-- BEGIN included message
Title: ASGP News Circulator 2/5/01 pt 3
- Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2001 16:05:30 -0500
- From: Greg Gerritt <gerritt@edgenet.net>
- Subject: ASGP-COO ASGP News Circulator 2/5/01 pt 3
Copyright 2001 The Daily Iowan via U-Wire
University Wire
January 31, 2001
LENGTH: 431 words
HEADLINE: Green Party to attain official party status in Iowa
BYLINE: By Peter Rugg, The Daily Iowan
SOURCE: U. Iowa
DATELINE: Iowa City, Iowa
BODY:
Despite Ralph Nader's loss of momentum toward the end of the 2000
presidential campaign, Iowa City
Green Party members said they are working to expand the party to ensure
more choices on Iowa's
future election ballots.
On Feb. 8, the Green Party will attain official party status in Iowa,
allowing the party a place on state
ballots. The standing was achieved when Nader received more than 2
percent of the vote in the
presidential election. To keep its status, the Green Party must run a
candidate for a gubernatorial
position in the 2002 election and receive at least 2 percent of the
vote.
"Greens know that we're going to be in for a struggle the next four
years, so we better get busy," said
Holly Hart, the secretary of Iowa's Green Party.
The party will hold a mass registration on Feb. 8 to celebrate the
official party status.
"We're going to have to build from the ground up," Hart said.
She said the party will start campaigning in local races, such as City
Council, and work its way up.
As well as holding the mass registration, the Green Party is also
planning a series of events across Iowa
to promote environmental awareness on Earth Day.
Another of the party's main concerns will be to protest Bush's Cabinet
choices, Hart said.
"Bush's choices, especially Ashcroft, are not getting the opposition
they deserve," she said. "All the
Democrats opposing Nader seem to have disappeared, and none of them
really seem to be fighting at
all."
The party will also gather support for Bill HR 57, introduced by the
Bipartisan Federal Elections Review
on Nov. 15 and reintroduced on Jan. 3.
Reps. Peter Defazio, D-Ore., and Jim Leach, R-Iowa, are sponsoring the
bill, which would establish a
nonpartisan commission to examine voting systems, the Electoral College,
ballot access and other voting
issues.
Turning people from political bystanders into political activists is
what third parties are about, said
Michael Rack, a co-founder of University of Iowa Students for Nader.
"There's a movement across the country to get people more involved with
the political process and to
educate people on how corrupt the Democrats and Republicans can be," he
said. "Third parties are at
the front of that."
Although some people believe that voting for third parties is equivalent
to wasting their votes, votes
should go to candidates people believe in, said Rob Morey, an Iowa City
resident who voted for
Nader.
"I'll continue to vote for whom I'd like to see in the White House, even
if the chances are slim to none,"
he said.
Copyright 2001 Daily News, L.P.
Daily News (New York)
January 30, 2001, Tuesday EXPRESS EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 189 words
HEADLINE: D.C. DEMS GORE NADER FOR CRASHING THE PARTY
BYLINE: By PETER DeMARCO DAILY NEWS EXPRESS
BODY:
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader is paying the price - big-time - for
helping to torpedo Al Gore's
presidential dream.
Washington, D.C., Democrats are snubbing him at every turn and
contributions to his consumer groups
have been drying up.
Public Citizen, the consumer watchdog group Nader founded in 1971, can't
get lawmakers to return
phone calls.
When Nader asked to testify at Senate hearings on John Ashcroft's
nomination to be attorney general,
he was told to go home.
"We're not going to touch him with a 10-foot pole," Rep. Robert Wexler
(D-Fla.) told USA Today. "He
has divorced himself from the very ideals that made him a worthwhile
political actor. He sold out his
constituency."
Democrats blame Nader for Gore's defeat. It is widely assumed the
majority of Nader's votes would
have gone to Gore had Nader dropped out.
In typical fashion, Nader said he won't give up politics and wants more
Green Party candidates in local
elections this November.
"What are [liberals] going to say, 'We don't want your help?'" he said.
"Is the Democratic Party, in its
latter stages of decay, now one for masochism?"
Copyright 2001 National Journal Group, Inc.
National Journal's House Race Hotline
View Related Topics
January 30, 2001, Tuesday
SECTION: SPECIAL ELECTIONS
CONG-DISTRICT: PENNSYLVANIA 09
LENGTH: 460 words
HEADLINE: Great Scott! Five Dems And A Green!
BODY:
Hagerstown Herald-Mail's Danzuso reports, PA 09 Dems chose Centre County
Commiss.
