Owen Bradhurst: “GPUS CC Proposal Is Dangerous”
PLEASE read this, and seriously consider the proposal’s implications. PLEASE lobby your state party’s GPUS Coordinating Committee representative to make amendments or vote NO!
This is what information I have on the GPUS Coordinating Committee proposal, on which voting is set to begin tomorrow. The language of the proposal would apparently permit the proposed Presidential Campaign Support Committee to dictate campaign strategy to the party nominee. This is something that neither “Safe States” supporters nor supporters of an “all out” campaign should want, as such dictation could well hamstring a candidate who campaigned on having an “all out” strategy or force a candidate who campaigned on “Safe States” to be forced into having that “all out” strategy that his supporters presumably rejected in supporting him. I see this as very dangerous language that could well result in a violation of the party’s Grassroots Democracy Key Value by committees that are not very representative of Green Party members nationwide. That should frighten us.
So, supporters of the David Cobb campaign should find this proposal to be no less alarming in some of its language than this Salzman/ Nader supporter does. If language in this proposal would not force Cobb into waging a style of campaign he disagrees with in 2004, then it could force a Safe States candidate into waging an “all out” campaign at a future point. Salzman/ Nader supporters should find this language particularly disturbing, as it could negate for them a major factor behind their decisions to back these candidates if the PCSC dictates a “Safe States” strategy from on high. A decision to impose any kind of strategy on a candidate could have that effect of actually forcing a candidate who campaigned on a different strategy to withdraw despite any support (even overwhelming support) for that candidate at the convention. This is simply WRONG.
Please contact your state party’s CC representative NOW to register your concerns!
http://green.gpus.org/vote/displayproposal.php?proposalId=63
The language that I have seen seems generally to make sense in most respects, but one- and I have asked that my state party’s CC representative consider making all possible efforts either to see the language I find objectionable removed from the proposal, or to stop the proposal if the language I find objectionable is not removed.
Presently the proposal contains language granting said entity powers of:
“A. Formulation of overall Presidential campaign strategy, before and after the Convention”
This, I believe, should never be within any GPUS committee’s purview.
More potentially problematic language is:
” L. Formulation of formal agreement between GPUS and nominee to cover what GPUS can offer the nominee and what GPUS asks from the nominee;”
This is the full text of what you would find on that webpage if you can’t access it:
Proposal Details
Proposal: Proposal to Create a Presidential Campaign Support Committee
Presenter: Coordinated Campaign Committee / Presidential Exploratory Committee
Floor Manager: Jo Chamberlain
Phase: Discussion
Discussion:
Voting: Mon 11/24/03 - Sun 12/14/03
Mon 12/15/03 - Sun 12/21/03
Quorum: (0.6666)
Threshold: (0.6666)
Background: This proposal is the product of a long process of discussion and revision by members of the Presidential Exploratory and Coordinated Campaign committees, begun at this past summer’s national meeting in Washington, D.C. The starting premise, as outlined below, was that the Party does not currently have the infrastructure we need to support a Presidential race in 2004. The proposed committee, the Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC), would serve as both a body where the work of various committees as it pertains to the Presidential campaign would be coordinated, and as the committee that would take on currently unassigned tasks, such as strategy and coordination with candidates seeking the nomination before the Convention, and with the nominee after the Convention.
While it is realized that the question of whether we will have a Presidential candidate is not 100% settled, now is the time for us to set up our infrastructure, for the possibility that we do. If, at the 2004 nominating convention, the assembled state parties should decide that we not run for President, this proposed committee could continue to build and prepare for the next cycle. The PCSC was designed with the idea that the Party would not have to recreate it once every four years.
Juscha Robinson, co-chair of the Coordinated Campaign Committee, will answer questions about this proposal during the discussion period. She is not a delegate, and does not have access to the voting page. Please send email questions either to her directly or to the list at natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org.
Thanks to everyone who helped work on this proposal. We look forward to the discussion and adoption of this proposal. Finally, if anyone can think of a better name for the proposed committee, please share with the rest of us.
Proposal: Background
The Presidential Campaign Support Committee is a standing committee of the Green Party of the United States, created by the Coordinating Committee. It brings together the diverse talents of Greens from many different states and committees to work toward the common goal of a Green presidential campaign in 2004. The Presidential Exploratory Committee was formed in July 2002, to guide GPUS through the nomination seeking process. With the election year close around the corner, GPUS must look forward to the actual campaign and coordination with the eventual nominee, laying out its national campaign strategy, as well as a long-term plan for handling future presidential election cycles.
