Green Party of Utah, Home of the Desert Greens - Press Conference Announcement: Hatch vs. Hatch: Utah Green announces for US Senate

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Press Conference Announcement: Hatch vs. Hatch: Utah Green announces for US Senate

16th-Nov-2005 06:01 am

PRESS RELEASE: November 16, 2005

For information Contact: Campaign Manager Tom King: phone 801-502-8556
The Green Party of Utah at: gpu@gput.org Phone: 801-631-2998
Website: http://www.hatchforsenate.org/

Green Party's Julian Hatch nominated to Challenge Senator Orrin Hatch

Campaign kick-off and media event: Saturday, November 19, 2005, 6 p.m.
Free Speech Zone, 2144 South Highland Drive, Suit 130, Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Green Party of Utah announces that Julian Hatch, a 51 year-old disabled
military veteran will challenge incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah in his bid
for an unprecedented sixth term in the November 2006 election. Julian Hatch is
a Human Ecologist who serves as the southern Utah Coordinator for Western
Watersheds Project, the environmental public lands policy organization based in
Hailey, Idaho. Julian has been active in protesting the war prior to the
invasion of Iraq and the continued occupation.

Julian Hatch accepted the nomination at a special convention held November 5,
2005 in Salt Lake City where the candidate voluntarily committed himself to a
two-term limit. Senator Hatch has held office for nearly 30 years and
considered an undefeatable "Goliath" but many in Utah believe he has become a
"Washington Insider," something Orrin accused Democrat Frank E. Moss to win his
first election in 1976.

"It is time that all Utah citizens, regardless of gender, race, sexual
preference, political or religious persuasion be represented in Washington D.C.
by a common person instead of a millionaire Senator who is more beholden to
corporate interests than average citizens." said Julian Hatch, a lifelong
resident of the state.

The "Grassroots" Green Party of Utah (GPUT) is affiliated with the Green Party
of the United States (GPUS) and provides a platform of Green Values that
include reform of the electoral process, Instant Run-off Voting, and support
for proportional representation to counter the present winner-take-all
elections that have divided the nation into red and blue states.

"I am determined to help citizens take back control of our government and
restore the constitutional freedoms that so many of us have sacrificed to gain
and keep. Much more damage to our nation has been accomplished by politicians
who have legislated away our freedoms than what terrorists can do and we are no
safer now. I pledge to bring a basic sense approach to the office and will
never lie to my constituency,"
said GPUT candidate Hatch.

Orrin Hatch has been a member of the Senate Judiciary committee for three
decades and will be a key Republican player in the upcoming Supreme Court
Hearings. "Both the Republicans and Democrats have turned our nomination
process into a political battleground and our courts have subsequently become
biased and partisan causing citizens to believe they no longer administer
justice," stated Julian Hatch.

A kick-off Campaign event for the media will take place on Saturday, November
19, 2005 at 6 PM at the Free Speech Zone, 2144 South Highland Drive, Suit 130,
Salt Lake City, Utah.

Additional positions:
• Immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq
• Single Payer Health Care
• Pro-choice position not allowing our bodies to be controlled by the government
• Reform the corporate tax code.
• Provide a simple and fair tax system for all citizens.
• Introduce and pass comprehensive Utah BLM and FS Wilderness Bills within three
years.

For information contact:
Campaign Manager Tom King, 801-502-8556
The Green Party of Utah, 801-631-2998,
gpu@gput.org
Website: http://www.hatchforsenate.org/
Email: Hatchforsenate@yahoo.com

Comments

17th-Nov-2005 11:46 pm (UTC) - I have to admit to being completely confused

Anonymous

I have to admit to being completely confused by the way this campaign has begun. I have nothing against Mr. Hatch (Julian that is…. I have quite a bit against Orin.) but I believe that this is a bad beginning for a true grassroots campaign.

All of the media articles I have seen refer to Julian running as a Green Party of Utah candidate and the link on his web page is to http://www.gput.org which describes itself as the Green Party of Utah

But if you go to the state government website at http://www.elections.utah.gov/politicalparties.html
You will find that the Green Party of Utah is listed as http://www.utahgreenparty.org

Apparently this other Green Party of Utah is already officially registered with the state of Utah, meaning that if or when the Green Party of Utah for which Mr. Julian Hatch is a candidate for gathers enough signatures on their ballot they will either have to contest the name meaning another possible court case (which was lost last time by Julians party and greatly pissed off the states election office) or choose another name which could put into jeopardy the signatures gathered so far. I do see that down about half way in the press release they call it the “grassroots” Green Party.

Either way it bodes to be a messy process and could go very badly for Julian who seems to be a very decent sort of guy.

It seems though that the media outlets who have already reported him as a candidate for the Green Party of Utah could be dismayed when they find out this is not technically true. (Perhaps in spirit… but the media prefer technical facts over the spirit of the matter) I don’t think they will appreciate finding out that he is not a candidate with the current registered Green party of Utah.

