The Ohio Secretary of State just released a very interesting analysis of the primary election results. They tracked the voters that switched parties. For us Greens, there was some bad news and lots of good news. First, the bad news. The targeted marketing that the Democrats did to already registered Greens seems to have worked. Approximately half the people who were registered Green before the primary jumped to the Democrats presumably to vote for Bernie. Now the good news. For every Green who became a Dem, three new voters who were previously unaffiliated switched to Green. Also, almost half as many Dems switched to Green as Greens switched to Dems. Over all, we almost doubled in size.
Unfortunately for the Dems, they were clobbered by Dems switching to Republican.
We also lost a noticeable chunk of people to the Republicans. I’m guessing those were the people who were only Green out of protest.
So, the Ohio Green Party is now made up of about 70% new members. WELCOME!! My advice to you as an “old” Green is to speak up! Tell us old timers what you want to see in the Green Party of Ohio. If you’re in a county that doesn’t yet have a County Committee, consider starting one. All it lakes is a letter to your County Board of Elections. I will help you through the process.
One of the Green Party’s Ten Key Principles is Personal Responsibility. One of the ways we’re different from the ordinary parties is that we will hardly ever tell you what to do and expect you to simply obey “Party Directives.” It’s assumed that you are someone who not only wants change, but are willing to make change happen. You’ve taken a huge step by joining our Party, but don’t hesitate to take the next thousand steps needed to reach a Green, sustainable, peaceful, healthy future.
One place to start could be helping my Senate campaign. We need volunteers to put up posters and signs and pass out flyers. Another place, would be to contact the other Greens in your town or county and start a functioning group.
Feel free to contact me, http://www.joedemareforagreenfuture.org/, and once again, welcome.