<br>
The real question for this General Assembly is whether we are going
to be a player in the political arena, or will we just play at it. <br>
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