building from the past to 2008

Muy Estimados Verdes,
First let me state that I do not see any clear path to success in 2008. But we do have some options for making gains in various ways, all long shots. We are simply mistaken to believe that there is "ONE RIGHT CANDIDATE" out there who will by their participation as our presidential candidate build our party.
NO, we will do that...or we won't. Either we are up to the task of building a political party or it will not happen, not with Nader...not with Mckinney...not with Dr. Jared Ball.

Certainly it matters who we partner with to conduct our residential campaign but we have to view that person that we put at the top of our ticket as a tool for achieving party growth. We need more people with skills and abilities who have a good grasp of our 10 key values, not folks who have committed them to memory but folks with whom they resonate as precursors to building tools for sustaining communities. For me it is a requirement that the person be a Green. How can we ask our other candidates to run as Greens if we don't expect that of the person at the top of the ticket?

Having worked as a Green on Green campaigns in many places ince 2000 I know that each time we have run candidates, including the presidential candidates, we have built a piece of the foundation that we need. What is the best way to make use of what we have built and push it to the next step? Bringing diversity to our party is the best thing we can do to build the party in 2008. All those disenfranchised voters from 2000 and 2004 are possible GP new members. It is not an accident that most of those voters were African Americans, they were targeted because they can swing an election. With the work that we did in 2004 we have an opening to reach out to those voters but we can only do that with an African American at the top of our ticket. And a Black/ Brown /Green coalition could develop a significant wedge of voters, significant enough to spoil everything for the "big parties".

As I write this I am thinking of the Greens who will see this message... most of you are white...most of you are men...most of you are people who I am very proud to work with... some of you are trusted consultants and some of you are friends. The creation of a successful diverse Green Party rests with you
and it must be a courageous and bold plan that you implement to bring it about.

Dr. Jared Ball has stepped forward so that we would have a Black/Green option and he is currently working to strengthen his base of support. We will soon be forming a presidential exploratory committee and he will be making personal contacts to those of you who have expressed an interest in his campaign.
This will be a heavy lifting...get your hands dirty...build it from the bottom up campaign. Jared is a true Green and is committed to building a credible Green campaign and has committed to supporting the candidate that the Green Party selects. Understanding that many of you must get started on your campaigns as soon as possible Dr. Ball is stepping forward to be of assistance to you in any way that he can. We are aware of which states need to get going and will be in contact with
you soon.

Sincerely,
Anita Rios, Jared Ball Campaign Manager
419-243-8772
ps. this campaign is only 3 weeks old and we are in the process of putting up a website but want to
initiate the exploratory committee first so in the mean time please check out:
www.voxunion.com