Scott Conklin (D) as their nominee for the seat being vacated by
retiring Rep. Bud Shuster
(R). Conklin has twice run for the state legislature "and lost by a
narrow margin." Mifflin
County Dem Chair Shannon Bilger said the selection will not be official
until the PA Dem
Cmte approves it -- "probably next month." The other candidates included
law prof/ex-HRC
comm dir Stacey Brumbaugh (D), environmental planner Stephen Wiedemer,
financial
planner Mark Stevenson (D) and oncologist Jack Shocker (D). Bilger:
"They were five
terrific candidates. Since 1972, there haven't been this many good
Democrats running for
Congress. They are five people I would have been proud to have as
candidate and stood a
good chance" (1/25). Meanwhile, PA Fair Tax Coalition coordinator Alanna
Hartzok on
1/29 accepted the Green Party nod. Hartzok "said her campaign would
emphasize
property tax reform and environmental issues" (AP, 1/29). Shuster's
Final Hours In
Congress
Shuster announced earlier this month he would retire 1/31. Gov. Tom
Ridge (R) will
announce the date for a special election to fill the seat in early
February. He will likely
postpone filling the seat until the next scheduled statewide election
5/15 (Hagerstown
Herald-Mail, 1/25). AP reports, Shuster "ran the transportation
committee forcefully and
often won battles against the congressional GOP leadership. But at home,
his strong
control of the party apparatus has made some enemies in powerful
corners. ... Those
dynamics may prevent his son and designated successor," car dealer
William Shuster (R),
from winning the right to represent the heavily GOP CD. Millersville U.
political science prof
G. Terry Madonna: "The blood is flowing all over that district. There
are a lot of people who
tolerated Shuster because of everything he brought home but may want a
fresh start with
him gone. A Shuster without the goodies may not sell." Shuster said,
"while he supports his
son": "I've not spent a lot of time talking to the party leaders who
will nominate someone
once a special election is called. I believe Bill is extremely well
qualified, but other people
have to make that judgment." The Cook Report's Amy Walter: "Greasing the
skids for your
protege doesn't always work. Though Bill is probably the front-runner,
the outcome is based
on the whim and will of a few people." Other GOPers who have expressed
interest in the
nomination: Blair County GOP Chair John Eichelberger (R), state Rep.
Rick Geist (R) and
Fulton County Treas. Bonnie Mellott Keefer (R) (Marx, AP, 1/28). The GOP
will hold a
convo to choose their nominee, "but so far no date has been set"
(Hagerstown Herald-Mail,
1/25).
Copyright 2001 M2 Communications Ltd.
NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT
January 29, 2001
LENGTH: 101 words
HEADLINE: Support for Icelandic Green Party rises
BODY:
Support for Iceland's left-wing Green Party has increased by five
percentage points to 29.3% since a
poll two weeks ago, according to a recent survey of 600 people on the
electoral roll.
In the most recent poll, published in the Icelandic daily DV, support
for Iceland's Independence Party
remained unchanged at 37.3%, while support for the Progressive Party
increased to 14.8% from 9%.
Support for the Social Democratic Alliance fell to 16.5% from 27%, while
2% of respondents
supported the Liberal Party.
Copyright 2001 Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc.
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
January 29, 2001 Monday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. B1
LENGTH: 504 words
HEADLINE: Green Party turns to local issues
BYLINE: Mark Melady; TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
DATELINE: WORCESTER
BODY:
- Local Green Party members began the process of party-building
yesterday -- electing officers,
casting about for grass-roots issues and reaching out to an established
like-minded group, the Rainbow
Coalition.
Rainbow veterans were among the 50 people gathered at Worcester State
College for a meeting of the
two groups. The local Green Party then held its first organizational
meeting since the November
election.
Because of Ralph Nader's performance in the state as a presidential
candidate, the party has official
ballot status in Massachusetts.
To keep it, Greens must maintain a party registration of at least 1
percent of the number of registered
voters or run a statewide candidate who gets at least 3 percent of the
vote.
Fielding and eventually electing candidates are essential for any party
to survive, said Green Party
member Joseph DelGrizzi, who ran yesterday's meeting. It will be the
party's toughest hurdle but not an
insurmountable one, he said.
There will be Green candidates for City Council within five years,'' Mr.
DelGrizzi said. There could even
be one in the next election. But we have to learn the process and get
over the fear and intimidation of
running for office. Most of us never wanted to get that involved but we
know now we've got to do more
than protest and write letters.''
Yesterday, the Greens elected Todd Jaarsma of Clinton as secretary of
the Worcester party and Brian
Douglas of Worcester as treasurer. Both also were elected to a
seven-member coordinating council that
includes Mr. DelGrizzi, Nik Hewitt, Rini Kilcoyne, Sharon Nietsche and
Justin Nietsche, all of
Worcester.
Mr. DelGrizzi said the party needed to develop positions on local issues
to establish an identity and
attract members.
There's a need for activism in Worcester,'' he said.
Possible issues include opposing fluoridation of the city's water
supply, run-off elections for local posts
instead of winner-take-all, proportional voting, rehabilitating unused
industrial buildings, planting more
trees in the city and finding a supplier of hemp-based paper.
It takes one acre of hemp to produce the same amount of paper from four
acres of trees,'' Ms. Nietsche
said.
The Greens also will explore supporting local groups, such as the
Interfaith Council and its efforts to
improve neighborhoods.
Because the Rainbow Coalition endorsed Mr. Nader, Mr. DelGrizzi said the
Greens will support any
local candidates the Rainbows might put forth.
While the two groups are ideologically close and could someday merge,
Mr. DelGrizzi said they will
continue to maintain separate identities.
The Worcester Greens will support the state party's efforts to fight any
new efforts to impose the death
penalty in Massachusetts.
The issue is expected to galvanize Green groups on the city's campuses,
including the College of the
Holy Cross, Clark University, Assumption College and WPI.
We've got to get the word to them,'' Mr. DelGrizzi said. It's not Nader
anymore, it's the death penalty.''
-- END included message