Influencing the Party platform: state and national
A message from Scott Hinchee, Convention Field Coordinator
July 7, 2004
Dear supporters,
Please join us in our efforts to influence the Democratic Party platform. This Friday and Saturday, Kucinich staff and supporters will represent your concerns at the one and only meeting of the Democratic Platform Committee in Miami, Florida. Our platform work is already attracting attention and support. An Associated Press article posted Friday has been picked up by newspapers across the country (read article) and the editor of The Nation magazine is calling on her readers and all Democrats to join the Kucinich campaign in pushing the Democrats by signing our petitions and writing letters to the Platform Committee (read article).
Act now to help influence the direction of the Democratic Party. We already have hundreds of supporters drafting letters urging the inclusion of the values that we are passionate about in the Democratic platform. In the next 24 hours, we’d like to double those numbers. Please direct your letters by email or fax to Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She is co-chair of the Platform Committee and represents the district in Cleveland next to Dennis. Her contact information is as follows:
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Fax: 216-751-8241
Email: [email protected]
As you know from our petition drive, the issues we want the Democratic Party to take a stand on are: setting an end date for the occupation of Iraq, creating a Department of Peace, switching to a universal single-payer health care system, canceling NAFTA and withdrawing from the WTO, recognizing LGBT equal marriage rights, and protecting civil liberties (repeal of PATRIOT Act). Please include any issues that you feel passionately about in your letters, but we ask you to specifically mention ‘U.N. in, U.S. out’ because we believe that a concerted lobbying effort on this issue could be of great consequence.
Recognizing state Democratic parties
At the state level, many of our grassroots state campaigns have been successful in influencing their platform. Two weeks ago, I wrote a letter of thanks (see: Kucinich Progressive Values Being Widely Embraced) recognizing a number of state campaigns that passed progressive, pro-peace planks and resolutions into their platform. After it was sent out, supporters in Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Iowa, Idaho, and Minnesota brought to my attention similar measures that were passed or nearly passed (Idaho) by their state conventions. As it turns out, our campaign has accomplished even more than I initially reported. Let’s take another moment to recognize the well-informed and open-minded Democrats from these states who officially endorsed the following progressive values.
And please contact me if there was a platform plank or resolution victory in your state that has not been recognized!
Thank you to...
Alaska
Signing the Kyoto protocol, ratifying the Convention on Land Mines and joining the International Criminal Court.
Repealing the PATRIOT Act
Supporting the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Peace
Stop developing the National Ballistic Missile Defense Program and strive towards the elimination of all U.S. Weapons of Mass Destruction.
UN in; US out
Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
Hawaii
The elimination of the use of depleted uranium in the U.S. arsenal
Terminating all development, deployment, and testing of WMD’s
UN in; US out
Repealing the PATRIOT Act
Opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment
Supporting the creation of a Department of Peace
Voter verified paper trails for elections
Universal pre-kindergarten care and college education
Canceling NAFTA and withdrawing from the WTO
Reducing the military budget by 25% in order to spend more money on a domestic agenda.
Texas
Affirming a minimum living wage.
Supporting the break up of monopolistic agribusiness and protecting the integrity of the organic food standard.
The use of medical cannabis as prescribed by a doctor
A moratorium on executions
Creating a cabinet-level Department of Peace
Iowa
Creating a cabinet-level Department of Peace
Minnesota
(These resolutions were approved by the majority of the delegates at the Minnesota DFL Convention.)
Department of Peace
support for LGBT civil marriage rights
Canceling NAFTA and the WTO
Idaho
Idaho--often referred to as the most Republican state in the Union--was just 7 votes shy (out of approximately 200) of passing a Department of Peace resolution
Now is the time for us to build on this momentum and to send a strong message to the National Democratic Party. There is much that we can do!
Don’t forget, everyone is invited to join us in Boston during the week of the Democratic National Convention. If you are unable to travel to Boston, please make sure that your like-minded friends and family are aware of our exciting week of activities. We have a full week of workshops, social events, and rallies planned that will educate and inspire all who attend. In addition, our presence in Boston will draw attention to these issues that unite us. For more details about convention week activities or housing that we are making available, check out our website.
These are exciting times to be creating change. Together we will make this progressive vision a reality.
With gratitude,
Scott Hinchee
Convention field coordinator
[email protected]
***
» RELATED SUPPORT: Throw a House Party
» RELATED SUPPORT: Can You Make CHANGE for Your Dollars?
» RELATED ACTIVITY: Sign Petitions
» RELATED MEDIA: Dennis Talks About the Issues
Click here to contribute to Kucinich for President online.
Please forward this Email quickly and widely.
(Delete the opt-out link at the very bottom, so that no one accidentally cancels your subscription.)
