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NEWS
TIRED
OF THE DEMOCRATS? WHY NOT GO GREEN?
(Letter to Las Vegas CityLife)
21
May 2002
Dear Editor:
When I was in high school in Idaho I became involved in politics because I wanted to carry on the proud tradition of Western do-it-yourself progressivism that allowed people such as Scoop Jackson, Frank Church, Pat Williams, Cecil Andrus and many others to contribute so much to our country. By the time I was 20 I held a seat on the Democratic state executive committee. At Idaho State I wasn't just a party man, I was the party man.
But as time wore on and the old guard faded away, the Democrats in Idaho became bland, exclusive and insular (sound familiar?). I moved to Chicago, and then to Philadelphia, only to find the same thing among Democrats there. The entire reason I got involved in the first place became increasingly ancillary. Until quite recently I felt compelled to withdraw from politics entirely, so I empathize with the plight faced by Tierney Cahill and Matthew Dushoff as reported by Jimmy Boegle in last week's issue.
I am amazed, but unfortunately not the slightest bit surprised, that the Nevada State Democratic Party treats its own candidates so shabbily. I don't blame Cahill one bit for pulling the plug on her House race; put in a similar position I would have told them to take this campaign and shove it as well. I applaud her character.
In my congressional district in 2000, fewer than one in three people who had the legal right to vote actually did so. But then again, given the obvious fact Nevada's major parties insist on running sanitized, corporatized and utterly boring candidates who openly place campaign finance above public service, one can hardly blame people for staying away in droves. Regardless of ideology, surely we must all agree we need to shake out the cobwebs and bring politics close to the people again. Democracy demands nothing less of us.
With Democrats hell-bent on committing political seppuku to appease a perceived notion of public image people don't give a damn about, the Western progressive ethic must take up residence elsewhere. I believe the Greens are its logical successor, and that's why I'm a Green today. Cahill, Dushoff and many other progressive-minded people in Nevada clearly aren't getting a fair shake among the Democrats; I invite them to give the Greens a try instead.
Authorized
by the Lane Startin for Congress Committee, Amber J. Schneiter,
Treasurer
P.O. Box 33761
Las Vegas, NV 89133-3761
(702)
324-2370
info@lanestartin.org
www.lanestartin.org
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