While the Green, Libertarian and Republican candidates for San Mateo County's 12th Congressional District are as different as Britney and Beethoven, they sing a similar song when it comes to the war in Iraq.
Republican Mike Garza, Green Pat Gray and Libertarian Harland Harrison all believe the U.S. should pull out of in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Congressman Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, who is running for his 13th term, admits mistakes have been made in Iraq, but doesn't think troops should leave.
"The Iraqi military shouldn't have been disbanded. It should have been maintained to keep law and order," Lantos said. "I'm appalled by the mistake in intelligence."
His three running mates all have different reasons for opposing the war.
Harrison said the U.S. is not doing any good by trying to defend a country that can defend itself.
"Peace is the most important issue," he said. "Ending American belligerence will stop terrorism."
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Instead of contracting with American companies to rebuild Iraq, Gray said Iraqi companies should do the job.
"Nothing is getting rebuilt," she said. "This would give Iraqi people jobs."
Garza said it's going to cost the U.S. millions of dollars in the future to take care of all the veterans who were severely injured during the war in Iraq.
"I'm against the war; I'm not against the troops," said Garza, who admits his views make him an outcast in the Republican party.
If the U.S. does stay in Iraq, Garza said the draft should be reinstated.
"It's extremely unfair for those guys (troops) to have to stay there so long," he said.
The USA Patriot Act
The Patriot Act has been a hot topic among candidates in the race for the District 12 seat, which covers San Mateo, northern San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco.
"You are innocent until proven guilty," Gray said. "Under the Patriot Act, if they suspect you are a terrorist, you are guilty."
Harrison criticized Lantos for giving his vote to the Patriot Act.
"I think a lot of people are upset about this," he said. "What upsets me is you don't know what they can do under this act. There's dangers that they'll use this like (President) Nixon used the intelligence (services)."
While Lantos did vote for the Patriot Act, he also supported legislation in July to prevent some of the intrusions of the act.
He voted to reverse a provision that lets federal investigators check the lending records of libraries and track bookstore sales, but keeps librarians and booksellers from alerting their patrons to the practice. The proposed amendment was defeated.
The economy
Lantos said in his campaign literature that President George Bush's proposed budget for 2005 is irresponsible.
"It is wrong to slash taxes for the wealthy while we're spending less on the real and urgent needs and priorities of the American people, and pushing our ever-mounting debts onto the backs of our children and grandchildren," he states.
Gray thinks one of the main problems is the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"NAFTA is a disaster. It's cost the country thousands of jobs. You can't find anything manufactured in the U.S. anymore," she said. "I think it needs to be repealed."
Harrison said the federal budget needs to be cut substantially.
"Even if we cut all defense spending, the budget would still not be balanced," he said. "The Democrats and Republicans approved each other's spending plans, but do not provide sufficient taxes to pay for them."
Garza said the government isn't spending the taxpayers' money wisely.
"We have to stop talking about taxing the rich," he said. "We have to stop squandering the taxpayers' money."
Pride in records
Garza said he's not ashamed of the fact that he has been arrested several times in his life.
On the day before Thanksgiving four years ago, Garza was arrested after he destroyed a dam of sandbags outside a building because it was causing water to flow into his home.
But that's not the only time he's been in trouble with the law.
About 25 years ago, Garza was arrested for assault after a break-in at his home. He put the two burglars in the hospital.
"A person has the right to defend himself," he said.
Meanwhile, Lantos is proud of his record in Congress, touting his endorsements from education groups, senior groups, environmentalists and others.
"I believe I have effectively and successfully represented my district over the last 24 years," he said. "My record is one of tremendous consistency."
Staff writer T.S. Mills-Faraudo covers education. She can be reached at (650) 348-4338 or tmills at sanmateocountytimes.com.
Foes join in Lantos race By Justin Nyberg | Staff Writer Published on Monday, September 20, 2004 <http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/092004n_lantos>
SAN MATEO -- In a campaign that, to his opponents, has become a referendum on Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos' support for the war in Iraq, two of his former challengers have broken with their political parties and endorsed a third-party candidate who is trying to take down the 12-term incumbent.
Maad Abu-Ghazalah, who was defeated by Lantos in the Democratic Party primary, and Mike Maloney, the Republican candidate for Lantos' seat in 2002, have both lent their names to Green Party candidate Pat Gray.
"Philosophically, I disagree with the economic policies of the Green Party. I disagree with their policies on the environment. But on the war, I totally agree with Pat Gray and the Greens," Maloney said.
Reaction from Lantos' campaign to the endorsements was muted.
Maloney and Abu-Ghazalah both have their differences with Gray but say Lantos, who co-authored the resolution to authorize the war in Iraq and voted for it, was enough of a common cause to work together for his defeat.
Both Maloney and Abu-Ghazalah have had flexible relationships with their parties in the past. Abu-Ghazalah ran against Lantos on the Libertarian ticket in 2002. Maloney faced him as a Libertarian in 1998.
Both were soundly defeated by Lantos in 2002. In a three-way race, Maloney collected 26.7 percent of the vote, and Abu-Ghazalah got 7.2 percent. Lantos took home two-thirds of the vote.
In the March primary, as a Democrat this time, Abu-Ghazalah didn't do much better. He collected 7.5 percent of the vote, while Lantos got 74 percent.
Lantos' endorsements include the names of Democratic heavyweights, such as presidential candidate John Kerry and former President Bill Clinton, as well as more than two-dozen local officials. He does not have any endorsements from party crossovers.
Gray also said she collected the endorsement of San Francisco's Peace and Freedom party.
The 12th Congressional District includes southwestern San Francisco, northern and central San Mateo County. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>