Just got back from a weekend of speaking with other NSW Greens members in a couple of regional areas. It was an interesting, enjoyable, and a challenging first experience for me. I'm not an experienced campaigner by any stretch of the imagination, this actually being the first time I have done such a thing. I had no idea what to expect, so everything was a surprise.
My biggest concern after the weekend is that I'm not convinced members totally understand that "Joe or Josephine Average" has a totally different view on life and society. As I have mentioned in previous posts - there is a danger that a candidate will get selected that is not able to relate to non-Green voters and therefore the party will not obtain the votes needed to gain a Senate seat in Federal Parliament. But I have to tread carefully when I say these sorts of things.
It is easy to socialise with people of a similar background and/or political persuasion - I don't. Not on purpose, but simply because I don't know people of a "Green" persuasion - this results in being in an almost constant debate and also challenges my convictions (which is a good thing). This is why this issue concerns me. People will select who ever they think is the best candidate; but I want to encourage people to think about their reasons.
