Editor,
Electing caricatures of imaginable winners in an election ensures representation of only a make-believe democracy. Political season is back, and it is time that you once again try to hold your nose and try to find a way to swallow the pill of a rotten candidate for governor. Will it be Bill Richardson - godfather of NAFTA, keeper of the arms race, and nuclear polluter? Or will it be John Sanchez - of the same stripes as our notorious 'commander as thief?' Both already owe favors up to their necks to those who have paid to put a friend in office. I know that the most problematic issues for some are not who wins but making sure that they have given enough money to both campaigns. Disgusted? Good, then don't vote - it will make them both happier. Remember, Gore gave away his duty to Bush that way, too.
Maybe you wish for a better way to tell your least favorite power monger you have had enough. You could vote for the other one. Kind of like when you changed from MCI to AT&T so that payment of last month's bill gets put off for a few days. That'll show him. The problem is that shifting your debt just made it add up, not go away. OK, enough moralizing, you want things to get better already - that is why you vote anyway, right? I mean you don't go to the polls just to witness who wins, that's why we have the 24-hour news.
But wait, there is still a reason to pay attention, take some time to come to know Green Party candidate for governor David Bacon and his ticket-mate Kathy Sanchez running for lieutenant governor. These two individuals have stepped forward to serve New Mexico and present an opportunity for you to support a truly grassroots effort to reshape our state and national political systems. They are running a serious campaign and with your help we can overcome the many hurdles of confronting a corrupt and well-financed oligarchy.
To date we have collected over 20,000 signatures. His campaign has fought to put their names on the printed ballot. And after turning down $250,000 of Republican money to run Greens in other races, Greens statewide have pressed one media outlet after another to accept that David Bacon is a candidate that deserves inclusion in the televised debates.
I believe that Democrats and Republicans alike have reason to pause when it comes to approaching Green politics. We are a different animal. We are not for sale nor are we going to go away. We are going to challenge the status quo and self-interested political solutions. Greens present the solution to our political Plutocracy. So if you are interested in more than telling the latest publicity whore to stop playing in the mud, there is a better way. Be Green.
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David Miertschin
UNM faculty
