WSSVAPP – Walk, Select, Sign, and Vote Against Princes and Princesses
February 29, 2012 at High Noon
Question 9 of 9
Creating a Viable Third Party Movement – Nine Questions
About these contents:
There will be nine (9) daily postings under this heading. They are intended to provide information, perspective, and training for potential volunteers and Independent AP Party supporting candidates. Several of them a few thousand words long, but that detail is required to deliver adequate response to these important questions. To promote common understanding of what is being offered to and asked of potential candidates for nationally elected office and volunteers that will build the AP Party Chapters across America, the responses the following questions are presented. This level of detail will provide a reasonable picture of what this effort involves.
9 How will We the People across our nation the create Local US District Chapters of the Independent American Peasant Party. What are the functional responsibilities of each local AP Party Chapter and how will they select, qualify, and promote our Independent candidates for the November 2012 National Election.
In response to Number 9 of 9,
For Your Consideration
First – Why Are We Here?
Again, this is written to You, an individual American citizen. You could be an individual man or woman seriously considering being a candidate for office. Maybe it’s the first time you ever considered it or at least the first time it ever looked like there might be a way it could happen! And You and I will not need to be millionaires, either!
Or, you could be a volunteer type of person that is looking for background on this Independent party movement you heard about. Or some other variation of frustrated and/or curious You seeking something sensible in the political system that you could believe in and support in some way.
I am here looking for You all. Because if many of You do not act upon what is presented herein then this entire effort will go no further.
Throughout history it has often been only one that has deliberated and then presented their sincere suggestion for the betterment of the Masses for them to consider, but only when they decided to act does anything come of the initial effort of only one.
This is such a moment and only You the People can decide and will determine what, if anything happens next.
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The Concept of a Self-Generating, Grassroots, Third Party Movement
That is a mouth full isn’t it? This is where the rubber meets the road! In the end this can turn out to be amazingly straightforward.
This entire presentation is a cookbook approach to making a viable, grassroots, Independent political movement. And in this case an Electoral Revolution. To make our revolution a success what are the political realities or ingredients required that yield a successful Mass civil action? We would need:
- A country whose Masses are struggling against the public dysfunction of their own government. We have that.
- An economy that was once great, but now is terminally broken. We have that.
- More than a third of our people struggling below the poverty line and many more falling below it each month because of the increasing cost-of-living. We have that.
- A government that gives lip service to saving the Middle Class and never even mentions those in the Lower Class accept in derogatory terms. We have that.
- A 2-Party Political System and a Congress that are completely sold-out to the Few with Power and Wealth and is out of contact with the deteriorating conditions of the Masses. We have that.
- The possibility of a viable Third Party to act to balance nation’s politics with the other two (2) parties. We have that.
- A platform from that third Party that is citizen and problem solution oriented, and a person offering to lead that party and is truly concerned about the Common Good of the Masses. We have that.
- And a unique campaign approach and plan that will allow us to replace the majority of the members of Congress in 2012 with our own Independent candidates that are committed supporting the new Independent party’s written, and citizen-oriented platform. We have that, as well.
We do have these necessary ingredients and more to make our Electoral Revolution a success and now We need (at least) 435 such kitchens to be freely and independently established across the country by small, motivated groups of our citizen volunteers. Minutemen and Minute-women, if you will!
Each Democracy Kitchen will organize itself and operate against a standard plan and any issues that come up will be practically and peacefully resolved as they are encountered. Those independent kitchens will work and coordinate with each other to produce up to 435 US Reps, up to 100 US Senators, Those will join with the Presidential (yours truly) and Vice Presidential (to be determined) candidates for the campaign.
These candidates will be set-up to officially compete for the seats in Congress and the White House this November 6th. The volunteers from those kitchens will support and promote their AP Party candidates and others across the country thru the campaign season.