If you received this Email from a friend and would like to receive them directly, click here: http://kucinich.us/alerts-signup.htm
Contact us:
Kucinich for President
11808 Lorain Avenue - Cleveland, OH 44111
216-889-2004 / 866-413-3664 (toll-free)
http://www.kucinich.us
A message from Scott Hinchee, Convention Field Coordinator
July 7, 2004
Dear supporters,
Please join us in our efforts to influence the Democratic Party platform. This Friday and Saturday, Kucinich staff and supporters will represent your concerns at the one and only meeting of the Democratic Platform Committee in Miami, Florida. Our platform work is already attracting attention and support. An Associated Press article posted Friday has been picked up by newspapers across the country (read article) and the editor of The Nation magazine is calling on her readers and all Democrats to join the Kucinich campaign in pushing the Democrats by signing our petitions and writing letters to the Platform Committee (read article).
Act now to help influence the direction of the Democratic Party. We already have hundreds of supporters drafting letters urging the inclusion of the values that we are passionate about in the Democratic platform. In the next 24 hours, we’d like to double those numbers. Please direct your letters by email or fax to Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She is co-chair of the Platform Committee and represents the district in Cleveland next to Dennis. Her contact information is as follows:
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Fax: 216-751-8241
Email: [email protected]
As you know from our petition drive, the issues we want the Democratic Party to take a stand on are: setting an end date for the occupation of Iraq, creating a Department of Peace, switching to a universal single-payer health care system, canceling NAFTA and withdrawing from the WTO, recognizing LGBT equal marriage rights, and protecting civil liberties (repeal of PATRIOT Act). Please include any issues that you feel passionately about in your letters, but we ask you to specifically mention ‘U.N. in, U.S. out’ because we believe that a concerted lobbying effort on this issue could be of great consequence.
Recognizing state Democratic parties
At the state level, many of our grassroots state campaigns have been successful in influencing their platform. Two weeks ago, I wrote a letter of thanks (see: Kucinich Progressive Values Being Widely Embraced) recognizing a number of state campaigns that passed progressive, pro-peace planks and resolutions into their platform. After it was sent out, supporters in Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Iowa, Idaho, and Minnesota brought to my attention similar measures that were passed or nearly passed (Idaho) by their state conventions. As it turns out, our campaign has accomplished even more than I initially reported. Let’s take another moment to recognize the well-informed and open-minded Democrats from these states who officially endorsed the following progressive values.
And please contact me if there was a platform plank or resolution victory in your state that has not been recognized!
Thank you to...
Alaska
Signing the Kyoto protocol, ratifying the Convention on Land Mines and joining the International Criminal Court.
Repealing the PATRIOT Act
Supporting the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Peace
Stop developing the National Ballistic Missile Defense Program and strive towards the elimination of all U.S. Weapons of Mass Destruction.
UN in; US out
Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
Hawaii
The elimination of the use of depleted uranium in the U.S. arsenal
Terminating all development, deployment, and testing of WMD’s
UN in; US out
Repealing the PATRIOT Act
Opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment
Supporting the creation of a Department of Peace
Voter verified paper trails for elections
Universal pre-kindergarten care and college education
Canceling NAFTA and withdrawing from the WTO
Reducing the military budget by 25% in order to spend more money on a domestic agenda.
Texas
Affirming a minimum living wage.
Supporting the break up of monopolistic agribusiness and protecting the integrity of the organic food standard.
The use of medical cannabis as prescribed by a doctor
A moratorium on executions
Creating a cabinet-level Department of Peace
Iowa
Creating a cabinet-level Department of Peace
Minnesota
(These resolutions were approved by the majority of the delegates at the Minnesota DFL Convention.)
Department of Peace
support for LGBT civil marriage rights
Canceling NAFTA and the WTO
Idaho
Idaho--often referred to as the most Republican state in the Union--was just 7 votes shy (out of approximately 200) of passing a Department of Peace resolution
Now is the time for us to build on this momentum and to send a strong message to the National Democratic Party. There is much that we can do!
Don’t forget, everyone is invited to join us in Boston during the week of the Democratic National Convention. If you are unable to travel to Boston, please make sure that your like-minded friends and family are aware of our exciting week of activities. We have a full week of workshops, social events, and rallies planned that will educate and inspire all who attend. In addition, our presence in Boston will draw attention to these issues that unite us. For more details about convention week activities or housing that we are making available, check out our website.
These are exciting times to be creating change. Together we will make this progressive vision a reality.
With gratitude,
Scott Hinchee
Convention field coordinator
[email protected]
***
» RELATED SUPPORT: Throw a House Party
» RELATED SUPPORT: Can You Make CHANGE for Your Dollars?
» RELATED ACTIVITY: Sign Petitions
» RELATED MEDIA: Dennis Talks About the Issues
Click here to contribute to Kucinich for President online.
Please forward this Email quickly and widely.
(Delete the opt-out link at the very bottom, so that no one accidentally cancels your subscription.)
If you received this Email from a friend and would like to receive them directly, click here: http://kucinich.us/alerts-signup.htm
Contact us:
Kucinich for President
11808 Lorain Avenue - Cleveland, OH 44111
216-889-2004 / 866-413-3664 (toll-free)
http://www.kucinich.us
Good stuff