DIRTY BUSINESS

Are Oregonians really interested in change?

When I started running for governor last fall somebody told me "Be
careful, politics is a real dirty business." I told them I knew what I
was getting into. Looking back on it, I knew more than most people
would have guessed.

Starting with last summer's Pacific Green Party state convention, the
contention grew and swirled around my small campaign. The Greens at
that convention and all subsequent conventions couldn't decide on
much, let alone whether or not to endorse my campaign either as green
or non-partisan. I told them then that if they didn't nominate me, not
only would they not field a candidate, but it would make my chances
slimmer. As it turns out, I was right. Not only was Jim Weaver not a
viable candidate for the Greens, but he sabotaged them (and me) by
backing out at the last minute right before their last convention.

Last fall I went to the UO Street Fair. Next to me was Eugene
PeaceWorks. Curiously enough, the PeaceWorks people told me they
wouldn't support me because my stance on abortion wasn't exactly what
they wanted to hear. Now during the whole campaign my message has been
"if you can't find common ground and consensus with those whose
viewpoints most closely represent yours, you will never find peace
with those whose opinions are widely divergent from yours." You heard
it here first.

But I don't think Eugene PeaceWorks is all that peaceful. For one,
they were gnawing on sticks of pork, beef and chicken. Now thousands
of years of yogic teaching tells me that you don't harm a thing that
has a face, feet or a mother. Non-violence extends that far.

Next stop on the campaign trail was the hemp and marijuana movement.
Last spring as I tried to ramp my campaign up into high gear my
interactions with them became competitive instead of cooperative.
Instead of backing a signature drive like mine where I only needed
15,301 signatures to get on the ballot, Voter Power chose to field
their own petition at the last minute. They needed 82,000-plus
signatures in a couple of months and I told them they weren't going to
make it and should just focus on getting me on the ballot. Their big
angry egos got in the way though and they asked, "What have you done
for me?" not realizing my years of activism in the hemp and marijuana
movement.

And if that wasn't bad enough, a Prineville person came out of the
blue with a marijuana petition. Once again I tried to tell people that
it wouldn't work, and sure enough it didn't. Both petitions got some
30,000 signatures, twice as many as I needed.

Lastly, and leastly, the local hemp movement, which puts out a little
television program, had me on as a guest several different times. But
they themselves were unwilling to do any of the hard work of getting
signatures or any other difficult work associated with
campaigning.

Amongst all of this, people asked me how can I as a yoga teacher run
for governor? Aren't yoga and politics mutually exclusive? I don't
think so, and if you don't take my word for it ask Marianne
Williamson, who was just here speaking about that very issue at the
Health and Well-being Celebration.

In the backdrop of all of this the media refused to give me the
attention I deserved as the only multilingual candidate, the only
candidate who had a baby on the campaign trail, the youngest candidate
(36), the only candidate currently enrolled at the UO, the only
candidate in favor of legalizing marijuana and hemp, the only
candidate who has served as an international peacekeeper in Mexico for
the Zapatistas - twice.

All of this raises some very good questions: Can true change be
achieved through politics? Are people interested in change, or just in
their channel changers? When is the progressive left ever going to get
together to field good viable candidates? How many election cycles are
we going to be tricked by the fear factor of getting the other guy
elected?

Don't forget it was Democrats who nominated Attorney General John
Ashcroft, and if a democratic governor gets elected, you can bet that
the National Democratic Party will tell its flunky in Oregon to toe
the line and let Ashcroft have his way. So either one means a complete
loss of state and civil rights for Oregon. That is why you can still
vote for me, just write my name in like tens of thousands of others
across the state.