Barry Sheppard, San Francisco
The Democratic Party nationally got a big scare when Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez came close to winning the race for mayor of San Francisco on December 9.
Gonzalez received 47% of the vote, while his Democratic opponent, Gavin Newsom, garnered 53%. Of those actually voting on election day, the percentages were reversed, with Gonzalez winning. The margin of difference for Newsom was absentee ballots lopsidedly in his favour. The Newsom campaign had poured huge funds into courting those casting absentee ballots, who are generally older and more conservative.
Young people were the driving force behind the Gonzalez campaign. Many had never voted before the Gonzalez effort galvanized them into action. Among people under 30, Gonzalez received about 65% of the vote, exit polls indicated.
Gonzalez is the son of Mexican immigrant parents. He became increasingly fed up with the Democratic Party three years ago when he ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (the city council). He ran as a Green and was elected to the board, and later became its president.
On the issues, there was a sharp contrast between the candidates. Gonzalez opposed the invasion of Iraq and the US occupation of that country. He spoke at the October 25 anti-war rally in San Francisco. Newsom supports Washington's war, although with the Democrat's usual pathetic criticism of President George Bush's "handling" of the occupation.
Newsom's claim to fame is his sponsorship of a successful referendum cutting off welfare for the city's homeless while vaguely promising some form of "care" for them. Gonzalez seeks treatment for the mentally ill and drug-dependent homeless, and has plans for funding low-cost permanent housing.
Gonzalez also sponsored a succesful referendum, which raised the city's minimum wage to US$8.50 per hour, while the national minimum wage remains at $5.15. Newsom refused to endorse the referendum.
Newsom is opposed togranting undocumented workers equal rights while Gonzalez champions their cause.
On other questions, from the death penalty to the right to gay marriage, taxes on the rich and tenants' rights, the two are far apart. Newsom is a landlord and Gonzalez a renter.
Newsom had the support of big business and the Republican Party, although he is a "middle-of-the-road" Democrat along the lines of Bill Clinton. The election was nominally non-partisan, but the party affiliation of the candidates was a central issue in the campaign.
Newsom had announced his intention to run for mayor late in 2002. During the course of 2003 he raised some $4 million, and appeared to be a shoo-in. Gonzalez entered the contest three months before the election and raised only one-tenth of the money Newsom spent.
But support for Gonzalez began to mushroom. Progressives and young people were activated in rallies, putting up posters, handing out leaflets, telephoning and so on. The city was alive with Gonzalez materials, while Newsom posters were scarce.
The Democrats became alarmed and Al Gore and Bill Clinton came to San Francisco to campaign for Newsom. The corporate media pulled out all stops in a dirty smear campaign against Gonzalez. The outgoing Democratic mayor, Willie Brown, who is black, charged Gonzalez with being racist because Gonzalez, as a member of the Board of Supervisors, opposed some of Brown's appointees.
Brown's administration was increasingly reviled for its corruption and cronyism. One aspect of Gonzalez' appeal was his record for honesty and fairness. While Newsom was the candidate of the Democratic machine around Brown, he struggled to distance himself a bit from Brown as the Gonzalez campaign took off.
San Francisco has been solidly Democratic in recent decades.
The astonishing success of the Gonzalez campaign shows that disgust with the Democratic Party's relentless move to the right can be expressed in a break to the left in a third party, in this case the Greens.
The Gonzalez campaign came in the wake of the breakthroughs registered by Green Party candidate Peter Camejo during the recent election to replace Gray Davis, the ousted Democratic governor of California.
Whether the Greens can continue to be the vehicle for the evident discontent with the Democrats in the 2004 presidential election remains to be seen.
From Green Left Weekly, January 14, 2004.
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