Chlorophyll

As a national rep from Michigan, I was very disappointed to see this proposal go down to defeat. Much effort was put into crafting the proposal by the Delegate Apportionment Committee, particularly the co-chairs: Cat Woods of California and Greg Gerrit of Rhode Island. At the introduction of the proposal to the National committee, concerns around the formula for determining delegate counts were addressed and the proposal was modified.

When it came to a vote though, many opposed the proposal based on the inclusion of a proxy provision, allowing delegations to use a proxy vote for each seated delegate until that seat could be filled or the proxy provision expired. This provision was included to allow state delegations time to fill the additional seats under their state by-laws.

Others felt it gave too many delegates to large successful states such as California and New York. The formula used both population based and electoral success based factors in determining delagate counts that favored these and other states.

Some of the criticism of the proposal was presented as an attack on California itself, suggesting the proposal was a grab for power by the state Green Party. Comments after the conclusion of the voting have even branded the proposal as a GDI effort. I should mention that I am a member of the Greens for Democracy and Independence.

In my opinion the defeat of this proposal illustrates the utter lack of committment to the national organization and our shared values. My opinion is also based on the serious financial straights the GPUS finds itself in at this time.

I'll echo Gregg Jocoy's suggestion in this or one of the other green blogs that perhaps it's time for the old guard to get out of the way and let this party move forward. They seem to be fighting the same old petty battles over and over again. Whether it's under the guise of Realo vs. Fundi, Naderite vs. Cobbite, GDI vs. GPUS, it's stifling this party.

IMHO, of course.

--
Lou Novak - lmn@lppals.com

"Conformity or rebellion? Neither one. Both ways are
simple-minded - they are only for people who cannot cope
with contradiction and ambiguity."
- Neil Stephenson: The Diamond Age

...that the proposal could be separated into pieces that could be voted on independently.

Personally, I don't have much use for GDI, for reasons I've explained at other times. But if we let our opinions tear the organization apart, then we betray everything we claim to stand for. For crying out loud, we're a political organization. Let's keep in mind that our differences are about the means, not the ends. If we allow ourselves to get so self-involved that we lose sight of that, then no one is working towards the ends at all.

Let's get some perspective. If we can't work with each other, why would the public elect us to office, where we'd have to deal with people who really are opposed to us?

... raise money or pass a budget or a delegate apportionment formula are any indication, most folks don't have much use for the GPUS. One of the more interesting aspects of the debate over this proposal was that when someone suggested people would leave the party or stop donating if the proposal failed, many saw it as a threat rather than the obvious observation of what is going on with our party. Those who don't have the ability to meet in the middle ground are going to find themselves all alone on the green commons (or chlorophll, as the case may be).

--
Lou Novak - lmn@lppals.com

"Conformity or rebellion? Neither one. Both ways are
simple-minded - they are only for people who cannot cope
with contradiction and ambiguity."
- Neil Stephenson: The Diamond Age

...about being alone here on Chlorophyll.

The national party does seem to be in a sorry state lately, and I only wish I had a good understanding of why. I will say, however, that when it comes to the idea of leaving the national party, even setting aside the unconstructive nature of brinksmanship, it's misguided to either threaten it or do it.

If a state party were to leave, it would catapult the Green Party into the headlines for the worst imaginable reason, and the chattering classes would gloat about the "death of the Green movement." And they wouldn't be far off. As shaky as things may be at the moment, there's room for them to get a whole lot worse.

Assuming the national party somehow kept limping along, there would be plenty of people in the state party that left who would immediately want to rejoin. That would result in a split in that state party, and in one fell swoop, we're back to the days of the ASGP and the GPUSA.

This might feel like the bottom, but trust me, it isn't. Let's hang on to what we have.