cannabisnews.com: Campbell Speaks To National Audience





Campbell Speaks To National Audience
Posted by FoM on July 31, 2000 at 11:05:07 PT
By Dan Smith, Bee Deputy Capitol Bureau Chief
Source: Capitol Alert
Rep. Tom Campbell, mounting an uphill challenge of popular Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein this year, Sunday likened himself to the maverick persona of another Republican underdog -- Arizona Sen. John McCain -- and made his most forceful pitch yet for "redirecting" the government's war on drugs.
For Campbell, the San Jose moderate trailing Feinstein by 26 percentage points in the most recent Field Poll, this week's Republican National Convention has provided a national stage -- his Senate campaign aides call it his "unplugged" tour -- to contrast himself with the party mainstream as defined by presidential nominee George W. Bush on the issues of abortion and drug policy.Campbell said he has begun speaking out "because it's right, because it will help my state and country," not to close the widening gap with incumbent Feinstein, who is winning support from more than a quarter of California Republicans.But Democrats are not convinced. Democratic political consultant Bill Carrick said Campbell is engaging in "political gymnastics" by "straining to find ways that he can be in opposition to Dianne." The anti-drug-war message, Carrick said, "is a very strange thing for him to guide his campaign on. But when your campaign is hopeless, it has a certain liberating effect on you."Campbell has no official speaking role at the convention, but he followed McCain on Sunday to speak at the nearby "shadow convention," the rival gathering organized by conservative commentator Arianna Huffington. Although more than a third of the 1,500 who packed the hall to hear McCain had left by the time Campbell spoke, they cheered frequently his call to shift federal drug interdiction and incarceration efforts to locally designed drug-treatment programs."I challenge America's leaders to address the question of treatment," he said. "Each additional dollar spent on treatment is eight times more effective in reducing cocaine use than the same dollars spent on mandatory incarceration. ... Treatment is 10 times more effective than a dollar spent on drug interdiction."He invoked McCain's name a half-dozen times during the brief address, noted that he opposed Newt Gingrich's speakership and supported President Clinton's impeachment -- against the wishes of his constituents -- and told the mostly non-California audience that he considered himself a maverick, like McCain."I know what could happen to politicians who speak like this," he told the "shadow convention" audience at the University of Pennsylvania. "I know I could pay a price for challenging the status quo. I'll be called reckless and radical, coddling the criminal and soft on drugs. I am not soft on drugs. I think pushers are punks and cowards (and) should be punished with the full force of the law. It's failure that I won't tolerate. The war on drugs has failed. I cannot remain silent."Later Sunday, Campbell journeyed to a Republicans for Choice reception to mock GOP leaders' efforts to trumpet the GOP's increasing diversity while they fend off efforts to either eliminate or soften the party's anti-abortion-rights language."We can campaign in cities and neighborhoods that Republicans traditionally have ignored. We can speak in Spanish, and Mandarin and Tagalog and Vietnamese and a hundred other languages to broadcast the Republican message. But until we speak a common language of tolerance and inclusion, we will not progress as a party," he said.Campbell has long been a supporter of abortion rights. Let Us Hear From You:http://www.sacbee.com/bee/sacbeemail.htmlPublished July 31, 2000Copyright © The Sacramento Bee Related Articles & Web Sites:The Shadow Conventionshttp://www.shadowconventions.com/Shadow Conventionshttp://www.lindesmith.org/shadowconventions/Common Causehttp://www.commoncause.org/Public Campaignhttp://www.publiccampaign.org/ Shadow Convention 2000 News Boardhttp://homepages.go.com/~marthag1/Shadcon.htmMapInc. Articles On The Shadow Conventions:http://mapinc.org/shadow.htm CannabisNews Articles On The Shadow Conventions:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=shadow 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 31, 2000 at 12:11:31 PT
Chat With Al Franken Live August 1st at 6 PM ET
Al Franken Live!Chat With Political Satirist and Shadow Convention Host Al Franken Join political satirist and Shadow Convention host Al Franken in a live chat on ABCNEWS.com on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at 6 p.m. ET. http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/alfranken_live.html
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: