[Iowa-dx] Former Republicans
IowaGreen Ron
iowagreenron@mail.org
Thu, 3 Jan 2008 11:50:08 -0500
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--_----------=_1199379008281031
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
When I turned of age, I registered to vote, and I was notaware of history
or of politics. I was confused as to whichparty to register under, so I
chose Republican. After I dropped out of college in 1969, I hired ontoSouth=
ern
Pacific Railroad as a locomotive fireman, sinceI loved railroads and
wanted to become a locomotiveengineer, doing the very thing I loved. In
all of thecrafts on the railroad that I encountered, whether it wasshop
mechanical workers, locomotive engineers, trainmen,clerks, telegraph
operators and station agents, railroadtruck drivers, they all said, "I've
known the Republicanssince 193X (fill in the year) and I woudn't vote
Republicanif my life depended on it! I know what they are!" When I was
drafted and elisted in the Army because ofmy being drafted, I voted for
Richard Nixon! And Ijoined his "fan club", receiving a medalion for
doing so!Then came Watergate. I was dumbfounded. Then cameGerald Ford,
whom I learned was responsible forsabotaging the Warren Commission's
investigation intoPresident John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas,Texas=
.=20
Then came the pardon of Nixon, which I knewright away was actually not a
pardon, it violated theConstitution, but rather was an obstruction of
justice. I was confused over President James Carter's term ofoffice, and
did not know of the Republican sabotage ofoverthrowing Iran's
semi-Democracy under PresidentEisenhower to install the Shah (king), so
when theIranian "hostage crisis" occurred, I believed the newsmedia
rather than searching for the truth, that our nationhad asked for the
"hostage crisis" and that our nationwas guilty of crimes against humanity
against the Iranianpeople before the "hostage crisis", and of course, thene=
ws
media did not mention at first that the Republicanshad made a deal for
our embassy hostages to NOT bereleased until after James Carter was
un-elected. Being a Californian almost for life, I knew of RonaldReagan's
mean-spirited tyranny when he was "our"governor, so I supported George
H.W. Bush for ourpresidency since I was still a Republican and Bush hadcall=
ed
Ronald Reagan's economic policy "VoodooEconomics", and I genuinely agreed
with that. But Iwas disappointed when "the deal" was made, and Bushtucked
his tail between his legs and did what BarackO'Bam-ya should be now
doing: dropped his RepublicanPresidential candidacy to become President
of Viceunder Reagan. Reagan was where I became disillusioned in theRepublic=
an
Party. The air traffic controllers' strikeand, as I was by then in the
Army Reserves, beingrequired to be a military strike breaker in the post
officestrike really turned me against the Republicans. THENI came in
contact with civil rights demonstrators andanimal rights groups, and I
was falling away from theRepublicans, but still not a Democrat, because I
noticedthey used voters, they did not include voters in theirpolitical
process. UNTIL George H.W. Bush cameup for his first presidential
election! Then I was anelated Republican. Now we're going to put this
partyback on track, I thought. When Bush turned out to be a liar, and he
copied theReagan policies, then the Republican Party was in theprocess of
bringing Bush up for impeachment and theCongressional legal counsel told
both houses ofCongress that George H.W. Bush would go to prisonfor 40
years if impeached and that Bush had absolutelyno defense against
international and US federal crimes,ONLY TO HAVE THE DEMOCRATS VETO THEIMPE=
ACHMENT...
