Peter Camejo, a great candidate, should stand down
Arianna Huffington dropped out
of the California recall race today. She didn’t endorse Bustamante, but
that’s the implication; vote No on the recall, then hold your nose and
vote for Cruz.
If
Schwarzenegger beats Bustamante by less than the number of votes Peter
Camejo gets, the Green Party of California (GP-CA) will be become a
target of merciless unrelenting attacks from multiple directions. Until
recently I was active in Green politics in California and, without
going into great detail, suffice it to say that GP-CA is currently so
severely fragmented that it can not withstand a concerted assault from
the outside.
Peter
Camejo, who I know a bit and greatly respect, should follow Arianna’s
lead and drop out. He’s run a principled, non-argumentative campaign,
acting like an adult when others were having pie fights, and in doing
so has genuinely impressed many people. More than a few non-Greens told
me they watched Camejo during the debate and said “Wow, who IS that
guy” – so Peter has done an admirable job indeed.
Now
it’s time for Peter Camejo to leave on a the great high note he created
and drop out of the recall race. In doing so he will make a huge
positive impression upon the populace about the maturity and wisdom of
the Green Party.
If
he doesn’t, and as mentioned, Arnold beats Cruz by less than his number
of votes, the ramifications for GP-CA, and the Green Party nationally
will be seriously nasty. Neither have the resources or strength to
withstand a national pounding over being a spoiler, especially with the
2004 elections looming large.
Important addendum: (added after comments made me realize I should have also posted the following):
Camejo said he’d understand if Greens vote for Cruz.
Over the weekend, Camejo all but dropped his stance of independence from the two major parties, openly encouraging Green supporters to vote for Bustamante on October 7 by saying he would “understand” if they did so to stave off a Republican victory.
What I’ve said here has already been considered by the state GP (who I am not in contact with).
Meanwhile, California Green Party
spokesman Ross Mirkarimi said he did not expect party candidate Peter
Camejo to reconsider staying in the race.But he said the party did not want to play a spoiler role in this election.
It
is not our goal to make the difference between the worst and the
least-worst of the candidates. We don’t relish that position,”
Mirkarimi said. “We believe that it would be better for California if
someone other than a Republican were in the statehouse.”