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I’d be more sympathetic to Rich Whitney if he had raised enough campaign cash to at least pay for the drive from Carbondale to Chicago and back. That’s an exaggeration, but not by much. From a press release:
Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney responded recently to critics who say that his campaign is not ’serious’ because the Greens have not raised as much money as their Democratic and Republican opponents. “No one should be surprised that the other two candidates are doing better at raising money when they are out selling themselves to the highest bidder.”“We never planned or expected to raise as much money as the corporate-sponsored candidates, since we are relying on a different strategy.” He said. “We are trying to win based on movement politics and people power rather than raising millions of dollars to buy time or space from the corporate media.” […]
Whitney says his people-centered campaign is an attempt to change the “conventional wisdom” on how to succeed in politics. “Our volunteers, because they are motivated by and dedicated to our principles and values, are worth a million dollars themselves.”
$1,679 raised in six months wouldn’t even buy a good computer, let alone pay for Internet access, phone bills, postage, printing, HQ rent, electricity, etc.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 4:53 pm
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Impressed with the fundraising totals, Stu Umholtz has made moves to hire the Green Party’s chief fundraiser.
Comment by Outsider Looking In Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 6:19 pm
Amazing…This pathetic showing should obliterate any chance, however small, that the Greens thought they had to be included in debates. I’m for competitive elections but this tiny effort repudiates the Greens’ arguements that they are worthy of competing with the major parties.
Comment by Korn fed Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 6:47 pm
If you want to learn to succeed in politics, look at Richard Nixon. He brought campaigning into the 20th century in 1968. The modern method we now have is all due to Nixon. Trying to change that will be one heck of a job. And it certainly won’t be some 3rd party flea that does it…
Comment by Lovie's Leather Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 6:48 pm
It’s sad but true that money seems to be the name of the game, or at least the price of entering the door as a “serious candidate”. While I do not support the Green candidate, I absolutely support their right to run and think it can only help to have more than 2 choices.
Comment by Way Northsider Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 7:05 pm
The …”I got your cash right here, pal…” comment sure won’t endear anyone to Whitney. It’s one thing to be an attorney and quite another to be a wise guy attorney running for office. It’s really unfortunate that he said that as the option of Blogo or Bore are not palatable to most. An opportunity squandered. Too bad!!
Comment by Trey Jones Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 8:27 pm
Is anyone taking the Greens seriously or covering them at this point out of the Carbondale paper where Whitney’s from?
Comment by Anon Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 8:32 pm
Give the guy a break, Rich. He didn’t raise in six months, he raised it between May 23 and June 30. That’s less than six weeks.
I’m not saying he’s loaded now, or that he’s even gonna have six figures by election day, but please keep your facts straight before you start blasting somebody.
And who are these posters who blindly accept what Rich writes as gospel? He’s good, but he’s not God. Does Trey Jones even realize that the “quote” is just Rich’s headline, and not from the press release?
Comment by The Dude Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 8:45 pm
Why do politicians need all the hoopla in order to run a campaign. Why do they need a headquarters - just use someone’s large house or a garage. Why does it have to be some expensive real estate downtown. If supporters were really supporters, they would shoulder the cost of these expenses and allow their candidate to concentrate on position planning and letting the public know what he stands for. I’d rather have someone who has a good, workable plan for the state that helps ALL citizens, and has the smarts and cabinet to pull it off, than some smarmy,talkig head, just looking for face time on TV. Serving in public office was never meant to be a profession or to line you own pockets and those of your friends. It once was an honorable situation.
Comment by Disgusted Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 9:31 pm
Miller is right. Not enough liberals know their Bible. They act as though money is the root of all evil, and they won’t have it near their campaign.
In fact, it’s “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
Mr. Whitney, try picking up the phone and asking Edwin Eisendrath if he’ll host a fundraiser for you, or atleast send out a letter, and write a check.
You can’t win if you can’t play, and you can’t expect folks to take you seriously if you don’t even care enough about your campaign to be able to buy thank you cards.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 9:57 pm
Proxmire used to win elections on a budget similar to Whitney’s.
The similarity ends right about there.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 10:43 pm
No wonder no one on this site likes Whitney. He doesn’t have enough campaign cash to buy pizza and beer for them.
Comment by anon Thursday, Aug 10, 06 @ 10:50 pm
Ah yes…criticize Whitney’s efforts to fundraise during the 90 day petition gathering window required of ‘new’ parties in Illinois. Whitney personally collected over 1,500 signatures and his efforts don’t satisfy Rich Miller. Green Party petition circulators spent thousands of volunteer hours collecting over 39,300 signatures and their efforts might not be enough. Democrats are stalling with the SBoE til September 1st to announce Whitney will be on the ballot.
But surely the people of Illinois will demand that all ballot qualified candidates have the opportunity to debate…we will see. Right now, if you want another choice on the ballot in November, the Illinois Green Party ilgp.org and Whitney for Governor whitneyforgov.org could use your help.
A campaign centered on grassroots democracy and elected officials actually representing people, not their biggest contributors, deserves widespread support.
Comment by It is Easy Being Green Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 12:00 am
The Whitney campaign is a welcome change in a world of corporate controlled politics. I look forward to watching the grassroots politics of true change unfold as the Green party takes the state house. I find I have respect for Rich Whitney, who has real answers and isn’t afraid to debate. His refusal to accept corporate money makes me trust him more. Hopefully others who support these kind of efforts will find ways to help support his grassroots campaign.
