The lbpost.com is asking all 4 Congressional candidates for the 37th District to submit a statement about why voters should support them in the upcoming election.
Below is the first in a series.
Daniel Brezenoff: Green Party Candidate
Voters in California’s 37th Congressional District have a unique opportunity this summer. With only one progressive candidate in the race to represent us, we can wake up and shake up Washington DC by sending a new party to the House of Representatives.
The Green Party has been right on the issues that matter for three decades. We organized and spoke out against the war in Iraq. We have worked at the grassroots level to protect the environment since long before Al Gore made his movie. Unlike Democrats, we have consistently lobbied against trade agreements that sell out the Earth and sell out American labor.
Where the major parties are hostile to working families, or too spineless to stand up to powerful interests, the Greens have always held to our core principles: Social justice, equality, sustainability, nonviolence. That’s why Greens have been elected to 55 offices in California and more than 200 across the nation, and why we win about 75% of our elections, despite having less money than the major parties.
My Democratic opponent spent 200 dollars for every vote she got in the primary; I spent four. Having the truth on your side saves money! Everywhere I go, people are fed up with the same old same old, and skeptical that anything will come along to rescue our struggling Democracy. Then they hear about the Green Party and the question often asked is: “Where do I sign up?”
I can win this election with your help. The leading candidate got just 4% of the eligible electorate in the primary. Many citizens are so cynical about the political system they don’t bother voting. I am confident if they knew about my campaign, many would vote to send a Green to Congress.
This is the perfect time. Our district is too progressive to elect a Republican; if I take half the Democrat’s votes, I would win, she would come in second, and the Republican (my new friend John Kanaley) would be a distant third. It’s safe to vote your conscience, it’s safe to vote for a third party, it’s safe to vote Green!
I am the only candidate who organized to prevent this war. I am the only candidate who has always advocated full equality for all Americans. And I am the only candidate with a plan for a sustainable economy – the New Deal for sustainability, which I invite you to read about on my website.
My Democratic opponent, Laura Richardson, quotes Martin Luther King in her literature: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
As a peace organizer, I approached then-councilwoman Richardson in 2003. I asked her to support the troops by keeping them home. She demurred, and refused to use her office to speak against the invasion. She insisted we “support the troops” once war began. Now she says, “The best way to support the troops is to bring them home.” Why the change in principle?
Ms Richardson sat on the fence and did not take a strong public stand about the war. Martin Luther King not only opposed the Vietnam War, but all war. He advocated “nonviolence in international relations”. Does Ms. Richardson embrace that core value, or does she simply quote Dr King for political points?
If you are progressive, you want to elect a candidate who will strongly oppose Republicans and their misuse of the American military, a representative who has always advocated equality for all, a Congressman with a plan to build a sustainable economy and achieve energy independence.
The Green Party and I have been on the right side of issues, whether popular or not, for more than 25 years.
If you are happy with the way things are, elect one more Democrat to Congress. If you want change and real progress, I ask you for your vote on August 21.