That is how our Electoral Revolution shall be accomplished with 435 Democracy Kitchens working together for the Common Good, if We do our collective best to follow this common sense political recipe presented herein…
More Than Just 435 Democracy Kitchens
Please note that while I constantly reference 435 US District Chapters in reality there will actually be a few thousand should this grassroots movement be accepted by our fellow American citizens. AP Party Chapters will spring up in towns and cities all over a given state when the People find out how citizen, family, and neighborhood friendly its focus and policies are.
Consider there are over 3,000 counties and parishes (Louisiana) across America most of which are well-populated. The simple math from the 2010 census is 310,000,000 citizens / 435 US Districts = 712,643 citizens per USD. One of Congress favorite things is reapportionment and redistricting to balance these population shifts. Both parties seem to always find time to work on this. For example, Florida gained population and went from 27 to 29 US Districts in 2012 which means other states lost those two (2) districts.
My guidance is that the Lead Administrative Chapter for US District be formed in the primary or largest city therein. This will support the practical need for central coordination especially during the candidate selection phase.
Therefore, when I am referring to the USD Chapters below I am referring functionally to those 435 Lead Administrative Chapters.
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First We Walk and Last We Vote
This is a brief overview of the flow of Our 2012 Electoral Revolution from early February thru November 6, 2012.
I have given this overall process the formal title of “Walk, Select, Sign and Vote – Against Princes and Princesses” with the latter reference to the men and women currently in the House and Senate. That is after all what they must think they are.
I will probably be using WSSVAPP as the name of the Central Blog and/or Facebook for communication from and postings to the Central Chapter of the AP Party.
Walk
I suggest that those interested in organizing and meeting people besides contacting those they already know plan at least one (1) weekly public gathering time during February and possibly into March. I would suggest Saturday from noon to 2pm in front of your County, Parish, or City Hall.
Just have a good old fashioned “walk-about” – an open, public setting for people to come by and ask questions or just listen to others talking about the movement. People can network, exchange contact info, and find out how to join the local Chapter.
I will be starting in my local area Carroll County, Maryland on Saturday February 11th. The prior weekend is the Super Bowl and people have partying on their mind.
Do not bother with a permit to start because this is public space and the facilities should be closed on Saturday. As those you know to show up and advertise a little each week as you can. Let the local press know what you are doing and see if maybe they could stop by too. That will be the best free advertising we can get even if it is light soft or neutral the first week or so.
These Walks will bring the first volunteers and want-to-be candidates to your Chapter and it will grow as the members begin to network and the Press covers what is happening with this new Third party grassroots movement. Remember reporters and Editors are looking for political stories this year and they are as worried about the economy as we are. They have to buy gas and groceries, too!
I will also be pushing the movement of Twitter (@OURIAPP), my Facebook (Andrew Jaye Wildman) a little, and the AP Party Blog (OutIAPP.typepad.com). And the new site or sites noted above. I will be doing research into the states Ballot requirements and postings the Job Openings for Congress around the country.
I will be pushing hard on the topics of freezing gas and grocery prices, Proposal #10 issues around murder, rape, pedophile crimes, and Proposal #22 about Health Care Insurance for ALL Americans. I suggest you do the same especially with the Press. And I will not be quiet about it.
The Walks will start in February and should run into March.
Select
As a by-product of the Walks and advertising you will have want-to-be candidates showing up around the state. The Committees mentioned below will coordinate the selection process and there will be more information on the AP Party Blog site and/or others.
For my part, I will need to identify a viable VP candidate, as soon as possible. Sometimes the VP name needs to be on the Petitions when signatures are collected. Mid-April is my target date. As stated I prefer for a woman to fill that position and would appreciate qualified suggestions.
This selection process will start in late March and needs to be done in April. We will miss some states, but very few if We keep the process moving. In some of those We will have the Write-In process as a viable backup plan.
Sign
Once the candidates are identified and all paperwork is in place the Petition Signature gathering will begin in line with each state’s Start and End Dates. This should be the easiest part of the process once the public warms to the movement. Again, We will set-up in public locations on certain days of the week and certain time frames and the people will come. There is a committee noted for this below.
