The Towerlight
Election 2002: Issues at Hand
November 13, 2002.

Election 2002: Issues at Hand Election's final stretch approaches; Ehrlich and Townsend still sharply contest for governorship by Sarah Breitenbach and Jennifer Hykes Photo Illustration by Lisa Johnson November 04, 2002 Election Year 2002 may not generate the excitement of a presidential election, but it's still an important year for Maryland. The outcome of Tuesday's elections will determine who sits on the Maryland General Assembly, which controls all state regulations, including issues affecting higher education. It will also determine who represents Baltimore County and surrounding areas in the House of Representatives. Perhaps most importantly, the results of Tuesday's election will determine the governor of the state for the next four years. Gubernatorial Candidates This year's gubernatorial race has been close, with no clear frontrunner. Republican Congressman Bob Ehrlich, who is partnered with Michael Steele, and Democrat Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who shares the ticket with Admiral Charles Larson, are still neck-and-neck in most polls, although the Ehrlich camp was reporting an edge as of Sunday. Maryland's budget deficit, education and crime, specifically gun crime, lead this Elections list of hot-button issues, which also include heath care, prescription drug prices and homeland security. The sniper attacks that rocked the state during October brought crime to the forefront of the campaigns. Each candidate has his and her own proposals for reducing crime in Maryland. Townsend's literature focuses on enforcing and strengthening gun control laws, revitalizing decaying neighborhoods, and "breaking the link between drugs and crime." She also emphasizes the need to expand community partnerships and to end racial profiling. Ehrlich's Comprehensive Crime-Prevention Plan, meanwhile, focuses on removing criminal offenders to "far away federal prisons" through a process called Project EXILE. Ehrlich proposes putting federal money toward implementing Maryland's gun laws and increasing the drug rehabilitation programs in Maryland prisons. The Ehrlich campaign has focused heavily on the state's budget deficit, which sits at $1.7 billion. Ehrlich's proposal for balancing the budget relies on bringing video lottery terminals to Maryland, something that states such as Delaware already use to supplement Medicare and education costs. He also intends to make agencies work more efficiently, which he claims will save the state money over time. One of his campaign promises has been to balance the budget without raising income tax or sales tax, or cutting state jobs. Townsend opposes slot machines as a revenue source. She cites a statewide hiring freeze and the elimination of 3,500 vacant government positions as a way the current administration has saved money. The buzzwords of her economic proposal have been "economic growth, fiscal responsibility," and her campaign promises that she will make tough choices to bolster the economy. One issue that relates to Maryland's economic situation is education funding. Both Ehrlich and Townsend support the Thornton Commission, which is geared toward reducing class size and increasing the number of teachers in Maryland public schools. Townsend also proposes more pre-kindergarten and after-school programming, more parent involvement and more programs to bring and keep teachers in public schools. She supports the creation of charter schools, as does Ehrlich. Ehrlich also supports more pre-K and after-school programming and bringing better-trained teachers and principals to Maryland. In fact, the main difference between the candidates' proposals for education is the source of funding. Ehrlich hopes to use revenue from racetrack slots to fully fund the Thornton Commission, while Townsend has proposed an increase in cigarette taxes and the redistribution of other state tax revenue to fund education initiatives. Both Ehrlich and Townsend have proposed improvements in Maryland's community colleges, and Townsend has singled out the state's historically black colleges as institutions that need more state attention. However, neither candidate has spent much time this election addressing higher education funding as a whole for USM schools. U.S. House of Representatives Competing for representation of Maryland's 2nd Congressional District are Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and former Representative Republican Helen Bentley. The 2nd District includes Baltimore City, Baltimore County and parts of Harford and Anne Arundel counties. Currently, gubernatorial candidate Robert Ehrlich holds seat in the House of Representatives for the district. According to a recent poll of Maryland voters conducted for The Baltimore Sun and The Gazette newspapers, Ruppersberger is leading Bentley 46 percent to 38 percent. Bentley, who served in Congress from 1985-1995, has returned from retirement to run against Ruppersberger, who is currently serving as Baltimore County Executive. The race, between the two was considered exemplary until recent attack ads on both candidates were released. Each blames the other for starting the negative campaigns. During a debate held at Towson Oct. 28, Ruppersberger and Bentley squared off on key issues facing the nation, state and 2nd District. As with several other campaigns this fall, crime reduction has taken the spotlight as a result of the sniper incidents. Both Ruppersberger and Bentley have thus agreed that Maryland needs a ballistic database for automatic weapons, but not rifles. However, neither appears to have a definitive plan for funding that database. Bentley is focused on enforcing state gun control laws already in existence. Ruppersberger has said that, if elected to Congress, he will work toward increasing funding for public education. He does not favor school vouchers that would aid parents in sending children to private schools. Bentley, on the other hand, has asserted that "Washington can't provide policy, Washington should keeps its nose out of the education system." On the national level, the candidates' opinions generally fall along party lines. Ruppersberger asserts that a coalition is necessary should the United States enter into conflict with Iraq, while Bentley has said that a coalition would be preferable, but the U.S. needs to take leadership against Iraq. Both candidates also agreed that increasing employment opportunities is a