As of Wednesday, September 26, 2007, this proposal passed by consensus of the State Central Committee:

The GPMI should determine a list of "Announced Green Party Candidates" by May 13 of 2008. The purpose of this list is to help candidates seeking endorsements to meet the schedules of endorsing groups.

Qualifications for inclusion on the list would be:

1. Must be a member of GPMI,

2. Announce their intention to run (not stand) for a specific partisan office on the ballot,

3. Have provided answers to the GPMI Vetting Questionnaire,


4. Have formed a candidate committee, registered with the appropriate office (Federal Election Commission, Secretary of State or County Clerk) for the office they are seeking,

5. Have a bank account for that committee, for donations to their campaign,

6. Have prepared a basic written campaign statement outlining what they see as the main issues relevant to the office sought and how they propose to deal with them,

7. Get the personal endorsement of three other GPMI members.

If a person whose record indicates they do not support the GPMI platform or the 10 Key Values manages to manipulate the rules and qualifies for this list, he or she may be removed by a 2/3 vote of the SCC.

[end formal proposal]

Background:

As the presenter of the proposal, I made a set of comments explaining the proposal. Below, I have copied most of those comments and edited them for clarity and to be consistent with terminology adopted.

In 2008, the date of the general election is November 4. The primary election, determining which Democrats and Republicans will be on the general election ballot, will be held on August 5. The filing deadline for most candidates to enter the primary election is 4:00 PM on May 13. Complete details concerning candidates with other deadlines can be found at:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/sos/Important_Dates_Filing_Deadline_191672_7.pdf

For us, May 13 is the significant date. The Sierra Club endorsement process is geared to making its endorsements for the primary election. They look at the list of people who have filed by May 13, and send their questionnaire to these people. Other endorsing organizations follow a similar schedule.

One reason that GPMI candidates have not gotten endorsements is that the Sierra Club and similar organizations have not known who our candidates are in time to fit into their endorsement process. Other reasons have been that the Sierra Club and similar organizations (Planned Parenthood, UAW, etc.) are in the habit of endorsing Democrats and that one of the criteria they use in evaluating candidates is their estimation of "electability."

Even if we have candidates meeting their formal schedule, the chance that our candidates will actually get endorsements is, in my opinion, very slim. However, if we do not have candidates meeting their schedule, the chance is zero, and not every potential GPMI candidate agrees with me about the prospects of getting major organization endorsements.

The above is a lengthy list of requirements, but I believe it is the minimum needed to be considered as a serious candidate deserving endorsements. I also believe that someone seeking to "stand" for office and intending to keep the total campaign expenses below the $1000 waiver level will not qualify for endorsement by an outside organization and should not be on this list.

What should listed candidates get from GPMI?

They will get a listing and a page on the GPMI web site. On the page, their answers to the Vetting Questionnaire will be posted, along with their campaign statement and the mailing address of their campaign committee. Neither their answers to questions nor their campaign statement will be approved or in any way censored by the organization. If they provide a head shot (campaign photograph) and short biography, that will be also be included on the candidate page. If a candidate has a campaign web site, the link to that will be included on the candidate page. The list of personal endorsements of GPMI members will not be carried on the GPMI web page.

From discussions on the Sierra Club political committee of which I am a member, I believe that inclusion on an official GPMI list will be accepted as equivalent to filing for the Republican and Democratic party primaries for purposes of considering an endorsement. I hope that will also be good enough for other endorsing organizations.

The GPMI should circulate a press release announcing the list, on or soon after May
13. Candidates seeking the endorsement of any particular organization should send that organization a copy of the release, and whatever other material they feel will help their case.

Creating this list will allow all prospective candidates seeking endorsements or simply wishing to begin their public campaigns in May the opportunity to do so, regardless of when the GPMI nominating convention is scheduled. If there are candidates who meet all requirements except the date, they should be put on the list whatever the date.

After nominations are closed, I would like to see every candidate, running or standing, listed, with a basic page in a uniform format, on the GPMI web site, ASAP. In other words, the candidates' section of the GPMI web site would simply be maintained and expanded through the election.

Art Myatt, September 28, 2007