This could start in late April depending on the Selection process and the Start Date for Petition gathering.
This is all going to scare the **** out of both Parties and will make the evening news and the campaign’s content much more interesting.
Vote
We will help get the vote out in every way we can and the rest will be history. The goals are to get at least a majority of seats in the House and in the Senate as well which will be a bit more complicated.
And that is WSSVAPP…
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Establish and Organize the Chapter
Just like the people of Wisconsin that joined together to collect 1,000,000 signatures to Recall the Governor they are displeased with and even more like what the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement did starting on September 19, 2011 – people from neighborhoods will hear about the AP Party grassroots movement and say to themselves We could do that here.
The first AP Party volunteers in each US District will get some friends, neighbors, co-workers together and begin organizing and spreading the word about the grassroots movement in their area e.g.. town, city, county, etc.
They will only need to form a few committees to get started and make real progress. Some committee types and their function are suggested for starting your Chapter and making to quickly productive.
The AP Party US District Chapter Code
The AP Party Chapters are intended to be independent in operation. While there will some guidance such as this from yours truly at the start of this movement and from a Headquarters Chapter eventually, my intent is that the Chapters run their operations without any heavy over-site from a party Central Committee. The Chapters are formed to support the Common Good of the citizens in their respective areas from Day One. They should evolve and expand into a community service group.
The forming of the AP Party US District Chapter network is the beginning of a revival of Democracy in American government. They will be the People’s voice and will provide watchful, public over-site of the legislative process in the US Congress going forward.
State Ballot and Recall Requirements Committee
This committee will follow the instructions in #6 above to document and carefully verify the state’s Ballot Requirements for the US Representative, US Senator, and President/VP. They will also start the process of documenting the Recall Requirements for US Senator in their state that will certainly be more detailed and legalistic.
The first Chapters established in a given state can share that data with other groups formed in their state. Remember that this is not a one (1) year exercise as the AP Party will become a permanent part of the American political system. The working relationships of USD Chapters within and between states must be mutually supportive in nature from Day One.
Note: While Chapters may set-up a bank account and some organizational entity, do not collect any donations toward a candidate campaign fund until you verify your state’s related guidelines.
Also, that candidate campaign committees are for-profit organizations as far as thje IRS is concerned. Thus, donations to them are not tax deductible.
The Chapter Communications Committee
They will of course focus on spreading the word of their US District Chapter, the AP Party, and the Independent political platform across their US District and beyond. The first Chapters in a given state will promote the establishment of others in the state and across the nation through their network of friends, family, and co-workers.
Of course, each Chapter could and should create its own Facebook account and/or Internet site to post and distribute information about the Chapter events, the AP Party and its platform, and in time about their candidate(s).
Potential Candidate(s) Selection Committee
They will work to attract potential candidates for their US Representative’s seat in the House and one (1) Senator if their state has one up for election this year.
I will offer the following comments regarding the selection criteria of potential AP Party candidates. These are not rules I am handing down, but based on my political perspective are rational points to be considered by the Chapters in identifying and qualifying viable candidates from each US District and state, and to yield a representative cross-section of our population in the new US Congress! My thoughts in no particular order are:
- I believe in heading off arguments, so this issue should be brought early and often in the Chapter meetings on the selection process.
- In a perfect world we would replace each member of the existing Congress with an identical profile regarding age, gender, race, etc., but that is not likely to happen.
- I would strongly suggest that the trying to keep to the same gender and race balance would be very desirable, but at the same time We cannot discourage good people from coming forward for any office based on any personal characteristic.
- No offense, but We do not want all white dudes or all women! If I had to choose though it would be more women, but only those that are determined to fix things not just go to fundraisers and compare shoes!
