Greens step beyond ordinary 3rd party

Greens step beyond ordinary 3rd party
By Crystal Yednak
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published October 20, 2006

As the "other guy" in the race for governor, Green Party candidate Rich Whitney said he is often asked what makes him qualified to hold the state's highest office.

"It's true," he said with a smile. "I have absolutely no experience screwing up the government."

That quality is becoming more attractive to voters fed up with the blasts of negative advertising filling their TV screens as well as the allegations of corruption that swirl around the Democratic and Republican candidates.

A recent Tribune poll showed Whitney with 9 percent support--far behind Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka--but still a strong showing for a third-party candidate.

"I figure if enough people vote for Whitney, it sends a message to the two parties they better shape up," said Charles Small, 65, of Ottawa, who was among the 9 percent in the poll. Small said he's lost interest in the major-party candidates.

Whitney said he's fine with the idea of picking up any protest votes but is intent on giving voters a more positive reason to vote for him.

"I'm not just the other guy," said Whitney, 51, a Carbondale lawyer and political activist. "I have well-thought-out ideas on the issues."

Whitney moved to Illinois from California with his wife and three children in the early 1990s, when he decided to switch careers from journalist to lawyer. He graduated from the law school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Whitney helped start a law firm in 1997 and now specializes in civil-rights and employment-discrimination cases. At home, he has been active in local campaigns to protect the environment, prevent a Wal-Mart from being built in his area and oppose the war in Iraq.

Whitney said he drives a Mercury Mystique "with a dent in it" and thinks voters may appreciate a governor who can get by on less. He often tries to inject humor into his many policy talks with slightly sarcastic remarks about the state of the current system, trying to connect with voters who may also be sick of the influence of big money.

He's run for state representative twice under the Green Party banner, getting 6 percent of the vote in 2002 and 8 percent two years later.

Nationally, the Greens are probably best known for supporting Ralph Nader for president in 2000. But since then, organizations in Illinois and elsewhere have been hard at work trying to build state parties so they can better break into the political system as "America's non-corporate party." While environmentalism is key to their philosophy, so are social justice, non-violence, clean government and electoral reform.

Dreams seem possible

While Whitney has grand ideas for reforming the Illinois system, ideas that some would brush off as impossible, he speaks about them in a very practical sense, guiding audiences step-by-step through his plans in a way that makes the large-scale reforms seem within reach.

Whitney helped write the state Green Party platform and authored lengthy position papers for his own campaign. He distills his party's ideology to four concepts: clean energy, clean government, healthy people and healthy economy.

He promotes himself as the only candidate backing the long-discussed swap of higher income taxes and reduced property taxes to reform school funding. Blagojevich wants to pump more money into schools through a long-term lease of the lottery, while Topinka wants a land-based Chicago casino.

"There have been many good Democrats who have pushed this [tax swap] plan, but their own governor won't back them on it," said Whitney, who joined in a Chicago march Saturday to support school-funding reform. "We need new leadership in the governor's office to break that logjam."

A recent Green Party event in Pilsen is indicative of the low-key fundraising that Whitney and the rest of his ticket are relying upon. A handwritten sign suggested a $10 donation from those walking into the back room of a Mexican restaurant to hear him speak--a far cry from Blagojevich's annual multimillion-dollar Field Museum affair or Topinka's July fundraising visit by President Bush.

Noting failures at the state and national level to eliminate pay-to-play politics, Whitney said he won't accept any campaign donations from corporations and would ban contributions from firms that do business with the state. He also proposes a $500 limit on campaign donations to wipe out the influence of large donors.

But such pledges may be easy to fulfill for a long-shot candidate with low name recognition. Whitney's most recent campaign disclosure report shows he has raised only about $20,000 since July.

"We do need to raise enough money to get our message out, but we don't need millions," Whitney said. "Let the other two spend millions on commercials attacking each other."

Credibility remains a serious issue for the Greens. Whitney's ticket includes a Green candidate for secretary of state who moved to New York and is ineligible to hold office. The candidate said she was trying to help the third party fill out its statewide slate.

Whitney has been taking his campaign around the state.

Whitney supports the right to carry guns--a stance that may seem at odds with the party's commitment to a non-violent society. But the position on the right to carry guns is his alone, he said, and flows from his belief in the Bill of Rights.

