My First Campaign Contribution

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Several weeks ago, I made the first electoral campaign contribution 
in my life, together with my favorite Columbus organizer Mark D. 
Stansbery.  We wrote a $150 check to our old friend Kenny Schweickart 
running for the 22nd district seat in the Ohio House of 
Representatives.  Kenny didn't get the Democratic Party's 
endorsement, but he won the May 7 primary anyway, by waging a truly 
grassroots campaign of handmade yard signs, flyers, and the like. 
(Our joint campaign contribution of $150 constituted about a quarter 
of the total campaign contribution for Kenny, I think; in return, 
Kenny says he will give us "the key to the building" if he wins.  :-) 
)  Kenny will be running against Republican Jim Hughes in November. 
An upset is possible, as Hughes is nondescript.  Besides, fighting a 
good and sensible fight against the "war on drugs" is a winning 
cause, as Americans get tired of spending more and more on prisons 
overcrowded by non-violent drug offenders and feel it's not right to 
deny AIDS and cancer patients medical use of marihuana to alleviate 
pain and restore appetite.

Kenny Schweickart has been fighting against the "war on drugs" for 
many years, through organizations such as For a Better Ohio, Drug 
Policy Education of Ohio, Ohio Patient Network, and the Ohio 
Industrial and Medical Use Initiative.  He has been constantly 
involved in many activist mobilizations for peace and social and 
economic justice as well.  The centrist Columbus weekly _The Other 
Paper_ (which has no respect for the content of Kenny's activism) 
correctly credits Kenny's tireless efforts to register voters for 
ballot initiatives for drug decriminalization and the like for the 
upset in the primary: "Maybe Tuesday's results will inspire them 
[Ohio Dems] to do what some in the local Democratic Party have 
grumbled they don't do enough of -- register some like-minded people 
to vote and then get their butts to the polls" (Aaron Marshall, 
"Tokin' Democrat," _The Other Paper_ 9 May 2002).

Perhaps, Nathan has already discussed this, but one way candidates to 
the left of Dems can participate in electoral politics successfully 
(= win seats if possible, while conducting political education 
unconstrained by the limits of the Democratic Party) is to run in 
local Democratic primaries without the Party's endorsement, best the 
Party-endorsed candidates, and then run as independents or candidates 
endorsed jointly by the Dems and assortments of other parties like 
the Greens and the Labor Party.  In many Democratic primaries, the 
Dems hardly do anything for candidates they endorse, so it's possible 
for well-networked activists to win without spending much.

For donations, ideas, and other ways to get involved in the Kenny 
Schweickart campaign, call 614-265-VOTE or email dpeo at earthlink.net. 
Kenny welcomes donations of any amount up to $2,500.  "Even a $15 
donation will be put to good use, such as making signs and contacting 
constituents."
-- 
Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: 
<http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>