then I lost all favor to any politicalparty, because this was Richard
Nixon all over again,and the Democrats never stop a Republican from being"e=
xhonorated".=20
But I was also changing rapidly andstaunchly away from Republicommunism,
which I by thenunderstood was nothing other than a lobby organizationfor
the international corporations. At this point, however, I converted over
to the religion of theDemocratic Party. I became a faithful believer,
advocating"anyone but a Republican!" I believe this was when Iofficially
registered as a Democrat, with Clinton's candidacy. President William
Clinton really gave me a sigh of relief,and, although I recognized that
Clilnton was bending overbackward to accommodate the opposition
Republican Partyas a means to bring peace and harmony to our nation'spoliti=
cs,
the Republican congresspersons were constantlysetting him and the
Democratic Party up in Congressionallegislation maneuvering, even
providing the same kind offalse information that had been given to
Presidents JamesCarter and John F. Kennedy. But, this was when I alsodisco=
vered
Public Broadcast Service, and then NationalPublic Radio, who at that time
were both honorable newspurveyors. Yet, the propaganda about William
Clintonover the mainstream news channels confused me... until...the very
vicious impeachment attempt against Clinton. When the Congressional legal
counsel told Congress inopen session and right on the national television
news thatthere was no federal law by which Clinton could beimpeached,
that there was no legal basis in any of theaccusations, and the
Republicans went full speed into thetrial and the Democrats refused to
stand up to defendWilliam Clinton, leaving Clinton to face prejudiced andvi=
ciously trumped-up
charges all by himself, I lost all faithin the Democratic Party, as
well. But Clinton survived untilthe end of his presidency. Although Al
Gore's Vice Presidential image in the televisedbackground, whenever
President Clinton addressedCongress, was an unflattering view of Gore
falling asleepor of being bored and yawning before the televisioncameras,
which the television cameras immediately focusedon, much later, I
personally met Al Gore on his presidentialcampaign tour, when I was a
welcoming student in acontingent of Alpha Gamma Sigma students (this,
when Iwent back to college and obtained an academic renewal),and I found
that he was very personable, alert, friendly,and humorous, not like he
was viewed as on television, soI wanted Gore for president, rather than
George W. Bush,and by that time I was also a volunteer (although paid)Preci=
nct
Inspector with the Orange County Registrar ofVoters (in California).
Although I did not know his history of his cocaine arrestand his going
A.W.O.L from the Air National Guard forone year because of it, I heavily
and loudly denouncedGeorge W. Bush to everyone I knew and met, in atransiti=
onally
increasingly Republican county and state. Ihad not yet realized that
James Carter had been set up,and there was the propaganda about the
failed hostagerescue attempt being James Carter's fault, so Democratswere
labeled as being like Michael Dukakis, who ranagainst Bush's father and
lost. Never-the-less, I didvote for James Carter as the last resort, and
in this election,I whole-heartedly voted for Al Gore. I thought we had awi=
nner.=20
Until Al Gore chickened out as if he was afraid tobe president, and
refused to have a recount and aninvestigation into known voting
irregularities. I was readyto become a Green and had no idea Green Party
evenexisted! The point I want to make here, is that if we influence
peoplefrom other major parties to become a Green Party member,they have
to want to see the truth. On January 2nd, at theHamburg Inn Nr. 2 Bean
Count Caucus with CNNcameras in the cafe, I got into an argument with twoOb=
ama
supporters who cut me off and then accused meof cutting them off because
I kept referring to Obama'smany contradictory statements during the
summer andObama's very careful rhetoric now, and whenever theychallenged
me, I said for them to read it in the newspaperarchives, it's al recorded
history! The male Obamasupporter said (and this truth is enlightening:
whether theyare Democrats or Republicans, many of them say "I ama history
major" when I mention recorded history) "It isn'tthe truth, it's not in
recorded history". They had closed
their minds, and resorted to their brainwashed beliefs,rather than to
check into the truth about their candidate.And they berated me for
telling them the truth they didnot want to accept or check out. I think
this is a veryindicative reality about most people in our nation: theybelie=
ve
what they want to believe, and will not challengethemselves to seek the
truth, or verify their orientation ifit is valid. I was ready to become
Green, although I did not knowabout Green Party. Had there been Green
Partyadvocates with a green pamphlet describing Green Partyto give me an
eye-opener, I would have defaulted into beinga Green Party member
instead.
