[SfN] Fwd: [Students] Action Alert 10/31

Tue Oct 31 14:42:10 CST 2000

This just in from the campaign's campus coordinators (Alex and Corey) in 
DC. It's brimming with ideas for the final week's GOTV efforts.

jim

>Delivered-To: students at lists.votenader.org
>Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 12:51:42 -0500
>From: Alex Zwerdling <alex at votenader.org>
>
>Dear Campus Activists:
>
>Can you believe it?  It’s Halloween, which means it’s almost November.
>Not only is the semester half way over, but we are now at the one week
>mark before the election.
>
>Needless to say, we’ve gotten quite a bit of attention recently.  Don’t
>let the cries of “spoiler” get you down; don’t agree to “vote trader’s”
>risky backroom deals!  We need to stay with the message that has
>inspired and motivated from the start : this election is about building
>a progressive political party in the United States, a party that is not
>for sale to corporate interests; a party that puts people first; a party
>that will restore American democracy.  Republicrats beware; the Green
>Party is here to stay, through November 7 and beyond!
>
>This week is the most crucial point of the campaign: we must solidify
>the votes we have, sway undecided voters our way, and get ready to make
>sure all of our voters cast their ballots next Tuesday.  If you’re just
>getting involved, you’ve picked the best time.  If you’ve been busy with
>school work and haven’t been able to campaign as much as you’d like,
>than count your blessing that mid-terms are over and get out there and
>canvass.  And if you’ve been killing yourself, barely sleeping because
>your doing so much Nader/LaDuke campus organizing, then now’s the time
>to give up those few hours of sleep, and kick yourself into Nader 2000
>overdrive. (Ralph’s been doing it for months!)
>
>If you’re looking for more information on Get Out the Vote (GOTV) visit
>http://www.votenader.org/downloads/GOTV.pdf.  Otherwise, keep up the
>great canvassing, leafleting, and phone bank work you’re all doing and
>look forward to a big celebration next week!
>
>On to the alert

>
>Action Mission:
>
>The success of this final week, and of this campaign, will all come down
>to our ability to mobilize the vote at the grassroots level.  Canvassing
>our dorms, campuses, and neighborhoods is where we’ve been most
>effective, and canvassing is what we must continue to do.  Go door to
>door in your campus dormitories and ask students if they’re familiar
>with Nader 2000.
>
>If their answer is yes, take down their name and ask them if they’re
>supporters and would like to volunteer for our GOTV drive or on Election
>Day.
>
>If their answer is no, make sure to have flyers with you to give them,
>explain why you’re a supporter of the campaign, and why you feel they
>should be too.
>
>Canvassing now will be crucial to the success of your GOTV drive later.
>This way, when it comes to the day before, or the day of the election,
>you’ll have lists of where possible supporters live, and you’ll be able
>to knock on their doors and make sure they get out and vote!
>
>Canvassing is also an effective way of building your campus Green Party
>for the future.    Remember, Greens don’t work only every four years; we
>work for a deeper democracy every day!
>
>For more information on our all-important Get Out The Vote drive, please
>check out http://www.votenader.org/downloads/GOTV.pdf.
>
>
>GOTV Kick-Off Rally:
>
>A few days ago, Ralph Nader wrote a letter to his student supporters
>asking you to hold a GOTV Kick-Off Rally on Sunday Nov. 5th to excite
>your fellow volunteers, and gear up for the final two days of all out
>GOTV.  To help make these rallies successful, we'll be simulcasting the
>GOTV Super Rally in D.C., featuring Cornel West, Michael Moore, Barbara
>Ehrenreich, Patti Smith and her band, Randall Robinson, Phil Donahue,
>Danny Glover, the Pie Tasters, and Ralph Nader to each of your
>campuses.  Any school can receive this satellite transmission.  If
>you’re interested please contact Corey or Alex for details.
>
>Web Mission:
>
>Consider writing an email from your heart about why you’re voting
>Nader/LaDuke.  Send it to all of your old friends and relatives; people
>you haven’t seen since high school, and people who’s addresses you’ve
>found on an old buddy list.   Whatever the reason you’re voting Green
>this November, please think about sharing it with those who know you. It
>will make a difference.
>
>Print Mission:
>
>As you read your local and campus newspapers this week, no doubt you
>will see articles from the entrenched powers calling for Ralph and
>Winona to drop out of the race.  Nader 2000 will not bow out, but to the
>contrary, we will fight harder than ever to build our progressive third
>party force, bring millions of new voters into the fold, and serve as a
>watchdog to the two corporate parties.
>
>This week, and until Election Day, let’s keep writing letters to the
>editor directed towards voters who would like to vote for Ralph but say
>they’re “afraid that a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush.”  Enough is
>enough, America!  It’s time to end the downward spiral of lesser evilism
>by proactively supporting the politics of joy and justice.
>
>Here are some points to incorporate into your letters:
>
>Why a vote for Nader is NOT a vote for Bush:
>
>  - No matter where you live or where you vote, vote your conscience.
>Don’t we expect the officials we elect to public office to vote their
>consciences?  Why then, should we expect anything less from ourselves?
>Why waste your vote on a candidate you don’t believe in when every vote
>for Nader is a vote for democracy and for building a viable third
>party?  In fact, with virtually all national political attention focused
>on less than a dozen states, each Green vote in these “swing” states
>will be even more visible, sending a clearer message to the Republicrat
>duopoly; “if you don’t shape up, you’re going to shrink down.”
>
>- The “Spoiler Argument” holds absolutely no weight in all 50 states,
>but it doesn’t even make sense in about 40 states.  Everyone in the 40
>or so non-battleground states that neither Bush nor Gore ever visits
>realizes that the election has already been decided there.  Yet, you
>still hear people telling you that a vote for a third party candidate is
>a “wasted” vote.  The only “wasted” vote is a vote against your own
>conscience  that is, voting for your fears instead of your hopes.
>
>- Don’t forget, if Ralph gets at least 5% of the popular vote, the Green
>Party receives federal funding for the 2004 election.  For perspective,
>this year, the Nader/LaDuke effort has raised nearly $7 million;
>however, this is a sum that the Democrats and Republicans can raise in a
>good week!  If Ralph receives at least 5%, the Greens with at least this
>much funding for the next campaign season.  A vote for Ralph is a vote
>for a level playing field in 2004!
>
>- The time to build a progressive third party is now.  The most
>frightening prospect of this election is that the Democratic and
>Republican parties will sustain their stranglehold on the American
>political system, continuing to shift the political norm towards
>corporations and away from people.  Where will it end?  Over the last 20
>years, democracy has been slipping out of our hands, and into the fists
>of un-elected and unaccountable corporate bodies.  If we wait four more
>years, the outside influence on our government gets stronger.  But if
>you vote Green you can help us reverse this trend.  You can help build
>the movement to return government to the people in one easy step:
>casting your ballot for Ralph and Winona on November 7.  If not this
>year, when?
>
>
>--
>Alex Zwerdling
>Constituency Organizer
>Nader 2000
>202.265.4000
>www.votenader.org
>
>http://www.VoteNader.org
>
>Paid for by the Nader 2000 General Committee, Inc.
>
>
>
>
>
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