top national issue facing the 2nd District. Ruppersberger explained that he feels "we need to take our local issues to Congress ? jobs are the gasoline that run the government engine." Bentley agreed, and listed jobs at the top of her priorities. The candidates differ greatly on the hot button issue of abortion. Ruppersberger said he is pro-choice and willing to help women in need of federal aid for abortion. Bentley represents a pro-life position and therefore does not believe that federal funds should be used to support abortion. MD General Assembly Towson University sits in the Maryland General Assembly's 42nd District. There are four seats up for grabs in the district this election, three in the House of Delegates and one in the State Senate. In October, TU hosted two debates, one for the two Senate candidates and one for the seven people vying for the delegate seats. The delegate hopefuls are divided along party lines, with three Republican candidates and three Democratic candidates, as well as an Independent who represents the Green Party. "For me [the biggest issue in the 42nd District] is the same as it is for the 3rd District and the 5th District and the 35th, which is that our democracy has been bought by big money," said Rick Kunkel, Green Party candidate. "Large campaign contributions flow into the candidates' coffers, and it not only buys the elections but more importantly it buys access to the politicians after the election is over." Kunkel said that until politicians stop accepting corporate contributions, the other issues are moot. "I think this is the issue that's the same throughout the state, whether you're a conservative or a liberal or anything in between," Kunkel said. "Democracy's supposed to be by and for the people, not by big money and for big business. Really until we deal with the corrupting influence of money, hope for true change ? is very, very difficult to achieve." If elected, Kunkel said he hopes to make environmental and educational issues priorities. "I'm a very strong proponent of the environment," Kunkel said. "We need to enact policies that will make our planet livable and sustainable for years to come." He also said the U.S. does not make higher education a priority, as it is in many Western European countries. "Germany, France, in many western countries, higher education is free," he said. "Why is that not possible here? Our priorities are screwed up ? Here in Maryland, the government seems to feel it's more important to build highways than to educate poor kids." Education is a hot issue for the major party candidates as well, although perhaps not the top issue. The Republicans are running on a unified ticket, along with Senate candidate Martha Klima, a current member of the House of Delegates. Susan Aumann, William Frank and John Trueschler have been endorsed as a group by Ehrlich. According to Frank, the biggest issue facing the 42nd District is "the huge, growing, $1.7 billion budget deficit, which has been caused by rampant overspending." This has been the dominant theme of the Republican campaign. Many of the candidates are emphasizing the fact that the state's financial problems have compounded with Democrats controlling the legislature and the governorship. The Democratic candidates Matthew Joseph, Stephen Lafferty and incumbent James Campbell are not running as closely knit a campaign; however, they have each named education as a priority. As far as the issues that affect Towson students, Republican candidate William Frank acknowledged the need for "steady and predictable funding for higher education in Maryland," but noted that the budget deficit will probably not allow for large increases in funding anytime soon. "Higher education will not likely receive the double-digit annual increases in state spending that have occurred in recent years," Frank said, adding that the USM has "made great strides in recent years," and that it should continue to do so in "tight budget times." Democrat Matthew Joseph was not as kind to the USM or individual universities. "I believe that Towson University is grossly underfunded and has not received its fair share from the state, largely due to the lack of [effective] representation in the General Assembly," he said. "I hope to correct that deficiency. At the same time, I believe all of the state's public institutions of higher learning need to be held more accountable for the quality of education received by students." Joseph said the most important issue in this campaign is whether "the 42nd District will be represented by people who have experience and a track record producing real results for real people or continue to be represented by ideologues who allow their own agenda to undermine their effectiveness." Joseph went on to cite his own record of working to "fix our schools, our government and our health care system." Jim Brochin, a part-time TU professor who is the Democratic candidate for the district's Senate seat, said his priorities are education and open space. "I just think development is ruining our quality of life," Brochin said regarding open space. As far as education goes, he said he supports the Thornton Commission. At the debate held on campus on Oct. 24, Brochin also spoke about his position on slot machines in Maryland ("I want to use slot machines to help balance the deficit") and gun control, specifically ballistic fingerprinting. "I think we need to find out if the technology works," Brochin said. "Until we have the that technology and it is very affordable -- I wouldn't support it just yet. Smart gun technology is a good idea, but we need to get there first." Brochin works in Towson's political science department and said the outcome of Tuesday's election won't affect his commitment to the University. "If I'm lucky enough to win, I'll teach in the fall," Brochin said. His opponent, Delegate Martha Klima, spoke at the debate about Maryland's budget deficit, which she attributed to a lack of prioritizing from Democrats in the Assembly, and on gun control. "We have more gun laws on the books in the state of Maryland almost than in any other place in the country," Klima said during the debate. "Gun laws apparently don't work. What we have to do is enforce gun laws and go after the criminal[s]. We've got to get tough on crime, not the guns." Klima, who opposes the use of slot machines to bring in revenue, said a better way to boost the economy would be to look into privatizing BWI Airport.

