Right away, my campaign
for the US House was in danger. The possibility of threats from gun-nuts, plus the
inevitable media exposure, unnerved my wife. “I may have to leave,” she said,
and mumbled something about divorce. I tried to assure her that my unfunded
campaign had little chance against an incumbent. “I run just to have a
platform,” I said “to show people that in the past humans have established
non-violent, environmentally-responsible, vibrant, enduring societies. Beyond our
differences on guns is a rich, healthy world. We can get there.” She was
unmoved.
It was a futile
plea anyway because without publicity, I was unknown. My name on the Oregon
Secretary of State website had generated not a single invitation to speak. The
campaign was dead.
Which did not
dissuade political groups from sending questionnaires. Those from the right
still courted division: a paragraph of propaganda was followed by yes/no -
friend or foe? The question-writers seemed confused, frightened, desperate: “Do
you support NASA spraying chemicals in the atmosphere over Oregon to control
the weather? Yes or no?”
By contrast, questionnaires
from the left, like the League of Women Voters, asked open-ended questions:
“Discuss the issues that are priorities for you and how they serve your districts,”
and “How will you try to reduce polarization in Congress to resolve problems?
Businesses supported
my candidacy, too. Buy victory, they said. Buy lawn signs, TV ads, consulting, fundraising
and ‘voter contact’. It’s all about winning with money.
On March 22, my
flagging campaign turned positive. The LO Review published my Declaration of Candidacy,
and immediately, a neighbor emailed: “You never asked me for money.” Another
called: “How much do you need?” A stranger invited me to a forum at the old
fire station in West Linn, sponsored by Independents for Progressive Action.
IPA promised me an audience.
It was raining
when I arrived. Eight chairs were lined up on a stage bathed in interrogation
lights. The candidate for federal office (I) was to sit in the middle, among candidates
for Clackamas Council, Metro, etc.
After three hours
of tough, probing questions followed by knowledgeable answers from the other
candidates, the moderator asked, Why did you run?
I nervously
stood before rapt, judgmental progressives. “We have filled the Earth,” I began.
“For millennia, male leadership, male hierarchies and male dominance were
essential to human expansion. We invaded territories, conquered other people
and exploited Nature.
“But we ran out
of lands and enemies. Now, the male-dominated hierarchies that were necessary
for expansion and conquest are afraid of obsolescence. They turn aggression and
power against us, subjugating us politically and exploiting us financially. The
rich and powerful concentrate wealth and power.
“In response, the
people rise. First Black Lives Matter, then Women’s March, MeToo and now March
for our Lives. The oppressed and disenfranchised declare: We are a global
village. War and weapons of war have no place here. If men want to own guns,
fine, just don’t bring them into society. If men want to shoot people, fine, go
to Africa and shoot poachers.”
The progressives
were silent. I walked outside into heavy rain.
The next day, at
the March for our Lives, a neighbor carried a sign: “Common Sense Gun Laws –
Peter Wright, District 5”.
A canvasser approached.
He said he recognized my face from the night before.
I groaned. “My
wife would prefer I remained anonymous.”
“I understand,”
he said. “Marriages don’t survive in District 5.”
