Here is one worthy for a belly laugh
Liberals bring in American organizer
Candidates seek fundraising tips
JANE TABER
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA — The U.S. political organizer credited with "reinventing campaigning" by using the Internet to raise millions for Howard Dean's presidential bid is going to teach Liberals how to do the same for their leadership campaigns.
About 50 Liberals, including some of the potential leadership candidates, caucus members, volunteers and organizers, will hear from Joe Trippi, the former Vermont governor's campaign manager, at an event in Toronto next week.
Mr. Trippi tapped into the U.S. grassroots through the Internet by raising money in increments averaging less than $100 that resulted in millions of dollars for Mr. Dean, who ran unsuccessfully against John Kerry for the 2004 Democratic Party nomination.
The rules for financing political campaigns in Canada changed significantly after new legislation was passed in 2003, and leadership candidates can no longer receive thousands of dollars from corporations or unions.
The new Canadian rules allow an individual to donate up to $5,200 to a candidate's campaign. The candidate can give only $10,200 of his or her own money.
The leadership vote is to be held Dec. 2 in Montreal. Candidates are allowed to spend up to $3.4-million.
The organizer behind the Trippi event is Liberal Senator Jerry Grafstein, who wanted to do something to help Liberals think creatively about the party's future.
Mr. Grafstein said he is concerned about the lack of unity in the party that led many Liberals to sit out this year's election and previous votes.
He was also wondering how to use this leadership race as an opportunity to increase party membership.
And so Mr. Grafstein, who is knowledgeable about U.S. politics, picked up his telephone several weeks ago and invited Mr. Trippi to Toronto for lunch and a 30-minute talk followed by questions. He invited the other participants personally, picking a range of Liberals from all aspects of the party and the country.
Mr. Grafstein said the purpose of the event is to "get somebody who could give us advice" with respect to grassroots and democracy. He also said participants, who pay $100 to $150 to attend the event, can learn from Mr. Trippi's mistakes.
Mr. Trippi has attracted some controversy for the way he has run campaigns, says one Democrat, who also helped out on the Dean campaign.
"He's extremely talented, he has a funky personality," said the Democratic organizer, who noted, however, that Mr. Trippi is "arrogant in his ideas."
"I don't know the last candidate he produced a win for. . . . I'm not sure what Joe could possibly have to offer that would be relevant or new in Canada. But he's American and so by definition he must be smart," the organizer said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Grafstein, whose roots in the Liberal Party go back to the Pearson and Trudeau eras, is no stranger to thinking outside the box. He organized the Canada Loves New York weekend, in which thousands of Canadians travelled to New York after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Potential leadership candidate Carolyn Bennett, a former Martin cabinet minister and veteran Toronto MP, is one of the participants in the Trippi event.
Dr. Bennett, who says she will decide whether to seek the leadership in the next several weeks, noted that the Conservative Party raised much of its money for the recent election in smaller amounts from truly grassroots organizations. The Liberals, in the past, have relied on corporations.
"It's something that a lot of us have been very keen about in terms of obviously turning the Liberal Party into a truly liberal party . . . ," she said. |