Comment by Alicia Snyder Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 12:15 am
I know it’s late, but you guys suck! You all criticize (but apparently admire) Blagos’s big campaign war chest while you denigrate Topinka’s (ahem) lack of said war chest … You crucify Rod for his dirt”Blag” hiring practices and budget hijinks while lambasting Topinka for her hayseed histrionics and lack of sound issue positions.
And as all this b.s. is taking place, a qualified third party dude (at least in terms of the ability to articulate issues and not to pander to outside interests) such as Whitney comes along, and y’all start bashing him for the very same things you claim to hate about the other two candidates. Make up your minds, kiddos. Or do you just like to hate everything?
Comment by 62966 Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 12:34 am
I’m a die hard Dem and thinking of voting for him. May have thought of crossing over to JBT but the last time I voted for a statewide GOP, AG Bill Scott went to jail.
I may just skip over or swallow hard and vote for Blago or just say screw it and vote for JBT. OR if I thought he had a chance vote for the Green guy.
He needs money for me to even remember he is somewhere on the ballot (or on the screen)
Comment by anon Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 12:49 am
Ya know what, you’re right, Rich Miller - that’s not enough money to pay for internet, rent, or other biils. People probably are not donating because we’re not officially on the ballot yet. The whole system is skewed against us.
I’m not going to think back wistfully to the days of Lincoln and Douglas, either, and demand we go back to that. Sadly, people vote by what they see on TV - Greens know that. But part of the responsibility now belongs to the new press - blogs and the internet. I’d say they’re as popular as TV. If you didn’t make Whitney out to be a joke, then perhaps people would take him seriously - and the donations, volunteers, and VOTES would come.
Greens, by nature, are an idealistic bunch, sure. But if we did get into the debates, if we did change the campaign finance laws in IL (to at least CAP contributions, like most states), if we did have Instant Run-off Voting, if we did have clean elections, as in Maine… Whitney would win, and make a great - or at LEAST scandal-free - Governor. We don’t have that luxury, but if we did, I’m betting that would change the way people voted. Because people, liberal and conservative, believe what Whitney says. And isn’t that enough to vote for him? Seriously.
Comment by GreenieGirl Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 1:45 am
Rich, you need to go deeper on this one. The Whitney campaign didn’t run the petition drive, the Illinois Green Party did. ILGP, not Whitney, did the bulk of the fundraising over the first six months of the year, and most of the campaign organizing went through ILGP because that was the way we decided was the best way to structure the petition drive when we knew it would be a massive volunteer effort.
When you follow up by looking at ILGP’s disclosure report for the first half of 2006, you’ll find that a) there’s a lot more reported there than for the Whitney campaign and b) it of course still isn’t a massive amount. But our priority wasn’t on fundraising in the first half of the calendar year, it was on petitioning. Once the petition drive ended, our priorities changed. We know from past experience that a lot of donors won’t give until we’re on the ballot. It’s not a perfect way of doing things, but we’re not completely winging it here.
All of this might not change your mind, but the conclusion you leap to is too quick without factoring all of this in.
Comment by Phil Huckelberry, ILGP Co-Chair Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 1:56 am
I just took a look at the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund report and it is SICKENING. So many people paying to play at such a high cost! Does anyone think the people of Illinois don’t pay a price for allowing unlimited and corrupt campaign fundraising? ADM, contributes 50k and you can smell the stench of Decature 20 minutes before you get there. (Blagojevich probably hasn’t visited Decature Illinois I am guessing) BTW, ADM hedges its bets by contributing 25k to Topinka too. Hey Dems, if you really cared about the environment, the Green Party would not be gaining near as much traction throughout the state.
What’s with all of the healthcare related companies and their high dollar contributions? I wonder what advantage they have in the wording of the so-called ‘Blagojevich’s All Kids Program’? Dems only act like they care about universal healthcare, and make concessions only when forced. Why shouldn’t Universal Healthcare be a right like Education? Healthcare is even more fundamental!
What about all of the contributions from liquer companies and distributors…is this related to attempts to require Illinois wineries to pay distributors a (substantial) cut even for sales taking place at the winery itself? Even the late Al Capone would admire this move!
Doesn’t the media follow the money anymore? Perhaps there should be more accountability here. Seems to me having Rich Whitney, a candidate who refuses corporate contributions and has never been associated with corruption (unlike RB and JBT), benefits the majority of Illinois voters who are not donating hundreds of dollars to political campaigns hoping to get a payback.
Illinois Green and Growing!
Comment by It is Easy Being Green Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 3:14 am
Rich, Why start off the debate with a somewhat aggravating comment supposedly attributed to Whitney? Pushes people toward a negative connotation. All I’ve heard about Whitney up here is that he is intelligent, informed, and honest. Maybe he isn’t mainstream Dem or Repub but he could be mainstream Illinois!
Comment by "Hast" Hall Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 7:32 am
The Democratic and Republican parties are not the reason why the Greens can’t raise cash. Those ‘scary’ corporations have little to do with it either. The fact is people in Illinois don’t embrace socialism.
Comment by taxmandan Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 12:35 pm
I can forgive low fundraising for now since Whitney wasn’t on the ballot yet, but he needs to start raising cash fast. Anyone who runs for major office owes it to their volunteers to pick up the phone and ask major donors for money. That is the job of a candidate. If Whitney doesn’t do that then he is wasting the time of every Green who volunteers for him.
Comment by SangoDem Friday, Aug 11, 06 @ 1:17 pm