The most credible case to come along in many years for a
non-major-party candidacy in a U.S. Senate election is standing right
now in Maryland, "The Free State."
Kevin Zeese, the outspoken Director of the campaign at DemocracyRising.US for a responsible end to the American occupation in Iraq, national leader in the movement to impeach George Bush, recognized authority on drug policy,
public health issues and election reform, former Press Secretary to the
2004 Presidential Campaign of Ralph Nader, is gathering all the voices
of the Unrepresented Majority to claim a place on Capitol Hill.
His "fusion campaign" linking members of the Green Party, Populist Party, and Libertarian Party is unique in Maryland history. These are, of course, a diverse lot; but Zeese offers a cross-ideological stance
that upholds the core values of each group. He is an opponent of the
Patriot Act, and an advocate for the basic freedoms that "unleash the
creativity, entrepreneurship and greatness of Americans" championed by
the Libertarians. His entire career
has supported the calls for economic justice, closing tax loopholes, an
end to corporate welfare and fairness for working families carried
forward by Populists.
And he presents the ten key principles of the Green Party as "a common sense outline of where the country needs to go."
Zeese is the uniter who has drawn these three movements under one wing, together with Democrats, Republicans, and non-aligned voters
— the fastest-growing constituency in Maryland politics — to stake a
common purpose. They all share a determination to be heard, to have a
place at the table, to have a voice in the mainstream debate; an d the
combined power of their efforts, if translated to public office in
November 2006, holds a thunderous promise.
"I've worked for 30 years as an advocate for positive change," Zeese
asserts, "ending the war on drugs, ensuring our votes are counted on
machines with a paper record, protecting civil liberties and seeking
peace. And one lesson I've learned is that you can have the facts on
your side, have common sense on your side, have justice on your side —
even have a majority of Americans on your side — and still our elected
representatives will ignore you and put special interests first."
Right now, as Zeese points out, the U.S. war in Iraq is "a defining
issue of our times." But while polls have consistently shown that a
majority of Americans favor an immediate withdrawal of some or all U.S.
troops, both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are unwilling to
publicly discuss the realities of an American exit from Iraq. As far
back as January 2005, polls began to show that a majority of citizens agreed the U.S. invasion was a "mistake," not worth the cost either in lives or in dollars, and in fact was having a harmful effect on combating terrorism. But the small, growing number of elected officials
who share that view have had a difficult struggle attempting to force a
resolution or bring the is sue before their colleagues for general
consideration. The manipulation of parliamentary procedure to deny
rational discourse is so extreme that "they can't even get a room," Zeese charges.
Even without the presence of Zeese bringing his wild-card
Independent campaign to challenge the entrenched incumbency of the
two-party system, the Maryland Senate race is expected to draw national
attention. Retiring five-term Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes
has left a wide-open field that so far has drawn a raucous crowd of
half a dozen contenders vying for the nomination in his place. On the
Republican side, Lt. Governor Michael Steele — the party's highest-ranking elected African-American — is the clear front-runner.
Although Maryland — the home of RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman — has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, the Dems' strength (and enrollment) has declined in recent years, while the GOP has been in ascendancy. Nationally-driven support for Steele's rising star
is expected to give him a campaign budget of up to 17 million dollars,
with allies such as California Governor Schwarzenegger stumping on his
behalf.
Civil rights leader Kweisi Mfume,
distinguished former head of the NAACP, five-term U.S. Congressman from
Baltimore, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1992-1994, was
the first to declare his candidacy for the Democratic nod. Stressing
the need to raise the visibility of the problem of poverty and the concerns of the disadvantaged, Mfume also took up the banner of the anti-war movement.
There are "two voices in the Democratic Party" he declared, making it
plain that he will not echo the silence of leaders whose failure to
assert strong opposition to the war has made them culpable for its
continuation.
Greeted with stony indifference by the party faithful for a full
month after his dedication, Mfume's bid took a plunge in April when
Baltimore-area Congressman Ben Cardin
announced his intention to seek the spot. One day later, uncorroborated
allegations of sexual misconduct during Mfume's term at NAACP surfaced
in the Baltimore press, taking front-page status. Mfume's fundraising
has gone from negligible to almost nil. Press coverage has dried up;
and one reporter called him "the invisible candidate."
More than a year in advance of the election, Maryland state officeholders and Democratic party leaders have been lining up by the dozen to give Cardin their public endorsement. More than a year before the primaries, his fundraising topped one million dollars.
As a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Cardin's influence over tax legislation has made him an attractive recipient of donations
from banking, finance and real estate lobbies, the largest single
category of his supporters. Well-known political commentator Allan Lichtman,
a professor at American University, noted that Cardin is "the biggest
percentage recipient of corporate PAC money of any national Democrat in
Maryland." Lichtman launched his own campaign for the Senate seat in September, sharply criticizing Cardin's record and philosophy.
Portraying himself after the example of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, Lichtman went down the list
of "what is wrong in Washington," tallying the shortcomings of the Bush
administration and Republicans in general, but leaving no doubt that
plenty of problems have been caused, exacerbated, or ignored by Ben
Cardin during almost 20 years in Congress. "Too many Democrats
have...forfeited our destiny,"
Lichtman accused. Cardin has contributed to "a politics...where
money is more important than the needs of the people." Cardin is
associated with the worst excesses of the Patriot Act; and his
toe-the-line support for American intervention in Iraq has embroiled
the nation in a "needless, deceptive war."
