http://www.nyobserver.com/2007/drafting-al...ew-york-edition Gore's New York Petitioners by Azi Paybarah
Published: October 9, 2007
Tags: Politics, Al Gore, Bud Plautz, Michael Bloomberg
The hardy group of New Yorkers trying to draft Mike Bloomberg for president has some company in the category of local activists for non-candidates.
There’s a New York for Al Gore group getting ready to collect petition signatures to get the former vice president on the ballot for New York‘s Democratic primary on February 5.
The chairman of that petition drive, Bud Plautz, sent out an email to supporters that a reader (thank you) passed on to me in which he makes the appeal for help.
From the email: "There seems to be a lot of so-called "petitioning" to get Al Gore to run for president. That’s all fine and well. But the petitions referred to on these sites don’t seem to have anything to do with actually putting Al Gore on the Feb. 5th through filing petitions with the NYS Board of Elections."
In an interview, Plautz told me that ““Al Gore for sure can win in November of 2008. Indeed, he’s already won. He won in 2000. And then also, on the substantive issues, and I would refer you to his San Francisco speech in September of 2002 for the Iraq war. He predicted everything and what a mistake it is. He was right on the war issue. He’s been right on the global-warming issue.”
He explained that his group had resolved to proceed with the draft effort after a lunch meeting on the Upper East Side.
“We had a formal meeting at Sharz Restaurant on East 86th Street in late September,“ Plautz recounted. “The owner of the restaurant gave us a discount on lunch. I think I had one beer.”
Here's the full email from Bud Plautz:
Dear Al Gore Supporter,
I am writing to you at the suggestion of Stephen Cohen, President, NY Draft Al Gore (NYDAG). I am chair of the NYDAG petition drive to place Al Gore on the Feb. 5, 2008 NY State Democratic Primary ballot.
I am writing to ask you to volunteer and join the petition drive. Some of you may have already volunteered (at the lunch at Sharz Restaurant on 9/29) and as a result may receive this e-mail twice. I apologize for that.
Petitioning doesn’t begin until October 30th. But we need to prepare now. We have a website (www.newyorkforgore.com). It has links to the instructions for the petitioning drive. It also links to the petitions themselves. The instructions explain the number of signatures required, relevant dates and deadlines. The instructions also explain the information you need to get from the people signing the petition and the information you need to supply as the person circulating the petition. I’ve also attached the instructions to this e-mail.
But more importantly for now, we need more volunteers. I ask that everybody receiving this e-mail to contact anyone they know who is interested in joining the effort. Contact friends and relatives. If you have access to the e-mail list of a political club or other organization all the better. Please direct people to our website and ask them to download the instructions. Petitioning is simple. It can also be fun, especially when done in a group. It’s an opportunity to meet people and do something very worthwhile.
There also seems to be groups in New York that are either affiliated with national organizations supporting Al Gore or are operating by themselves. If anyone knows anything about these groups or is somehow affiliated with them, please direct those groups to our website or at least e-mail to me more information about these groups. There seems to be a lot of so-called "petitioning" to get Al Gore to run for president. That’s all fine and well. But the petitions referred to on these sites don’t seem to have anything to do with actually putting Al Gore on the Feb. 5th through filing petitions with the NYS Board of Elections. The other "petitions" seem to be directed to "petitioning" Al Gore and asking him to run. We are beyond that point. We need to be concerned with actually putting him on the ballot.
Please contact me with any questions or comments.
Bud Plautz