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Jello Biafra's statement:
Dear Friends,
Thank you for all your interest and support for my presidential nomination. Following this note is a qualification and platform statement I sent to Synthesis/Regeneration "A magazine of Green Social Thought" out of St. Louis, MO. Am I running? Am I campaigning? Yes and no. I am running in the sense that I granted the New York State Green Partys request to add my name to the ballot for their primary election scheduled for mid-March. I figured it would do no harm, especially if it inspired more people disillusioned with our corporate government by kleptocracy to plunge into the election process, and get hip to the alternatives to our broken down two-party system.
But I am not waging a full-on barnstorming campaign. I am already under severe time constraints (see near end of Synthesis piece). I hadnt expected to be nominated at all. As tempting as it is to try and make a full-on media splash, I am having to forego almost all requests for personal appearances, debates, fundraisers, and interviews.
I am blown away by all the offers for volunteers, campaign committees, the Draft Jello websites, and even a Jello for President compilation album. Wow. This has helped drive home to me that I am impacting the political process more than I ever have before, or thought possible. Sure, the impact is still relatively small, but this has to be handled carefully. I do not want to come across as someone on an ego trip trying to derail Ralph Nader. Lets be realistic: he will likely be the Green Party nominee, and probably should be. Am I the right person to be doing this?
I admit I thought of running for Governor of California in the last two elections. I would love to see debate shift away from who can bash immigrants harder and who can put more poor people in prison, and see mainstream media forced to discuss buried ideas like maximum wage, line-item taxation, None of the Above on election ballots, and the true evil of Corporate Feudalism and the WTO, so why not me? Then again, why me? Free time was almost nil, and I thought Green nominee Dan Hamburg, an ex-Democratic Congressman, was a good candidate.
Green Party membership is quite diverse, covering a wide generational spectrum. I may be the last sort of person some folks want as a candidate, lest the Party and its ideas not be taken seriously. To some, Im as wicked as Marilyn Manson; others take me more seriously than I take myself.
So this has already been quite a learning experience. Never mind that Nader and Hamburg didnt seem to campaign much in earlier elections. (Hypocrisy dept.: Yes, I was disappointed.) People are asking for literature, photos, posters, and even videos of me performing on stage, speaking at Earth First or Mumia rallies, in Seattle, etc. Im sorry, but I dont have any. Have you thought of trying the FBI? Bootlegs on the net?
But seriously, the flurry of requests has shown how much preparation has to be done, even for a gadfly campaign, and how annoyingly far in advance it needs to be made. All this takes a hometown support staff I simply dont have. My publicist and manager are in near-mutiny over the unexpected workload. Their plates were full already. So there is no true campaign headquarters. Youre on your own.
Luckily, some supporters are getting creative. Ive heard the Greens who first nominated me in New York are showing my spoken-word albums with a Japanese-style human shadow puppet behind a screen playing me. Now this is more in the Biafra spirit. Guerrilla theater is not only a great tool of resistance to make a point, its fun. If you want to help, feel free to. Any cartoonists out there?
Above all, please keep in mind that while compilation albums, puppet shows, and activism are inspiring as hell, the long-term focus should not be on Jello Biafra, but on the goals and issues that bring our minds together in the first place. I wouldnt trust a personality cult surrounding me any more than I would trust anyone elses.
I hope some of peoples excitement and energy will be funneled toward local election races and ballot initiatives where Green-style insurgence has had the most success so far. When Audie Bock of Oakland stunned the country by becoming the first Green Party state legislator, the local Democratic machine was caught with their pants down. They wont be this time. The California Primary ballot has two horrible initiatives that are expected to pass: Proposition 21, requiring small-time juvenile offenders to serve long sentences in adult jails, and Proposition 22, an Anti-Gay proposal. Stopping these initiatives and others like them are far more important than Jello Biafra for President.
Jim Hightower and others predict that it will take at least one or two more election cycles for the Greens, New Party, Natural Law party, and others to merge into a cohesive and effective force. So why the counterproductive split between the Greens/Green Party USA and the Association of State Green Parties? I dont know the inner details, and Im not sure I want to. I dont even know which flavor of Green I am. I joined because I liked the overall vision and the genuine impact of the Greens in Europe. Heed Rodney King, "Cant we all just get along?" Enough lefty hair-splitting. If I must take sides, here is mine: Children, stop bickering, and go to your room.
Im told this split is between Greens who want to concentrate on elections and activism vs. Greens who want to concentrate solely on elections. I say do both! You cant have one without the other. It takes activism to inspire people that they can change things for the better--and inspire them to vote.
There is no magic leader like Nelson Mandela or Vaclav Havel on the horizon to lead us to the promised land. This country is too vast and too complicated. We all need to be Mandela and Havel, each in our own way. The power to inspire brings with it a lot of pressure. It should be used, but not misused. I hope to inspire more and more people to get their feet wet and fight the power, from inside and outside the system. It would also be nice to record some of my songs some day and make more albums. No one can do everything they want to do full-time. Right now Im locked in the ugliest legal battle of my life; I will not be in Washington, D.C. for Seattle sequel Number One: The International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings, starting April 16, so go in my place!
Now here is what I sent to St. Louis. A lot of it may be familiar. Hopefully it will be worthwhile. Further thoughts on the WTO and the aftermath of Seattle are on my No WTO Combo live music CD, featuring Kim from Soundgarden and Krist from Nirvana, that was recorded during the event. It comes out in May.
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