Green Party Blog #1

Disclaimer: This blog is Joseph Scardetta's personal blog. This blog does not necessarily represent the positions, views and/or opinions of the Green Party of Colorado, the Green Party of the United States, or any of its members, chapters or affiliate groups. This post is not official Green Party literature, news, or media of any kind. This post is a personal expression of my personal understanding, experience, memory, thought, post of view, belief system, etc, which is wholly unique and unlike anyone else's Green or otherwise. I am a voter-registered Green and active within the Green Party of Colorado and I am relaying a personal message about my recent experience within the Green Party.- Joseph Scardetta 4/11/16.

For those not familiar, the Green Party of Colorado (GPCO) is the state arm of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS). The Green Party is an independent political party built upon 10 Key Values: 1. Grassroots Democracy, 2. Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, 3. Ecological Wisdom, 4. Non-violence, 5. Decentralization, 6. Community-based Economics, 7. Feminism and Gender Equality, 8. Respect for Diversity, 9. Personal and Global Responsibility, and 10. Future Focus and Sustainability. In reality, the Green Party is a global party with a political presence in many different countries around the world, and is truly the only global political party in the United State. The ultimate goal of the Green Party is to achieve world peace and create a sustainable global society seamlessly integrated into the Biosphere by means in line with the 10 Key Values.

On April 3, 2016, the Green Party of Colorado held its nominating convention for state and federal offices in the 2016 election. These offices include: President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House Congressional District 2, U.S. House Congressional District 6, and Colorado State House District 34. While we had five candidates to choose from for the Presidential nominee, all other races had just one candidate running who won by consensus. Here are the results of those races:

US Senate: Arn Menconi
arnmenconi.com
This U.S. Senate seat is held by incumbent Democrat, Sen. Michael Bennet since 2009.

US Congressional District 2: Cliff Willmeng
http://www.facebook.com/Willmeng-For-Colorado-Green-For-US-Congressional-District-2-1126285650725158/
This U.S. House seat is held by incumbent Democrat, Rep. Jared Polis since 2009.
CO-2 covers Boulder, Ft. Collins, Vail, and Rocky Mountain National Park. It's situated in the north-central part of Colorado, just northwest of Denver. It covers the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains from our northern state boarder with Wyoming to just south of Breckenridge.

US Congessional District 6: Robert Lee Worthey
http://wortheyforcongress.weebly.com/
This U.S. House seat is held by incumbent Republican, Rep. Kike Coffman since 2009.
CO-6 covers much of Aurora, Brighton, and Centennial, part of Littleton, a small rural area just east of Denver International Airport. On a map it looks like a jaw about to take a huge bite out of Denver and the northern suburbs. I used to live in this district before I moved to Greeley.

Colorado House District 34: Jenice JJ Dove
I have neither a website for this candidate, nor incumbent information for this district.
If you've cracked the code to Denver-area street names, this district pretty much stays between Federal and Sheridan. It stretches from 52nd (north) down to Exposition (south). There are some areas east of Federal covered by this district. It's basically the western edge of Denver.


As for President of the United States of America, there are five national-party candidates: Darryl Cherney, Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry, William P. Kreml, Kent Mesplay, and Jill Stein. Colorado gets to send five delegates to the GPUS national convention in Houston this August to cast votes for President. Per GPCO bylaws candidates are awarded delegates based on the percentage of the vote they receive, and voters may only vote for one candidate. This time, Jill Stein won all five delegates, and I am one of them!!!

President: Jill Stein (5 delegates)
jill2016,com

Yes, if everything works out financially, I will be headed to Houston to be a delegate at the GPUS national convention, and I am super excited to see how it all happens.  I became involved with the Green Party during the 2012 Presidential Election, when I marched with other Jill Stein supporters on the Presidential Debate between Obama and Romney when it was held at the University of Denver to demand open debates. Since then I've been regularly attending annual GPCO meetings, and briefly served as co-chair of the Green Party of Arapahoe County. I love being involved with the Green Party, and I always enjoy myself at these big state functions.

I'm a Green because I believe in voting my values, and the 10 Key Values are pretty much in line with my own values. I also enjoy voting for my friends, and it's pretty cool to be able to get to know these candidates that share these values. As for the politics behind all this, I'll save that for another time.