The people of the other parties have to be willing to seekthe truth, we
have to be willing to provide the truth and notback down from it, and to
represent our party as the onlyalternative to the present pro-political
machine menality ofour nation today. But will they accept it honestly?=20
Most ofthe "party-affiliated" communists I have met in our countrydo not
want honesty, they want belief. There is the key toour party's
success.... we must penetrate their beliefs toget them to think, when it
is more comfortable to "believe"in their misconceptions and
self-brainwashing. And morethan that, if we do start a landslide of
conversion of themasses to Green Party, we do not want to revert over towhat
the other parties are now! How do we do all of this? I have ideas on how
to goabout doing this, but what do you all say? I've givensuggestions
already! Ron Kinuma.k.a. Libris Fidelis
----- Original Message -----
From: iagp-cochair@usa.net
To: iowa-dx@gp-us.org
Subject: Re: [Iowa-dx] Yellow Dog Democrats and Republicans
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:46:53 -0600
In my campaign for Governor, life-long lefty that I am, I made an
effort to reach out to disaffected Republicans, believing that the
Bush administration was so disastrous that there must be some who
were disgusted with their party but would never consider voting
Democrat, on principle. And I found some of them. As it was explained
to me by a disaffected Republican, there are big-business Republicans
and there are small-business Republicans. The party is dominated by
big-business Republicans (read Corporate Power) to the detriment of
the small businesses that so many people depend on for their
livelihood. As I championed the organic farmers and the farmers
markets, I was advocating for small business. As I advocated for
alternative energy like bio-diesel, I was advocating for small
business. Several time I heard "I don't agree with everything you
say, but I'm really glad you are doing this" - from Republicans. Did
they vote for me? I dunno. But I know they weren't swayed by that
bogus robo-call "Hi I'm Wendy Barth and I'm asking you to vote for
Chet cuz he needs all the help he an get."
I've also met disaffected Democrats who were surprisingly
antagonistic towards the Democratic candidates (the Lt. Gov in
particular), and disaffected Greens who begged me not to run, fearing
the disaster of a Republican win should I spoil it for Chet.
Gov. Chet sends me updates every once in a while informing me of his
environmental initiatives. Does he do that because he feels the need
to prove to me how Green he is? I hope so. Because as I explained
several times during the campaign, it wasn't about me, it wasn't
about winning, it was about getting attention to these important
issues.
The only way to grow is to bring more people into the party. They may
come from other parties that have lost their appeal, or they may be
previously uncommitted. We'll likely need some of each to be viable.
--=20
Got No Time? Shop Online for Great Gift Ideas!
http://mail.shopping.com/?linkin_id=3D8033174
--_----------=_1199379008281031
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>When I turned of age, I registered to vote, and I was not</DIV>
<DIV>aware of history or of politics. I was confused as to which</DIV>
<DIV>party to register under, so I chose Republican.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>After I dropped out of college in 1969, I hired onto</DIV>
<DIV>Southern Pacific Railroad as a locomotive fireman, since</DIV>
<DIV>I loved railroads and wanted to become a locomotive</DIV>
<DIV>engineer, doing the very thing I loved. In all of the</DIV>
<DIV>crafts on the railroad that I encountered, whether it was</DIV>
<DIV>shop mechanical workers, locomotive engineers, trainmen,</DIV>
<DIV>clerks, telegraph operators and station agents, railroad</DIV>
<DIV>truck drivers, they all said, "I've known the Republicans</DIV>
<DIV>since 193X (fill in the year) and I woudn't vote Republican</DIV>
<DIV>if my life depended on it! I know what they are!"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When I was drafted and elisted in the Army because of</DIV>
<DIV>my being drafted, I voted for Richard Nixon! And I</DIV>
<DIV>joined his "fan club", receiving a medalion for doing so!</DIV>
<DIV>Then came Watergate. I was dumbfounded. Then came</DIV>
<DIV>Gerald Ford, whom I learned was responsible for</DIV>
<DIV>sabotaging the Warren Commission's investigation into</DIV>
<DIV>President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas,</DIV>
<DIV>Texas. Then came the pardon of Nixon, which I knew</DIV>