- Age must be at least 25 or 30 depending on the House or Senate respectively. I would suggest the upper sixties as of 2012 as a top age range. The oldest of the Baby Boomer generation is 65 this year. I will be 64 in July!
- Overall I would expect the average age of Congress to drop as younger people compete for these offices and I believe that will be a good thing overall. Too much nearly deadwood in Congress right now!
- Preferably no one that has been involved in Party politics all their life. That is a dead giveaway to a political hard liner. No hard Right or Left please.
- No elected political experience is a Great plus. Less baggage.
- Pretty or handsome is not required!
- No lawyers please, please, please. The majority of the current members of Congress declare their profession to be a lawyer and see how that has worked out for getting these solved. Lawyers are taught from the first day of Law school to argue to win and being right has nothing to do with it. Please!
- They must fully support the written AP Party platform and there may well be a written Pledge to be signed to that affect. We do not want any Right or Left Wing zealots sneaking into the Party and the selection process within each USD should weed them out. Just be careful.
Those are my thoughts on the issue.
Additional comments and procedures for the final selection of the Chapters first candidate(s) will be posted on the internet in the next few months. Be assured that only the people in the respective US District and state will select their candidate(s) – not yours truly or some central Chapter.
Plan the Signature Ballot Collection Dates
It may seem a bit pre-mature thinking, but not really. This all needs to happen over the next 3 to 4 months or so. We need to be collecting Petition signatures for House, Senate, and President/VP in April, May, June depending upon a given state’s criteria. And it can be accomplished.
I offer that Tuesday evenings about 6:00 to 7:30pm and Saturday from 11:00am to 2:00pm would be convenient for most people as a national standard. It could always be extended and maybe a time on Sunday afternoon after church hours could be added by a given AP Party US District Chapter at their discretion.
AP Party US District Chapters will publicize the dates, times, and locations for Petition Signature drives. Once this movement connects with the People, they will find the locations and go there to sign up. The Petition stations will be set-up (like a Girl Scout cookie stand) public places that do not require a fee to be paid, such as in front of grocery stores, public libraries, post offices, Home Depot (where I worked part and full time over the last 7 years!), Lowes, public school parking lots, etc.
It will not be that difficult to collect even several thousand signatures for a USD House seat or statewide for Senate and President/VP seats in a well-organized and well-publicized manner in just a few weeks.
If We build it – The People will come and sign!
Voter Registration and Personal ID Committee
This is where the Chapter’s volunteers can come to the aid of the Electoral process that is currently under attack by mostly Republican operatives working deviously to decrease voter turnout by making it harder for some of us to vote. You have probably heard that in some states and/or counties the requirements for “proper id” is being tightened up. There are plenty of examples on the web. Check out “Rock the Vote” on the Internet.
This public service effort is two-fold. First, the Chapters will verify the Voter Registration Cut-off Date in their state and publicize it. They can offer local people help with transportation to the voter registration office nearby. One of the best places is the Department of Motor Vehicles or whatever it is called in your state. It is quick and has a separate line!!
Second, many thousands of citizens are registered, but do not have a current ID and again need transport to obtain such. That effort can go on right up until the day before the November 6, National Election and would allow many more People to vote that those that are playing their anti-Democratic games are deviously trying to exclude. Take that!
Responsibilities of AP Party USD Chapter #01 in Each State
I would strongly suggest for consistency that wherever US District #1 is located in every state, that it be responsible for any statewide administrative coordination tasks as the AP Party grows and matures. US District #1 is not always on the same area as the state capital which is just fine. If that group votes and does not wish to accept those responsibilities it would automatically default to US District #2, and so on.
Initially, that Chapter in each state would be tasked with coordinating the selection of any US Senator candidate from the Chapter pool across the state. They would coordinate the required statewide petition drives for Senator, for President/VP, and any Recall Drives that are initiated in 2012.
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That is all on the AP Party US District Chapter Process for now. Given committed volunteers all of the above can happen this year and with historic results. Best of luck out there!
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