Baltimore Jewish Times
Letter to the Editor
November, 2002.

I appreciate being included in the Oct. 18 article "Dark Horses," about "long-shot" candidates. My Green Party campaign for the House of Delegates (D-42nd), however, is not concerned about the "odds," only about the issues. Big Money has come to dominate Annapolis like never before. In a word, our democracy has been bought. I'm running because our state is being polluted at an alarming rate, because 700,000 Marylanders have no health insurance, because we're investing in prisons, as opposed to true investment in children. There are solutions to our problems. As long as Big Money controls Annapolis, the real long shot is having those solutions heard. Rick Kunkel Green Party candidate (D-42nd)

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Baltimore Chronicle
Endorsement,
November, 2002.

Vote Green. Vote for Rick Kunkel for State Delegate in the 42nd District. by Kay Dellinger Kunkel believes that much of tomorrow's crime can be prevented if the enormous social needs of today are addressed, such as education, after-school programs, social services, and jobs that pay a living wage. The best candidate running for state delegate in the 42nd district is Rick Kunkel, the Green Party candidate. A social worker in a mental health clinic and a father, he is a very principled person. His platform, ignored by the mainstream media, is excellent. One of its most important parts calls for reforming the income tax structure to be fairer and raise needed revenue. His platform states that Maryland's income tax is now flat, with those in the middle class paying the same tax rate as millionaires. Kunkel advocates changing to a progressive tax structure, in which the percentage of income tax paid gradually rises as income increases. This would take some of the tax burden off lower-income taxpayers and raise more revenues to fund unmet needs. One of the biggest needs is universal health care coverage. Kunkel supports a "single payer" health plan that would provide all Marylanders full and complete health coverage. His platform states that this type of program is used in Canada and Germany and is cost-effective and gives the consumer unlimited choice. If a single payer system were implemented in Maryland, most people would actually see their health care expenditures decrease. With "single payer," health care providers would continue to operate for profit, but private insurance companie--the profiting middlemen who soak 30 cents of every health care dollar--would be gone. Almost every other developed country in the world guarantees comprehensive health care access to all its citizens. On another important issue, Kunkel opposes the death penalty, especially because of Maryland's shameful record of racial bias in death penalty cases. He supports creating a criminal justice system that is fair and that emphasizes prevention above punishment. He calls for a system that works toward rehabilitating offenders and preparing them to be lawful citizens when they are released from prison-this means education, job training, and substance abuse programs. He believes that much of tomorrow's crime can be prevented if the enormous social needs of today are addressed, such as education, after-school programs, social services, and jobs that pay a living wage. He makes the point that a "prevention approach" to crime is cost effective, as well as just. The cost of maintaining a prisoner is far higher than the cost of educating a child, or of job training, or of providing adequate social services to those in need. As a Green Party candidate, Kunkel has experienced how difficult it is for third party candidates to get on the ballot in Maryland. He will propose legislation to make it easier for small political parties to run candidates. He feels the two major parties have created laws that lock out small parties. As a result, Maryland's third-party candidates rarely make it onto the ballot, and the voters rarely have the opportunity to hear the ideas and solutions they have to offer. Currently, small parties (those with less than 1% voter affiliation, or 27,000 members) must gather 10,000 signatures every four years to maintain their official party status with the State Board of Elections. These signatures allow the party to run a presidential candidate only. Kunkel believes if a party has collected the required 10,000 signatures and is officially recognized in Maryland, it should be able to run candidates at all levels without collecting more signatures. He also supports campaign finance reform. These Clean Election Laws would provide full public campaign funding for qualified state-level candidates who refuse private contributions. Candidates who decline to participate in this voluntary program would be permitted to raise money on their own, as always. Kunkel knows this would free politicians from constant fund raising, thereby allowing them to focus on their legislative duties instead. As he sees it, Clean Election Laws are the only way to break the stranglehold "Big Money" has on politics in Maryland. As a representative of the Green Party, Kunkel appropriately has a very strong environmental program. It includes: full funding and staffing of environmental law enforcement agencies; statewide tax credits for energy efficient measures on new structures and retro-fits of existing ones; including non-toxic recyclable insulation, weatherizing, energy saving lighting and appliances, and on-site renewable energy production; mandating that Maryland's 26 coal burning power plants be fitted with the latest pollution reducing technology; and the decommissioning of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant. He advocates "polluter pay" laws that require pollution cleanup at the expense of the polluter rather than the state or local government; deposits on all glass, metal, and plastic beverage containers as a means to conserve resources while keeping Maryland clean; support for the local and/or organic production of food on family farms; and ensuring that environmental protection and ecological practices are taught at every level in the public schools. In order to guarantee that no Marylander lives in poverty, Kunkel supports raising the state's minimum wage to one that people can actually live on. A living wage, indexed to the local cost of housing and phased in over several years, would ensure that all minimum-wage workers would be able to afford basic housing and other necessities. On education, Kunkel wants to reduce class size to no larger than 15 in elementary schools and 25 in middle schools, with first priority being those schools in poorer jurisdictions, and break up huge underachieving middle and high schools into smaller schools. He advocates raising public teachers' salaries, and making the teachers' pension plan, which is now one of the worst, into one of the best in the country; making full-day kindergarten available for children of working parents; guaranteeing pre-K in poorer school districts; making after-school programs available to all children; and prioritizing the budget to fund these policies. Addressing corporate reform, Kunkel supports making corporations pay their fair share of taxes by closing tax loopholes that are not available to small businesses and individuals and establishing civil and criminal liability of a corporation's top management and directors when Maryland's public interest is damaged. In their endorsements for this election, both The Sun and City Paper failed to endorse Rick Kunkel. With such a comprehensive, thoughtful program, it's a disgrace that the mainstream media have ignored Kunkel's campaign. He deserves so much better. Voters in the 42nd district can take matters into their own hands, however, and vote for Rick Kunkel for state delegate--and do themselves and Maryland a great service. Kay Dellinger is a Lauraville resident.

