Independent isn’t just another word for nothing left to sell!

now were saying02Friends,

At last the smoke is clearing away, and a few things stand out:

(1)  Bernie Sanders is not going to be president this year.
(2)  Many Sanders supporters are declaring themselves supporters of Jill Stein.
(3)  Many Sanders supporters are planning to work on local campaigns.
(4)  Many Sanders supporters are planning to both support Stein and support local candidates.

These decisions are being made as thousands of individual decisions.  How many are doing each of (2), (3) and (4)?  At this point, we don’t know.  But I believe that whatever courses we pursue, they will have more impact if they are done collectivity.  I would add one final point:

(5)  If we are to operate collectively, we cannot expect to be directed by Bernie himself.  While Bernie has made some significant nods to independence, he will not actively lead us in that direction.  It is up to us to further organize ourselves, especially as most of you Friends I am addressing do not consider voting for (let alone working for) Hillary Clinton as a viable option.  To put it mildly.

The Green Party is in various states of repair or disrepair.  We need to be finding out the state of the Greens in our respective areas.

1971-Hold-aloft-the-green-lanternI have been looking for ways to connect with the Greens in general, and the Stein campaign specifically.  The word is that they are being overwhelmed by all the queries and requests to volunteer that have emerged out of the embers of the Sanders campaign.  At this point, the primary way to make the connection is to be part of their phone operation for “outreach for ballot-access drives, event turnout, and fundraising.”  I urge you all to do so, if the Stein campaign looks to you like the best way to make a statement in opposition to BOTH the Republican Establishment and the Democratic Establishment.  You can connect with the phone operation at:

http://www.jill2016.com/volunteer

In addition, I think it imperative that we start holding “post-primary” meetings locally.  Independently of the official campaign.  I would guess that many of you are way ahead of me in this regard, but if not, in every state people should either seek out your local leaders and urge them along this course, or become leaders yourselves of such moves.

In Florida, there are already efforts afoot by Sanders people to form a Green organization in Manatee and Sarasota counties, and I am hoping to pull together something similar in the Tampa Bay area, hopefully in cooperation with the Manatee/Sarasota efforts.

Finally, Facebook is a splendid tool for broadcasting our messages, but it is an awkward device for solid organizing.  We need to start sharing phone numbers and e-mails to facilitate pulling ourselves together.

At this point, I would like your opinions on how we could proceed.  I’ll go with the flow, but I insist that things be kept flowing.

Jeff Roby
(727) 482-9669
jeffroby@lifeinspice.com