Rich Whitney for Illinois Governor 2006!

Update: Green Party Candidate for Illinois Governor, Rich Whitney

Dear Friends,

I’ve got some good news and some not-so-good news – although, with your help, we can make the not-so-good news go away.

The good news is that, thanks to the hard work of Phil Huckelberry, Christina Tobin, David Sacks, Eric Much, Jennifer Rose, dozens of hard-working volunteers too numerous to mention, and attorney Andrew Spiegel, who donated hours of valuable legal services on our behalf, we are certain to defeat the Democratic Party machine’s challenge to our petitions to get on the ballot. Our campaign team overturned the vast majority of the machine’s groundless objections. While it won’t be official until the State Board of Elections issues a final ruling, we are winning! The Green Party State Slate, including yours truly, will be on the November 7th ballot, giving the people of Illinois a real choice in the 2006 election!

The not so-good-news is that this effort has really taxed us, diverting a lot of time, energy and money. Therefore, we now need your financial help if we are going to take this campaign to the next level and be truly competitive.

I’m not talking about a few people giving thousands and thousands of dollars. That is not the Green way. This is a grass-roots, movement-based campaign. What we really need are lots of people donating $10, $20, $50 or $100. Of course, if some of you can afford to give more than that, that would be wonderful. But whatever you can donate, now is the time to step up to the plate.

Now that I will be on the ballot, all bets are off as to who will win the election in November. Of course I don’t expect to raise the millions of dollars that my corporate-sponsored rivals have raised. I don’t need to. If I can raise enough get my message out, we can win this election!

Look, the people of Illinois are sick and tired of politicians who assume that voters they can be bought! They are sick and tired of the daily dose of news about political corruption, patronage hiring and other influence peddling by the candidates of the two corporate-sponsored parties. They are sick and tired of a "campaign" that mainly consists of two candidates spending huge sums of money to blast each other’s lack of ethics.

The latest polls show that Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican Judy Baar Topinka had "unfavorable" ratings of 49 and 50 percent, respectively. The majority of voters would vote for a third candidate if they can be persuaded that such a candidate would do a good job and has a chance of winning. As word of our campaign spreads, we can win over those voters. In a tight three-way race, we could win with 34 percent of the vote.

We can win over these voters because I am the only candidate in this race that actually has well-thought out, positive proposals for:

- dealing with our state budget crisis, getting adequate funds for our schools, paying our Medicaid bills on time, and funding state workers’ pensions;

- knocking down property taxes and making our tax system more fair and equitable;

- combating global warming, cleaning up our environment, cutting soaring energy prices – and creating tens of thousands of new jobs in the process;

- enacting universal health-care, through a single-payer system, and

- moving us toward the goal of full employment, at living wages or better.

These proposals have not come from big business, big banks and insurance companies. My proposals come from real citizens’ advocacy groups – from groups like the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, A+ Illinois, Voices for Illinois Children, the Better Funding for Better Schools Coalition, AFSCME, Repower the Midwest, the Apollo Alliance, Environment Illinois, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, the Illinois Environmental Council, the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, the Illinois Farmers Union, the Campaign for Better Health Care and Good Jobs First.

These are the kinds of groups and causes I support – not because any of them have "bought" support, but because these are the kinds of organizations that are truly fighting for the public interest, the kinds of organizations and causes that the Green Party is fighting for in the electoral arena.

Please help support our fight to restore government of, by, and for the people.

Please help us make political history in Illinois.

Remember, because the Green Party does not accept corporate contributions, donations from civic-minded concerned citizens like you are crucial. You can donate online through this site, via PayPal, or you can send your donation to "Whitney for Governor," at P.O. Box 3803, Carbondale, IL 62902. Illinois law requires you to include your full name and mailing address with any donations over $20, and, for donations over $500, you must also list your occupation and employer. Whatever donation you can make today will be greatly appreciated.


Sincerely,

Rich Whitney

Green Party Candidate for Governor of Illinois