Peter Camejo = Green Party Gubernatorial wild card

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Peter Camejo = Green Party Gubernatorial wild card
Green Party can't be ignored, pundits Say

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Tuesday, April 16,

2002 San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=
/c/a/2002/04/16/MN163.DTL

Peter Miguel Camejo, who wants to be California's next
governor, has the kind of endorsement any Green Party
candidate would die for: Ronald Reagan once called him
"one of the 10 most dangerous people in California."

Camejo -- now a financial services executive -- doesn't
have the hefty campaign war chest of his rivals,
Democratic incumbent Gray Davis and Republican Bill
Simon. But just as Green Party presidential hopeful
Ralph Nader made his own mark on the 2000 presidential
race, Camejo could prove dangerous in the 2002
governor's race -- particularly for Davis.

A former firebrand student leader alongside Mario Savio
during University of California at Berkeley's free
speech heyday, Camejo was arrested for "unauthorized
use of a microphone" in an incident 35 years ago that
resulted in his suspension just shy of his graduation.

These days, the 62-year-old son of Venezuelan
immigrants, and grandfather of two, more resembles a
rumpled college professor than a campus radical. But
his still-fiery oratory -- combining a biting humor and
tough rhetoric on issues such as globalization,
environmental protection and health care -- can make
both his more buttoned-downed rivals look positively
anemic at the microphone.

"Both parties are dominated, especially at the top, by
corporate America, which is not putting the interests
of the people before their interests," said Camejo last
week, alternately punching the air and pounding the
podium as he formally disclosed his gubernatorial
campaign on the campus of his alma mater. "The Green
Party believes we really represent the majority point
of view in this state."

In the nation's most populous state, the Green
candidate's stealth campaign cannot be ignored,
political analysts say. The progressive party's appeal
to burgeoning ranks of independent voters here helped
put San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez into office,
along with a growing roster of city officials from
Santa Monica to Point Arena in recent years. Camejo
could, this November, lure disaffected Democrats,
especially those who deserted Davis during the March 5
primary.

"In the era of moderate Democratic candidates, there is
a vulnerability to defection by the progressive left to
the Green Party," said Bruce Cain, professor of
politics at UC Berkeley. "It's a factor which Gray
Davis always has to watch."

Greens are "tapping something among a younger
progressive environmental crowd worried about
globalization," Cain said. "There's a there there."
This year, which marks a decade since Greens first
appeared on the California ballot, the party has for
the first time assembled an entire slate of seven
statewide candidates, including an African American
woman for lieutenant governor and two other female
candidates.

The candidacy of Camejo could also hold an attraction
for some Latino voters, whom Davis desperately needs to
keep in his contest against Simon. Bob Mulholland,
campaign adviser to the state Democratic Party,
disputes the Greens' claims that they represent the
state's fastest-growing party, noting that -- even with
10 years of organizing -- they represent less than 1
percent of the state's registered voters.

"There's not many of them, but they certainly know how
to cause damage to the progressive agenda . . ." he
said. "The Green Party single-handedly deserves the
blame for Bush Jr. in the White House." And Joe
Wildman, the former Green Party treasurer credited with
getting Greens on the California ballot in the first
place, said he had become a Democrat, largely because
the Greens' promise was never fulfilled.

"I personally believe there are half a million
Californians who would join if the Green Party would
directly contact them, and go door-to-door to register
voters in the state," said Wildman, now a member of the
state Democratic Party central committee from
Mendocino. "But that involves real work." Although he's
"a great fan" of Camejo, Wildman said, "the Green Party
has been taken over by people who believe running
candidates builds the party. . . . It doesn't."

Cain said the extent of the Greens' "strong attraction"
to the far left will be tested by the closeness of the
November election. "A lot of the progressive left are
smart enough to realize there's a time to vote their
ideology -- and there's a time not to," he said.

Ross Mirkirimi, state spokesman for the Green Party,
said Greens would "anticipate and strategize" any
attempt to dissuade progressives on that front. "Gray
Davis is the poster child of the Democratic Party -- as
bland and as moderate as you can possibly be,"
Mirkirimi said. "He does not inspire people to rally
around him."

Camejo charges that Democrats have abandoned their
principles on issues like racial profiling, affordable
housing and health care.

Indeed, he revs up his audience by throwing barbs at
the Democratic governor -- echoing Simon's charges that
Davis has made fund raising, not California, his major
focus.

"Davis began this campaign with $30 million; those were
not contributions. Those are investments," Camejo said.
"People expect a return on their money. That's the
definition of corruption -- (getting) money for a
candidate, and expecting something in return."

IN HIS OWN WORDS: Quotes from Peter Miguel Camejo -- On
Gov. Gray Davis' handling of the energy crisis: "Why do
you think Gov. Davis bought $43 billion worth of energy
(in long-term contracts)? . . .  This is the worst
investment ever made, by anybody on our planet."

-- On crime: "We're against (the three strikes law).
You know, there's people doing 25 to life for stealing
$150 worth of videos? . . . Why are there no three
strikes for corporations?" -- On gay and lesbian
rights: "You know, the same percentage of people are
gay and lesbian as are left-handed. Let's try to figure
that out. How can it be that a left-handed person can
get married to another left-handed person. Left-handed
people can do anything they want. . . . I say, give
homosexuals the same rights we give left-handed
people." -- On terrorism: "One can disagree with George
Bush and not be for terrorism. In fact, one of the
reasons we disagree with him is that we think what he's
doing is going to create more terrorism. Terrorism is
not a military issue. It's a political, social and
economic issue." -- On the environment: "In California,
our ancient forests are down to 4 percent. And we're
trying to promote a campaign to not cut one more tree
that is older than the state." .

For more information -- Camejo campaign Web site:
votecamejo.org

©2002 San Francisco Chronicle   Page A - 3




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