<DIV>right away was actually not a pardon, it violated the</DIV>
<DIV>Constitution, but rather was an obstruction of justice.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I was confused over President James Carter's term of</DIV>
<DIV>office, and did not know of the Republican sabotage of</DIV>
<DIV>overthrowing Iran's semi-Democracy under President</DIV>
<DIV>Eisenhower to install the Shah (king), so when the</DIV>
<DIV>Iranian "hostage crisis" occurred, I believed the news</DIV>
<DIV>media rather than searching for the truth, that our nation</DIV>
<DIV>had asked for the "hostage crisis" and that our nation</DIV>
<DIV>was guilty of crimes against humanity against the Iranian</DIV>
<DIV>people before the "hostage crisis", and of course, the</DIV>
<DIV>news media did not mention at first that the Republicans</DIV>
<DIV>had made a deal for our embassy hostages to NOT be</DIV>
<DIV>released until after James Carter was un-elected.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Being a Californian almost for life, I knew of Ronald</DIV>
<DIV>Reagan's mean-spirited tyranny when he was "our"</DIV>
<DIV>governor, so I supported George H.W. Bush for our</DIV>
<DIV>presidency since I was still a Republican and Bush had</DIV>
<DIV>called Ronald Reagan's economic policy "Voodoo</DIV>
<DIV>Economics", and I genuinely agreed with that. But I</DIV>
<DIV>was disappointed when "the deal" was made, and Bush</DIV>
<DIV>tucked his tail between his legs and did what Barack</DIV>
<DIV>O'Bam-ya should be now doing: dropped his Republican</DIV>
<DIV>Presidential candidacy to become President of Vice</DIV>
<DIV>under Reagan.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Reagan was where I became disillusioned in the</DIV>
<DIV>Republican Party. The air traffic controllers' strike</DIV>
<DIV>and, as I was by then in the Army Reserves, being</DIV>
<DIV>required to be a military strike breaker in the post office</DIV>
<DIV>strike really turned me against the Republicans. THEN</DIV>
<DIV>I came in contact with civil rights demonstrators and</DIV>
<DIV>animal rights groups, and I was falling away from the</DIV>
<DIV>Republicans, but still not a Democrat, because I noticed</DIV>
<DIV>they used voters, they did not include voters in their</DIV>
<DIV>political process. UNTIL George H.W. Bush came</DIV>
<DIV>up for his first presidential election! Then I was an</DIV>
<DIV>elated Republican. Now we're going to put this party</DIV>
<DIV>back on track, I thought.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When Bush turned out to be a liar, and he copied the</DIV>
<DIV>Reagan policies, then the Republican Party was in the</DIV>
<DIV>process of bringing Bush up for impeachment and the</DIV>
<DIV>Congressional legal counsel told both houses of</DIV>
<DIV>Congress that George H.W. Bush would go to prison</DIV>
<DIV>for 40 years if impeached and that Bush had absolutely</DIV>
<DIV>no defense against international and US federal crimes,</DIV>
<DIV>ONLY TO HAVE THE DEMOCRATS VETO THE</DIV>
<DIV>IMPEACHMENT... then I lost all favor to any political</DIV>
<DIV>party, because this was Richard Nixon all over again,</DIV>
<DIV>and the Democrats never stop a Republican from being</DIV>
<DIV>"exhonorated". But I was also changing rapidly and</DIV>
<DIV>staunchly away from Republicommunism, which I by then</DIV>
<DIV>understood was nothing other than a lobby organization</DIV>
<DIV>for the international corporations.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At this point, however, I converted over to the religion of the</DIV>
<DIV>Democratic Party. I became a faithful believer, advocating</DIV>
<DIV>"anyone but a Republican!" I believe this was when I</DIV>
<DIV>officially registered as a Democrat, with Clinton's candidacy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>President William Clinton really gave me a sigh of relief,</DIV>
<DIV>and, although I recognized that Clilnton was bending over</DIV>
<DIV>backward to accommodate the opposition Republican Party</DIV>
<DIV>as a means to bring peace and harmony to our nation's</DIV>
<DIV>politics, the Republican congresspersons were constantly</DIV>
<DIV>setting him and the Democratic Party up in Congressional</DIV>
<DIV>legislation maneuvering, even providing the same kind of</DIV>
<DIV>false information that had been given to Presidents James</DIV>
<DIV>Carter and John F. Kennedy. But, this was when I also</DIV>
<DIV>discovered Public Broadcast Service, and then National</DIV>
<DIV>Public Radio, who at that time were both honorable news</DIV>
<DIV>purveyors. Yet, the propaganda about William Clinton</DIV>
