Independent candidates liberate student options

Monday, November 2, 1998

Independent candidates liberate student options

RACE: Third parties offer young voters opportunity to elect
leaders urging activism, personal freedom

By Emi Kojima and Nick Williams

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

While Gray Davis and Dan Lungren butt heads in the final days
before the general election, five other candidates continue to run
their own campaigns for governor.

These third-party candidates ­ those from smaller parties
in the predominantly two-party system of Democrats and Republicans
­ will run in the Nov. 3 election.

The most prominent third-party candidate is Dan Hamburg of the
Green Party (for more information see related article).

Other candidates are running on the slate of the American
Independent Party, Libertarian Party, Natural Law Party, and Peace
and Freedom Party.

Nathan E. Johnson, American Independent

A bus driver in San Diego County, Nathan Johnson of the American
Independent Party is "for less government and more individual
responsibility."

The American Independent Party has 280,000 registered party
members. It puts candidates on the ballot in over 30 U.S.
states.

"Students voting should be interested in having personal
freedom," he said.

Johnson distinguishes himself from the other candidates by his
staunch position that there shouldn’t be abortions. "I am pro-life
and make no exceptions," he said.

He also supports a voucher program for students in elementary
school ­ and with it more parental control of where students
go to school. He advocates a similar system for the UCs.

Johnson, who ran for state controller in 1994 and for state
assembly in 1996, said he believes in the right to have guns, with
no exceptions.

While he acknowledges a problem of student apathy in voting, he
said that independent parties offer more options to voters.

"I encourage students to look around and look at some of the
third-party options. They are more able to express themselves in
third-parties. They can participate. We also are anxious to have
candidates," Johnson said.

Steve W. Kubby, Libertarian

While the major parties run regular mudslinging commercials
highlighting their opponents’ faults, Steve Kubby began running a
"South Park" parody commercial Wednesday in support of his campaign
for governor.

This commercial is being run with the idea that "your parents’
politicians are not your friends," said Gene Cisewski, Kubby’s
campaign manager. Tactics such as these allow Kubby to gather more
support from younger voters, according to Cisewski.

Cisewski said that the major candidates are "too paternalistic"
­ that they establish too many rules for the general public.
In order to live more free of government control, Cisewski suggests
that younger people should become more politically active, using
their "get up and go" and "be all you can be" energy.

"I’m running because I’m fed up with bad government, corrupt
politicians and arrogant officials," Kubby said in a press
release.

In addition to their pro-choice views, Libertarians address
educational issues.

The institution of vouchers for elementary and high school and
the privatization of higher education are major points highlighted
by the campaign.

Kubby wants to "privatize when possible, by allowing the
employees of the university system to take over," according to
Cisewski.

Citing corporate take-overs by employees like TWA, Cisewski said
the best road for colleges and universities is to take control away
from the government.

Harold H. Bloomfield, Natural Law

Harold Bloomfield, a physician and a psychiatrist, said that the
Natural Law party offers students an alternative to the two-party
system.

"When I was in college, we kicked ass. We made noise. We had
fun. This generation needs to wake up," he said.

The Natural Law party, a relatively new party founded in
California in April 1992, calls for a new vision and leadership of
government. It promotes taking preventative measures to improve
government by listening to scientific studies, according to
Bloomfield.

The next California governor will appoint five new University of
California Regents in addition to serving on the board himself.

Bloomfield said that he would travel to the different UC
campuses to get student input of how to make the appointments,
should he become governor.

Though he said that Proposition 209, the initiative that ended
the use of race and gender in admissions, is a "tough call," he
supports some type of affirmative action in addition to encouraging
private businesses to make more scholarships available to
students.

Bloomfield’s platform includes taking preventative measures in
health care and supporting more creative approaches to
teaching.

He has funded his own campaign.

Gloria Estela La Riva, Peace and Freedom

At a recent gubernatorial candidates’ debate in San Francisco,
Gloria La Riva, the Peace and Freedom candidate for governor,
briefly grabbed the spotlight. Even though third-party candidates
are generally not invited to major debates, La Riva showed up at a
debate, rushed onto the stage and was dragged off and taken to
jail.

"Third parties … are struggling for access to the media," she
said.

One of the more liberal parties, Peace and Freedom’s 80,000
members are committed to this type of activism. La Riva said that
voters should organize against Lungren and Davis. Along with
supporting affirmative action and bilingual education, La Riva said
"socialism will bring an end to the economical crisis."

Socialism will also help education by making it free to all
students, she said.

"I don’t think students should go into debt," she said.

She also cited these candidates’ promise of new prisons as an
"immediate, total anti-student position." By building new prisons,
La Riva said money will be taken from education.

A graduate of Brandeis University, La Riva also ran for governor
in 1994.

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