Mission
The PCSC will represent GPUS in the coordination of Green Presidential campaigns. To that end, it will coordinate between state parties, national committees, GPUS and the nominee to ensure that there is both good communication and working relationship between party and candidate. In future presidential election cycles, before there is a nominee, the PCSC will be responsible for forming the Presidential Exploratory Committee, which will help the party through the nominee-finding process. The PCSC will as a matter of course take grassroots input into account, and have as overarching goal the growth of the Green Party.
Objectives
The following is a non-exhaustive list of objectives and goals which the PCSC will be charged with carrying out. Additional objectives may be added by the GPUS Coordinating Committee, Steering Committee, or full PCSC.
A. Formulation of overall Presidential campaign strategy, before and after the Convention;
B. Cooperate on formulation and implementation of ballot access strategy with the Ballot Access Working Group;
C. Coordination between state parties and candidates before the Convention;
D. Encouraging involvement of grassroots party members in the candidate draft committees;
E. Encouraging and providing support to state parties to hold unofficial primaries where they are legally not able to hold official primaries;
F. Organizing around the Presidential debates, both by organizing debates for Green candidates, as well as national pressure to open the establishment Presidential debates to the Green nominee;
G. Consulting on organization of the National Nominating Convention, through the Annual National Meeting Committee;
H. Creation and maintenance of an official pre-Convention website, with resource links to aid state parties in involving their members in the process, in cooperation with the Internal Communications and Media Committees;
I. Liaison between GPUS and candidates/nominee;
J. Cooperation with Coordinated Campaign Committee in development of resources for use by nominee and by state parties in campaign;
K. Creation and maintenance of an official post-Convention website, with resource links and updates on the coordinated Presidential campaign, in cooperation with the Internal Communications and Media Committees;
L. Formulation of formal agreement between GPUS and nominee to cover what GPUS can offer the nominee and what GPUS asks from the nominee;
M. Assisting communication between state parties and nominee after the Convention on such matters as public appearances, media, fundraising, lists, etc;
N. Consultation with nominee on candidacy’s platform, in cooperation with the Platform Committee;
O. Fundraising, in cooperation with the Fundraising and Finance Committees;
P. Provision to GPUS of legal resources and advisors on issues of federal election law;
Q. Coordination with downticket candidacies, in cooperation with the Coordinated Campaign Committee;
R. Assisting with foreign policy and international relations, in cooperation with the International Committee.
Structure
A. Membership: Accredited state parties and accredited caucuses may select members in good standing equal in number to seats held on the GPUS Coordinating Committee. Members must be approved in the manner the state party or caucus normally uses for approving national committee members, and state parties and caucus are strongly encouraged to keep the Green value of diversity in mind during the approval process. Each member shall carry one vote and is expected to participate in one or more working groups. The full PCSC will set overall policy and guidelines for the PCSC, and may reverse a working group’s decision by a majority vote.
B. Committee Representation: In addition to members from state parties and caucuses, the PCSC will have one seat for each of the following national committees: Coordinated Campaign, Diversity, Finance, Fundraising, Internal Communications, International, Media, Platform, and Steering. Other committees may be added by decision by the PCSC. The committee representatives are considered also to be members of the PCSC.
C. Working Groups: The PCSC will form working groups as needed to accomplish the objectives listed above or to otherwise carry out the work of the PCSC. Each working group will select co-chairs, who are responsible for reporting regularly on the working group’s progress to the full PCSC. The working groups are limited to the membership of the PCSC, except for such exceptions as the full PCSC decides to make. Each such working group shall also include the representative of the respective committee. For example, the representative of the Platform Committee will participate in the working group responsible for the implementation of (N) above.
D. Co-chairs: The PCSC will elect from its membership up to four co-chairs, gender balanced, who will be responsible for facilitating the work of the full PCSC, ensuring that all working groups are functioning well, and reporting regularly to the CC and SC. If state, caucus or committee representatives become unproductive or otherwise inactive as members, the co-chairs will request from the state party, caucus or committee that they approve a replacement. The co-chairs are also empowered to request that state parties, caucuses and committees reassess their delegation if a lack of diversity becomes apparent.
Resources:
References: Juscha E. M. Robinson will respond to questions about this proposal.
Last Updated: 12/09/03 11:42
Owen
