Green Party candidates running for all levels of government have paid a price this election season for not accepting corporate donations.
The party also has not held any major fund-raisers this year. The first such event will be held tonight at The Dollar Nightclub, 3411 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing.
The fund-raiser is sponsored by the Capital Area Greens.
The Lash, a Lansing band, is headlining the event with the opening band, The Mouth Brothers. Doors open at 8 p.m. There is a $5 cover which goes to the Lansing-area Green Party for local activities.
The event is open to those 18 or older.
Bonnie Bucqueroux, a Green Party candidate for the 8th Congressional District, will speak at the event.
The funding of her race is an example of how the Green Party can’t compete with the major parties in terms of fund-raising - and that’s how the Green Party likes it, Bucqueroux said.
The two major-party candidates, state Sens. Dianne Byrum, D-Onondaga, and Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, have each raised more than $1 million dollars for their campaigns, with most of that money coming from corporations.
Bucqueroux, on the other hand, said she plans to raise only about 1 percent of her opponents’ combined fund-raising.
“I am expecting ultimately to raise somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 to 4,000 dollars, only a fraction of my opponents,” Bucquerox said. “I think that the grubbing for corporate cash is what has been a disaster for the government.
“Now that both parties accept so much corporate cash they can’t be as critical and harsh as they could be.”
Without much money to fund her campaign, Bucquerox’s tactics are much different from her opponents’.
“I’m trying to substitute the Internet for TV commercials,” she said. “Even doing a mailing is hard to do with this money.
“We just try to make the most of every dollar.”
Other Green supporters agree the lack of funding is worth the cause.
“There are people throughout the state who deem the Green Party worthy of their money,” said Dawn McClain, an organizer of the Michigan Green Party. “Our campaigning is grassroots. We believe in connecting human being to human being and while that’s time-consuming, we feel it’s worth it.”
McClain said the government has given corporations rights of voting by allowing candidates to accept donations from them, especially in recent years.
With strong values McClain said many Americans identify with, the party has some goals for the future.
“We really are working to earn every vote this year,” she said. “In four years I hope to see a Green (Party) president.”
Colleen Kelley, a Capital Area Greens organizer, said local events only help to get the word out about what the Greens stand for.
“We welcome anyone interested (in taking) an active part in the Greens or who just wants to learn more to come to one of our meetings,” Kelley said.