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Baltimore Sun
Letter to the Editor from Dave Goldsmith,
November 9, 2002.

Whenever there is a sensational gun crime, the Democrats call for more gun laws and the Republicans call for stricter enforcement of existing laws and longer prison sentences for gun-using criminals. But how would better enforcement of existing gun laws or longer prison sentences have prevented the Beltway sniper tragedy? The truth is that we live in a country that validates and even glorifies violence, from the president ("I want bin Laden dead or alive") down to the mayor of Baltimore, who recently threatened to beat up his critics. Go to a computer game store and watch about one minute of "Grand Theft Auto" to get an idea of the lessons our children are absorbing. Turn on a television during prime time and you will usually only have to wait seconds before some act of violence is portrayed on the screen. Gun violence is as American as war, low minimum wages and childhood poverty. Until the underlying causes of violence are addressed, the Democratic and Republican solutions will continue to ring hollow after each and every sensational gun crime. Dave Goldsmith Woodstock The writer is the coordinator of the Baltimore County Green Party.

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Baltimore Sun
Feature Article,
October 30, 2002.

By Michael Ollove Sun Staff For a political candidate, Rick Kunkel has a high degree of self-awareness. You can tell by the way he prefaces his pronouncements about the issues of the day. "I don't want to sound kooky or radical, but ... " he says to introduce his support for universal health insurance. "I don't want to sound strident, but ... " he says as a wind-up to his denunciation of how big, special-interest money finds its way into political campaigns - although not into his. Even about his candidacy, Kunkel finds the need for a qualifying prologue. "I'm not delusional," he might say, or "I'm not crazy." All of which, of course, only begs the question. Kunkel is the Green Party candidate in the race for the House of Delegates in the 42nd District, a splotch on the map just above the city's northern line in Baltimore County. He is running for one of three seats against three Democratic candidates and three Republicans. If it helps, think of them as France and Germany and him as Luxembourg. As of last week, his opponents each had raised an average of $55,255 for their campaigns. Kunkel had managed $5,939. That financial disparity, which undoubtedly will grow wider by Election Day, helps explain why, at the moment, Kunkel is standing in a steady rain on a traffic island at the corner of Charles Street and Towsontowne Boulevard. He is a stick figure, long and thin, in clothes that hang ever more limply the wetter he gets. In each hand, he holds a green cardboard sign, and he constantly raises and lowers them as though sending signals by semaphore. The signs bear his name or a Green Party slogan, such as "Not for Sale" or "Corporations Out of Government." Four Green Party volunteers with similar signs man other parts of the intersection. If you are in need of an antidote for the cynicism in American electoral politics, a good place to find it is in the electoral long shot. After all, who has more faith in the possibility of democracy than the candidate with the least chance of winning? That describes Kunkel, and he knows it. "I'm not unrealistic about what this is about. I know I'm a long shot. I'd be a fool to say otherwise." Kunkel never has run for anything before and never wanted to. He is running now, he says, because he couldn't sleep at night if he didn't. "For me, it's 100 percent idealism combined with 100 percent outrage. I know and feel what's possible, how things could be and should be." As ardent and expansive as he is on the various issues, he is all too aware of the irony that his campaign is reduced to one of catchwords. He refuses all contributions from corporations, unions and PACs - not that any have been offered - and in no case will he accept a gift of more than $100. Those constraints severely limit his opportunities to reach