Here at Irregular Times, we’ve spent a good deal of time writing about worthwhile Green Party candidates and their campaigns. We’re independent, though, and that means that our attention is tuned to receive signals of absurdity from any political party – including the Green Party.
My attention was drawn this afternoon to an absurd political project that appears to have been hatched by the Green Party of Arizona – a campaign for Congress from author Richard Grayson. Grayson seems like the kind of writer we might appreciate. One of his books, after all, is entitled Highly Irregular Stories. Nonetheless, Grayson’s congressional campaign doesn’t seem to have much purpose, or much content.
Grayson is supposed to be campaigning to replace Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents the 6th district in Arizona. That’s a worthy cause, given that Flake is a strongly regressive presence in the House of Representatives. Nonetheless, Grayson has not yet bothered to write a single paragraph to promote his campaign, and for a professional writer, that complete absence of content is telling.
The most recent thing that Grayson wrote on his congressionial campaign blog is an article from a year ago in which he praises the 2008 Democratic candidate, Rebecca Schneider. “Congratulations to Democrat Rebecca Schneider, who ran a brave do-it-herself campaign against extremist do-nothing Republican Congressman Jeff Flake in Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District.”, he wrote, “Rebecca, you did good! We’re proud of you!”
It was generous for Grayson to write as he did in praise of Schneider, but if he really regards Schneider so positively, why would he run for Congress against her? Grayson is noted as a candidate in Flake’s district again in 2010, and so is Schneider.
Rebecca Schneider is a strong progressive of the sort that most Greens would approve of. She’s campaigning for the repeal – not just the reform – of the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act, as well as other unjust laws from the Bush era. Wouldn’t the progressive interest be better served if Grayson ceased his nominal campaign, and endorsed Schneider, urging Arizona Greens to contribute to her 2010 campaign to unseat Jeff Flake?
