CAMPBELL GOES GREEN TO RAISE PROFILE

SAN FRANCISCO -- Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell highlighted an
obscure issue and touted an alliance with an obscure candidate -- all in
hopes that this would somehow lift his candidacy out of obscurity.

Campbell, who is trailing Sen. Dianne Feinstein vastly both in the polls
and in fund raising, shared the stage -- or rather the sidewalk -- with
Green Party Senate candidate Medea Benjamin in what is believed to be the
first joint Green-GOP news conference in California.

Together, the two candidates spoke out against a package of $1.6 billion in
U.S. military aid to Colombia, including helicopters and advisers, to help
that nation fight a civil war and reduce the flow of drugs to the United
States. The package, supported by Feinstein, is expected to come up for a
vote in the Senate this week, possibly as early as today.

Campbell said the joint appearance with his Green Party rival underscores
his ability to reach out to new voters and build unusual coalitions.

"I'm trying, and I think succeeding, at doing politics differently," said
Campbell, a Silicon Valley congressman and Stanford law professor. "This
campaign is not business as usual."

Several political analysts say Campbell's best and perhaps only chance to
defeat the popular, centrist Democratic incumbent is to portray himself as
a fresh, new candidate -- something like an intellectual Jesse Ventura.

"To my knowledge there's never been a coalition between Republicans and
Greens," said UC Berkeley political science professor Bruce Cain. "Normally
Greens compete for Democratic voters. This all gets back to the very
unusual, quirky candidacy that Tom Campbell is running."

Campbell's views are like a pendulum. They swing to the left and the right
and hardly ever stop in the center.

"He's to the left of her on some issues and to the right of her on others,"
Cain said.

Campbell supports cutting economic aid to Israel, ending the embargo
against Iraq and allowing addicts to be given drugs in a controlled setting
- -- positions to the left of nearly all Republicans as well as Feinstein.

On economic issues, however, Campbell arguably is to the right of many
Republicans and Feinstein with his calls to replace the income tax with a
national sales tax.

In contrast to Campbell, Benjamin is running under the motto "People Above
Profits." She supports universal health care and banning genetically
altered foods.

But on this issue, Campbell and Benjamin spoke with one voice, arguing that
the money proposed for Colombia would be better spent treating addicts in
the United States than intervening in a civil war. They said the money
would help pay for treatment for the 3 million addicts who want to kick the
habit, but can't get into rehabilitation.

"Let's not spend the money in a wasteful way. Let's spend the money on drug
treatment in America," Campbell said.

The duo tried to emphasize the need for more spending on drug treatment by
holding their news conference at the Walden House, a drug rehabilitation
center in this city's Mission District.

But their plans were changed when a worried drug counselor shooed them out
the door and tried to move them across the street.

"This press conference has to go," the counselor said. "We have clients
here. They can't be filmed."

Instead, the two candidates had to settle for the sidewalk, competing with
both the gusty winds and the honks and blares of passing cars on the busy
street for attention.

Their struggle to be heard above the street noise seemed symbolic of the
lack of attention paid to their issue of Colombian aid.

Polls show voters are most interested in education, health care, the
economy and public safety. Foreign-policy issues are barely on the minds of
many voters.

"Unfortunately, there's not a national debate about this issue," Benjamin
conceded. "The majority of people in the U.S. don't even know about this bill."

Feinstein knows, however. She is a strong supporter of the aid package,
said her press secretary, Jim Hock. In a recent speech on the Senate floor,
she said the aid will help stop the spread of the narco-terrorism
afflicting Colombia.

"It is in the American national interest to stand tall against the (drug)
cartels," she said.

Campbell said that even if this issue failed to excite voters, he would
continue criticizing Feinstein for her support of the Colombian military.

"If this is a great issue for nobody but me," he said, "I'm still going to
keep bringing it up."