| Alwin believes we need to take advantage of the discontent with some of the better candidates they voted for last time, namely the US senate election. Many people are not happy with who they voted for, and that should open the door for us. Alwin says we should find someone to run for the senate seat, and essential to that is having the national party seriously fund and run the presidential ballot access in Massachusetts. Without that, it would limit our prospects for senate candidate to someone who is willing to spend a fair chunk of their money.
Alwin hopes that at the next meeting, we should have some state representative and/or state senate candidates joining us for lunch.
With regard to the OWS movements, and our efforts there, Worcester is not the same as Oakland, or Washington, or Boston, as the crowds have diminished greatly. But there is still opportunity in cities like Boston and others, to approach them.
Here are some statistics from a nationwide OWS survey. Political self-identification among the occupiers are:
33% no affiliation
4% not sure
4% former, or disillusioned Democrats
6% independent
6% Libertarian
1% Constitutionalist
32% Democrat
5% Anarchists
6% Socialists
3% Working Family
These numbers indicate a high percentage of people - mainly young people - who are disgruntled. The 6% identifying themselves as Libertarian is very positive, especially considering those in other groups may also be libertarian, such as not-affiliated and independent. Alwin described this as a small, but fertile ground for recruiting, and we should pursue this.
David asked if any were Republican, and according to the survey, there were none. The numbers do add up to 100% so none are missing.
David wanted to make it clear that there is interest in having an official Libertarian party presence at OWS sites, but is concerned that we don't have the manpower to staff it. And there are other risks as we've seen in other cities where people and property have been involved in violence.
Bob Underwood gets email from Arise for Social Justice in Springfield. They send people to Boston, as other organizations do to. Not everybody at OWS in Boston is from Boston. Alwin said we might not need a booth there, but just some people circulating and handing out literature. We could even recruit people who are already there, to pass out literature.
David said that he works very near Dewey Square, and he may be able to go there weekends or evenings. Alwin said he would like to go there during the week sometime, and David suggested dropping by his place to get literature, and to come up with a game plan.
Alwin discussed our OWS information handouts, and mentioned that others were developing similar works. The Worcester Tea Party has one. We have two good trifolds available, and Alwin likes having both, as they use different approaches, and may appeal to different people. |