I would have hoped that Julian might have considered running as an independent with the endorsement of the applicable third parties like Green, Libertarian, and yes Personal Choice. Kind of like Kevin Zeese who is a Green party member running an independent campaign for Senate in Maryland who has gained the endorsement of the three alternative parties there. http://www.kevinzeese.com/

What ever the case, Julian will have to reach out to more then the dozen or so people involved in either Green Party of Utah. I do believe his natural constituency would be the over 10,000 people who voted for Nader and the people to help him do that would be the current registered Green Party of Utah.

Personally, I will have to be convinced not to vote for Peter Ashdown so Mr. Julian Hatch has his work cut out for him.

If he wanted to show true leadership, he could move toward ending this childish rift between the two green factions. But dealing with angry egos on both sides of the fence is not an easy task.

Good Luck Julian!

18th-Nov-2005 04:57 pm (UTC) - Re: I have to admit to being completely confused

Anonymous

The 'Green Party of Utah' currently registered with the state exists with the main intent of keeping Green Party candidates off the ballot in Utah and denying voters a choice. Many of their supporters have since left the party to join the Democrats or the Socialists. Voters won't be confused, as the 'Green Party of Utah' ballot line will be blank in nearly every race in the state. Julian already has other Green company seeking local office and will likely have more by November 2006. And in 2008, Utahns WILL have the option of voting for the Green Party candidates for national office.

As has been observed before by wiser folks than me, democracy IS messy. But it beats the hell out of the alternatives.

Shane

18th-Nov-2005 01:34 am (UTC) - I am sorry for my earlier remarks

Anonymous

I am sorry for my earlier remarks about childish behavior and angry egos. They were made in a rush and I felt my emotions rise as I typed. The danger of this technology is that it doesn’t always give us time to consider our remarks and how others might take them.

I did a quick look at Peter Ashdown’s campaign and am disappointed that he has not taken a stand on the war. I am contacting him to see what his position on it is and press him to take a public stand.

18th-Nov-2005 03:36 am (UTC) - Re: I am sorry for my earlier remarks

deesings

Hi:
Believe me, I know what you mean by writing in haste. I do it, unfortunately , too often. It's my impulsive nature.

Here is some information:
The Green Party of Utah is a registered incorporation and trademarked entity with the State of Utah. The fact that the Elections Office has allowed a totally foreign person to organize a group of suspended members (you can read about he saga at the GPUT website) to do a petition drive under this legally protected name is a violation of Utah State Commerce Law by the Director of Elections and this has been pointed out to him. Still, he mainatains that he remains silent on incorporations, trademarks and national recognition. This means that you or I can conduct a petition drive under, say, the name of "Zion's Bank Party" or "The LDS Church Party" and because of the Elections Office position, could get away with forming a party using another entity's legally protected name.

The Green Party of Utah that Julian Hatch is running with is the only enttity recognized by the Green Party of the United States.

Voters will not be confused because we will be forced to use a different name for the ballot. We have already chosen a name but will not be submitting it until our nearly complete petition drive is completed. However, we will still use the name Green Party of Utah in all of our literature, along with our new ballot name. We have legal rights to the name and will not allow the other group to scare us into not using it, which they have tried to do.

Incidentally, the suspended member group has resorted to all sorts of tactics: Theft, Extortion, Other threats, Public humiliation, showing up at the national convention to try to unseat us. All these efforts failed and have only resulted in our members filing police reports against these individuals. We, on the other hand, have moved forward with the business of the party and have not resorted to these same tactics because it is not worth the time. We have not called names, we have not used threats, we have not engaged in theft, etc. We have remained as professional as possible and have chosen to ignore the other group members' tactics.

In other words, we have not displayed any anger or childish behaviors. It is the actions of the other group that have resulted in angry and childish tones and behaviors.

Had you been involved during the time when this anger and childish behaviors were surfacing within our party, you would understand more why the membership overwhelmingly voted the way they did to issue disciplinary actions in accordance with the state party's bylaws.

We do not plan for a "messy" process with Julian's campaign. We are planning an aggressive campaign on the Green platform, adhering to Green values and speaking out against what is wrong with the current policies of our politicians in office and what Greens can to to help turn this around. We plan to stick to the issues that voters care about and will not choose to address the internal struggles of the party.

We want the Green Party to grow. To do that we need candidates to run on the Green Party ticket, promoting the Green Party Platform and advocating Green Values. Running as an independent would not help the party to grow or remain on the ballot. In this state, a party has to garner 2% of all the votes in the state to maintain ballot access. Running as an independent does not do anything to help a party grow. Other parties are welcomed to endorse Julian. Julian is a Green and will run a Green issues campaign.

Thanks for your comments. Let's keep the dialogue flowing.

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