<DIV>over the mainstream news channels confused me... until...</DIV>
<DIV>the very vicious impeachment attempt against Clinton.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When the Congressional legal counsel told Congress in</DIV>
<DIV>open session and right on the national television news that</DIV>
<DIV>there was no federal law by which Clinton could be</DIV>
<DIV>impeached, that there was no legal basis in any of the</DIV>
<DIV>accusations, and the Republicans went full speed into the</DIV>
<DIV>trial and the Democrats refused to stand up to defend</DIV>
<DIV>William Clinton, leaving Clinton to face prejudiced and</DIV>
<DIV>viciously trumped-up charges all by himself, I lost all faith</DI=
V>
<DIV>in the Democratic Party, as well. But Clinton survived until</DI=
V>
<DIV>the end of his presidency.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Although Al Gore's Vice Presidential image in the televised</DIV>
<DIV>background, whenever President Clinton addressed</DIV>
<DIV>Congress, was an unflattering view of Gore falling asleep</DIV>
<DIV>or of being bored and yawning before the television</DIV>
<DIV>cameras, which the television cameras immediately focused</DIV>
<DIV>on, much later, I personally met Al Gore on his presidential</DIV>
<DIV>campaign tour, when I was a welcoming student in a</DIV>
<DIV>contingent of Alpha Gamma Sigma students (this, when I</DIV>
<DIV>went back to college and obtained an academic renewal),</DIV>
<DIV>and I found that he was very personable, alert, friendly,</DIV>
<DIV>and humorous, not like he was viewed as on television, so</DIV>
<DIV>I wanted Gore for president, rather than George W. Bush,</DIV>
<DIV>and by that time I was also a volunteer (although paid)</DIV>
<DIV>Precinct Inspector with the Orange County Registrar of</DIV>
<DIV>Voters (in California).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Although I did not know his history of his cocaine arrest</DIV>
<DIV>and his going A.W.O.L from the Air National Guard for</DIV>
<DIV>one year because of it, I heavily and loudly denounced</DIV>
<DIV>George W. Bush to everyone I knew and met, in a</DIV>
<DIV>transitionally increasingly Republican county and state. I</DIV>
<DIV>had not yet realized that James Carter had been set up,</DIV>
<DIV>and there was the propaganda about the failed hostage</DIV>
<DIV>rescue attempt being James Carter's fault, so Democrats</DIV>
<DIV>were labeled as being like Michael Dukakis, who ran</DIV>
<DIV>against Bush's father and lost. Never-the-less, I did</DIV>
<DIV>vote for James Carter as the last resort, and in this election,</DIV>
<DIV>I whole-heartedly voted for Al Gore. I thought we had a</DIV>
<DIV>winner. Until Al Gore chickened out as if he was afraid to</DIV>
<DIV>be president, and refused to have a recount and an</DIV>
<DIV>investigation into known voting irregularities. I was ready</DIV>
<DIV>to become a Green and had no idea Green Party even</DIV>
<DIV>existed!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The point I want to make here, is that if we influence people</DIV>
<DIV>from other major parties to become a Green Party member,</DIV>
<DIV>they have to want to see the truth. On January 2nd, at the</DIV>
<DIV>Hamburg Inn Nr. 2 Bean Count Caucus with CNN</DIV>
<DIV>cameras in the cafe, I got into an argument with two</DIV>
<DIV>Obama supporters who cut me off and then accused me</DIV>
<DIV>of cutting them off because I kept referring to Obama's</DIV>
<DIV>many contradictory statements during the summer and</DIV>
<DIV>Obama's very careful rhetoric now, and whenever they</DIV>
<DIV>challenged me, I said for them to read it in the newspaper</DIV>
<DIV>archives, it's al recorded history! The male Obama</DIV>
<DIV>supporter said (and this truth is enlightening: whether they</DIV>
<DIV>are Democrats or Republicans, many of them say "I am</DIV>
<DIV>a history major" when I mention recorded history) "It isn't</DIV>
<DIV>the truth, it's not in recorded history". They had closed<BR>the=
ir minds, and resorted to their brainwashed beliefs,</DIV>
<DIV>rather than to check into the truth about their candidate.</DIV>
<DIV>And they berated me for telling them the truth they did</DIV>
<DIV>not want to accept or check out. I think this is a very</DIV>
<DIV>indicative reality about most people in our nation: they</DIV>
<DIV>believe what they want to believe, and will not challenge</DIV>
<DIV>themselves to seek the truth, or verify their orientation if</DIV>
<DIV>it is valid.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I was ready to become Green, although I did not know</DIV>
