Update July 2nd
By now it should be clear that our efforts should focus on Cheri Honkala, which is great because it would have been harder to move to Buffalo for several weeks or months. You can find Cheri Honkala’s site here:
http://www.cherihonkala.com/
Ian Murphy ran a predictably unprofessional, unserious Green Party campaign that yielded about one percent of the vote. Over the Facebooks he revealed to me that he wasn’t able to raise much more than 5000 dollars. Not enough. Not enough even for a field canvass to hit the doors and raise name recognition that way. Ian, however, did create some beautiful political theater though…which he wasn’t allowed to promote by way of the Daily Kos. Not good.
The Original Page
Both Cheri Honkala and Ian Murphy are two very exciting candidates running on the Green Party slate. Here's the big question: can they run competitive campaigns? Both of them probably need to raise $250000* each in order to even compete at a professional level. Both of them could probably win if they raised a million dollars each but let's see if they can get to a quarter of a million first. Keep in mind that a serious third party race would be met with incredible hostility from the overtly fascist party (The Republicans) and the Republican lite party (The Democrats, excluding the courageous exception of the Wisconsin 14 and the Indiana holdouts). Gosh knows you wouldn't want a party that would actually move us away from investments in nuclear energy. Its so safe, after all.
Both face extreme hurdles but their candidacies could answer some interesting questions: can third parties win if they're adequately funded by small donors? Can a white progressive beat an African American machine pol in Philly? And can someone make a successful progressive third party run as an atheist in a republican house district? I hope the answer is yes to all of those questions but I do know that if the Green Party runs its usual underfunded campaigns then neither candidate has a shot.
So I've created Act Green ChipIn campaigns for both of their campaigns.
Here's the widget for Ian Murphy:
Here's the widget for Cheri Honkala:
Related: Both of these campaigns have created excellent ads and excellent websites. I can't tell you how rare that is for Green Party campaigns. These are two very talented candidates. Ian Murphy is also the first candidate to ever run for a major office who has created a national story with a viral video. We'll see how well that translates to the campaigning stage.
Here's the ad by Cheri Honkala:
Here's the ad by Ian Murphy, which is funny. Kind of a John Belushi vibe with a slight dig at Palin's infinite Stupidity. I like the anger part. I just think that a campaign based on frustration with both parties can make traction, even in this district described as conservative and rural.
More Related: You can also give directly to their campaigns here and here.
More Related to the Hollywood Left, Matt Damon and other rich people appalled by the GOP lite leadership of the Washington D.C. Dem establishment: Okay, you're Matt Damon and you're mad. You're Bourne mad. You've got a magazine in your hand and you want to kill the two party duopoly but you can only give 2500 bucks. Where or where could I, Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, indirectly support a campaign with a million dollars? An Angry Jason Bourne or Ed Begley Jr could make unlimited contributions to the Greater Good Coalition, a public interest 527. Theoretically anyway...
*There are paypal and administrative costs associated with doing this. Those costs shouldn't exceed 3 percent.