Lichtman warned the Democratic establishment that their tactic of
appointing Ben Cardin the de facto heir to Paul Sarbanes was "a recipe
for a Republican Senator in 2006." But Cardin is the likely Democratic
favorite. In his eighth House term, with powerful committee memberships
and with leadership positions such as the Steering Committee of the
House Democratic Caucus, Cardin aims to be a standard-bearer for the
party's centrist aspirations.
If things go true to form in Maryland during next year's primaries,
both major parties will anoint professional political insiders who can
be expected to uphold the continuing maintenance of business-as-usual:
a government owned and operated by wealthy interests, for the benefit
of wealthy interests; a government of the people, contrary to the will
of the people.
But on both sides of the aisle, there will be challengers mobilizing
the grassroots, speaking out and raising the issues of civil liberties,
gay rights, fiscal responsibility, economic justice, racial inequality,
alternative energy, protecting the environment, excessive corporate
influence and moral values that will not be represented by their
party's chosen. The nominees will then have to woo the supporters of
their defeated primary opponents in the general election to come. With
Kevin Zeese calling on Marylanders to chart "a new political course...a new direction for politics in America,"
voters will be asked to decide whether the two parties really hold an
incontestable, inherited right to the offices of the Senate.
A "big tent" is wonderful, and a party that welcomes diversity is
something to celebrate. But if a party takes your vote and gives you
nothing in return for your support? If you know that the country is
headed in the wrong direction, but party leadership will not embrace
the best interests of the nation?
In Maryland, there will be a clear alternative, and a credible
candidate who will stand up for the unrepresented electorate on both
sides. Kevin Zeese will be standing up
for those who were washed away from their rooftops by Hurricane
Katrina, the victims of policies administered by two parties who have
(wittingly or unwittingly) conspired to let the interests of an elite
few masquerade as national interest. The misplaced budget priorities,
decades of neglecting infrastructure maintenance and upgrading, the
failure to serve the people's needs in New Orleans was brought on by a
party that stands for oppression and corruption, masked by a
holier-than-thou mentality they use to justify transgressing the rights
of their fellow citizens; and by a party that aids and abets oppression
and corruption with equal damage to truth, masked by well-meaning,
warm-hearted platitudes that they do not fully live up to.
More than any other single factor, the outcome of this race may
depend on the votes of African-Americans, who constitute one-third of
the Maryland electorate — forty percent in the Democratic primary.
Republicans hope to present them with the attractive image of a
successful black candidate who advocates passionately for parental involvement in education, delivers inspiring speeches cut from the cloth of Abraham Lincoln, and puts a friendly face on their message of triumphant conservatism. But Democrats are treading a rocky path.
But to this point, he has been distinctly snubbed by the party
machine; and there have even been mutterings that he should melt away.
Not likely; Mfume announced his candidacy with a decisive emphasis
"I can't be bought, I won't be intimidated, and I don't know how to
quit." Things are not so simple as a strict color line, of course.
Other African-American leaders in Maryland have held back their
endorsement, waiting to see which way the political winds are blowing;
and they acknowledge there's more than racial politics at work. But if
Mfume is cast aside without respect, leaving perceptions of
mistreatment that offend his supporters — or if the eventual nominee
fails to speak convincingly to their interests — Democrats risk
alienating a substantial portion of their own base.
Zeese will offer them a third way.
From his earliest days as a lawyer working to correct the misguided
direction of the nation's failed war on drugs, including a position on
Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's Mayor's Working Group on Drug Policy
Reform, Zeese has been involved with efforts to protect Americans from the unjust effects of laws
that take a disproportionate toll on the poor and disadvantaged. Like
Mfume, he has been active at the forefront of movements to restore and
fulfill the dream of an America built on egalitarian principles —
marching with the Journey For Justice, for example, on behalf of 43
mostly black residents of Tulia, Texas caught up in a fabricated drug
sting; and bringing attention to the death of Esequiel Hernandez, a
high school student herding goats who was killed by U.S. Marines on the
Mexican border. Zeese has been President, Founder, or helped to develop
more than a dozen organizations defending the rights of all Americans,
including Common Sense For Drug Policy, the Harm Reduction Coalition,TrueVoteMD and VoteTrustUSA.
Other candidates, too, will have something to say to the issues of
race and class. Lichtman, for example, was an analyst for the Civil
Rights Commission who published controversial findings
showing that the theft of Florida's electoral votes in the 2000
Presidential election was not enabled by the participation of Ralph
Nader or any other third-party candidate, but was accomplished by
systematic and pervasive disenfranchisement of African-American voters.
But if Ben Cardin succeeds to win the Democratic nomination, this
race may well shape up to look like John Kerry versus the Peace
Movement deja vu.
Voters may be asked — again — to support a party whose chief virtue
is that "we're not the other guy," when the guy they present does not
offer any path except deepening the crisis at hand. Voters may be asked
— again — to support a party that does not represent their true
interests, a party that has helped to create all the current crises
that we have inherited, a party that has shown no moral leadership or
capacity to govern even when it has held the reins of power.
Voters may be asked — again — to take a leap of faith when they have
little to gain, and little to lose by the victory or defeat of either
side.
While Ben Cardin runs to get elected on John Kerry's coattails,
Michael Steele doesn't have to run — he's just riding in George Bush's
vest pocket. But Kevin Zeese
is asking Americans to join him in helping to take back the government
that is rightfully theirs, and put an end to an unjust war.
To find out more about Kevin Zeese's Unity Campaign for the U.S.
Senate, to volunteer or donate, go to http://www.kevinzeese.com.
Michael Butler was a media spokesperson for the Presidential
campaign of Ralph Nader in Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota during
Autumn 2004.