<DIV>about Green Party. Had there been Green Party</DIV>
<DIV>advocates with a green pamphlet describing Green Party</DIV>
<DIV>to give me an eye-opener, I would have defaulted into being</DIV>
<DIV>a Green Party member instead.</DIV>
<DIV><BR>The people of the other parties have to be willing to seek</D=
IV>
<DIV>the truth, we have to be willing to provide the truth and not</DIV>
<DIV>back down from it, and to represent our party as the only</DIV>
<DIV>alternative to the present pro-political machine menality of</DIV>
<DIV>our nation today. But will they accept it honestly? Most o=
f</DIV>
<DIV>the "party-affiliated" communists I have met in our country</DIV>
<DIV>do not want honesty, they want belief. There is the key to</DIV>
<DIV>our party's success.... we must penetrate their beliefs to</DIV>
<DIV>get them to think, when it is more comfortable to "believe"</DIV>
<DIV>in their misconceptions and self-brainwashing. And more</DIV>
<DIV>than that, if we do start a landslide of conversion of the</DIV>
<DIV>masses to Green Party, we do not want to revert over to</DIV>
<DIV>what the other parties are now!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>How do we do all of this? I have ideas on how to go</DIV>
<DIV>about doing this, but what do you all say? I've given</DIV>
<DIV>suggestions already!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ron Kinum</DIV>
<DIV>a.k.a. Libris Fidelis</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #101=
0ff 2px solid">----- Original Message -----<BR>From: iagp-cochair@usa.net<B=
R>To: iowa-dx@gp-us.org<BR>Subject: Re: [Iowa-dx] Yellow Dog Democrats and =
Republicans<BR>Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:46:53 -0600<BR><BR>
<P><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica,sans-serif color=3D#ff0000 size=3D1><FONT s=
ize=3D2><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">In my campaign for Governor, life=
-long lefty that I am, I made an effort to reach out to disaffected Republi=
cans, believing that the Bush administration was so disastrous that there m=
ust be some who were disgusted with their party but would never consider vo=
ting Democrat, on principle. And I found some of them. As it was explained =
to me by a disaffected Republican, there are big-business Republicans and t=
here are small-business Republicans. The party is dominated by big-business=
Republicans (read Corporate Power) to the detriment of the small businesse=
s that so many people depend on for their livelihood. As I championed the o=
rganic farmers and the farmers markets, I was advocating for small business=
. As I advocated for alternative energy like bio-diesel, I was advocating f=
or small business. Several time I heard "I don't agree with everything you =
say, but I'm really glad you are doing this" - from Republicans. Did they v=
ote for me? I dunno. But I know they weren't swayed by that bogus robo-call=
"Hi I'm Wendy Barth and I'm asking you to vote for Chet cuz he needs all t=
he help he an get." </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica,sans-serif color=3D#ff0000 size=3D1><FONT s=
ize=3D2><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">I've also met disaffected Democra=
ts who were surprisingly antagonistic towards the Democratic candidates (th=
e Lt. Gov in particular), and disaffected Greens who begged me not to run, =
fearing the disaster of a Republican win should I spoil it for Chet.</SPAN>=
</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica,sans-serif color=3D#ff0000 size=3D1><FONT s=
ize=3D2><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Gov. Chet sends me updates every =
once in a while informing me of his environmental initiatives. Does he do t=
hat because he feels the need to prove to me how Green he is? I hope so. Be=
cause as I explained several times during the campaign, it wasn't about me,=
it wasn't about winning, it was about getting attention to these important=
issues. </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica,sans-serif color=3D#ff0000 size=3D1><FONT s=
ize=3D2><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">The only way to grow is to bring =
more people into the party. They may come from other parties that have lost=
their appeal, or they may be previously uncommitted. We'll likely ne=
ed some of each to be viable.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></=
DIV></DIV><BR>
--=20
<div> Got No Time? Shop Online for <a href=3Dhttp://mail.shopping.com/?link=
in_id=3D8033174 target=3D"_blank"> <b> Great Gift Ideas!</b></a><br>
mail.com Shopping</div>
--_----------=_1199379008281031--