Recruiting Republicans

Over the last 5 months, I have actively supported the campaign of Republican Pete McCloskey for Congress. There are no Greens running in this district (CA-11) and the incumbent Republican, Richard Pombo, is a big, fat target.

Over the last 2 days, the campaign has gotten really ugly, with Pombo campaign telephone calls to Republicans smearing McCloskey for accepting a campaign contribution from a person with an Islamic surname who was linked to an FBI investigation of Al Qaeda. The same person also contributed to the Republican National Committee, but Pombo did not mention that. McCloskey returned the contribution, the Republican National Committee, to my knowledge, has not.

There are a significant number of Republicans in the 11th CD who are fed up with corruption, fed up with a congressman who is viewed as being more for his corporate sponsors than for those who live in his district. I think that this is a group of people who are ripe for a major recruiting effort to bring them into the Green Party. I will be working to get that message into as many local media outlets as I can immediately after the primary results are announced.

As I do this, I also am rather intrigued with Assembly Candidate David Silva's campaign slogan propsal "Tool Up America". David mentioned this on the GrassRoots Organizing WorkingGroup email list.

Tool Up America, now that Greens are in so many races and getting so much attention even befoer the primary let us get clear on what we are asking the voter to support. I think the phrase, "Tool Up" speaks well to the future focus we have for transformation of our economic engine to sustainable energy, elegant technology and participatory management of a new post-industrial economic base.

Tool Up California, now that it is established by the luke warm, lowest common denominator compromise between Swartznegger and the Dems to actually plan more than just a few years on building infrastructure, it is up to the Greens to make sure that this new spirit of fture focus includes alternative energy, mass transportation and telecommuting organized labor.

That should also play well for attracting those disaffected Republican into the third option. As Thomas Friedman said "Green is the new Red, White and Blue."