Allowing law-abiding citizens to carry guns serves as a deterrent to crime and reduces violence when combined with other programs that attack social problems, he said. Whitney favors "common sense" limits on gun ownership as well as an "open-carry" law that would allow qualified gun owners to carry their firearms in plain sight in places frequented by the public.

Only responsible gun owners

"You need to show that you are a responsible gun owner," he said. "You need to pass a background check. We cannot have anyone with a violent history that is allowed to carry a weapon in public."

Whitney said he would support so-called concealed carry, requiring firearms to be kept out of sight, if it were the only choice and would consider exempting Cook County to address the strong local sentiment against such a proposal.

As governor, Whitney said, he would try to stop further mobilizations of the Illinois National Guard to Iraq because he sees the war as illegal.

Despite a lack of exposure, Whitney has gained some notice for his positions--particularly education-funding reform.

"If electability were not an issue, the choice would be easy in this year's governor's race. Rich Whitney, the Green Party candidate, is in sync with the union on virtually every issue," wrote Henry Bayer, executive director of the state employees union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, in a union newsletter.

No union endorsement

But AFSCME chose not to endorse a candidate for governor, and Bayer noted "electability must always be a consideration. If Rich Whitney can't win, he won't be able to advance the interests of AFSCME members, at least not from the governor's office."

Democrats backing Blagojevich initially tried to knock Whitney off the ballot in a petition challenge, but later gave up. Though Whitney was viewed as potentially siphoning votes from the Democrat, a recent Tribune poll showed he is getting more support from self-identified independents and Republicans than from Democrats.

Even if Whitney gets as little as 5 percent of the vote, the Green Party will have won a major victory and voters will have sent the other two parties a message. Receiving at least 5 percent support would put the Greens on par with Democrats and Republicans as an "established" party, giving them the ability to field candidates in partisan contests at the state and local levels through less-onerous petition signature-gathering requirements.

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cyednak@tribune.com

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Here's the rest of the Green Party slate

Lieutenant Governor

Julie Samuels, 62, of Oak Park

Samuels is a community outreach coordinator for Openlands, which helps with open-space planning on the West Side and elsewhere. A longtime community organizer, she has been instrumental in building the state party and informing voters about the Greens.

"If we really want to promote social and environmental justice, we need to have equal access to the ballot," she said. She would make electoral and campaign-finance reforms her top priorities. That way, the legislature "would not respond only to the biggest donor."

Treasurer

Dan Rodriguez Schlorff, 26, of Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood

Schlorff is director of resource development for Adair Home Health Professionals and is on the finance committee for the national Green Party. As an openly gay candidate, Schlorff would work to support equal rights for gays and lesbians.

He has identified himself as a Republican in the past but said the Green Party represents the founding principles of the Republican Party better than the current GOP. He said the state's debt level is troubling, and as treasurer he would object to borrowing that would exacerbate the problem.

Attorney General

David Black, 58, of Belvidere

A lawyer, Black is a member of several activist organizations, including the Rockford Peace & Justice Action Committee. "The main issue is the effect of money on state government," Black said. "Under the Green Party, it would be independent, and we wouldn't accept money" from corporations.

Black said he would try to improve the climate in state government to encourage more people to report corruption.

Secretary of State

Karen Young, 50, of New York

Young, a strategic campaign researcher and founder of Media Democracy Chicago, lived in Chicago when she filed as a candidate, but has since moved to New York. She would not be able to serve if elected. She said it was important to run so the Green Party could field a full slate of candidates.

She said fees in the secretary of state's office should be reduced. "Government needs to be funded through fair taxes, progressive taxes," she said. Instead, taxes are cut for the wealthy and corporations while governments make up the money by raising fees that hit low-income people hard, she said.

Comptroller

Alicia Snyder, 40, of Centralia

A special-education teacher, Snyder is a co-chair of the Illinois Green Party. She wants to reform state finances and focus attention on the state's delayed Medicaid bills.

"The carry-over effect of people who are on Medicaid literally not being able to get services in a timely manner because people have been paid late is appalling," she said. Snyder has raised concerns about the state's borrowing and would use the office to encourage reforms to the tax structure.

-- Crystal Yednak