the 63,000 voters in the 42nd District. Glossy display ads and big lawn signs would empty the budget. Mass mailings are too expensive. Radio and television spots are unthinkable. So, it's sign-waving. "I get home from work at 5:30 or 6. At that point, how many meaningful conversations can I have with voters? Ten, if I'm lucky? So, we made the decision of waving signs on street corners. This way, we hit thousands and thousands of pairs of eyes. It's a tactical decision - an unfortunate one." As the traffic lights change during this afternoon rush hour, Kunkel constantly reorients himself to face passing cars. Most passengers wear stony expressions, but in virtually every group, someone rewards him with a honk, a wave, a smile or a thumbs-up sign. Kunkel registers every such positive reaction. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he cheers to himself under his breath. None of it comes naturally to him. "The first five minutes, you feel a little foolish," he says, "but then you get into a groove." Because Kunkel is running for office, he is by definition a politician. But it is an identification that feels as foreign to him as would "venture capitalist" or "junk bond trader." Over coffee earlier in the afternoon at Barnes & Noble, he had reflected on the strangeness of this role of candidate. "I'm an introvert by nature," he said. "I get my tank filled by being alone. But here you're out front, speaking in front of an audience, introducing yourself to strangers. I can't deny I get a thrill out of it, but it also runs down my battery." Until recently, Kunkel says, he considered his work a sufficient expression of his politics - organizing a farmers' cooperative in the Himalayas as a Peace Corps volunteer and serving the homeless and the mentally ill as a social worker. He was catalyzed into electoral politics in 2000, when he heard a speech by Ralph Nader, who was running for president as the Green Party nominee. Kunkel agreed with the Green Party positions on a range of subjects - universal health insurance, a living wage, campaign finance reform and other trade, labor and environmental issues. It was something Nader said, though, that changed everything for him. "There was one quote that got me, that stayed with me a couple of days, and then I knew I didn't have a choice," Kunkel recalled. "He said, 'If you don't like the government, become the government.'" Kunkel, who is married and the father of a daughter in the sixth grade, joined the Greens and volunteered in Nader's campaign, his first one ever. This year, he helped found a Green Party chapter in Baltimore County. In line with the party's increasing activity in electoral politics, he began thinking about a campaign for the General Assembly, preferably for someone else. When no one stepped forward, he agreed to take it on himself, but on one condition. "I always said I didn't want to do this alone. There had to be a core group of people willing to work hard on the campaign." And so there have been. A group of 25 key supporters and as many as 50 other volunteers helped collect the necessary voter signatures - about 650 - to get his name on the ballot. They have joined him at street corners, designed a Web site, and searched out forums where he could appear. They also helped him weather the crisis of redistricting, when the Maryland Court of Appeal's intervention abruptly moved the 43rd District out from under him and plopped him into the 42nd. He had to acquire 500 more signatures to make up for the ones that the decision rendered useless. Since then, it has been a steady exercise in sign-waving, some door-to-door canvassing and occasional appearances at generally sparsely attended political forums. "I never knew what hard work it was going to be," he says. "I read a couple books. They said be prepared not to get much sleep. Be prepared to say goodbye to your family. All that's true. The campaign has been front and center to the detriment of my work and my family. It's been hard." And humbling. As the rainfall grows heavier, Kunkel walks down a line of cars, offering his leaflets. Few drivers will even make eye contact, let alone roll down the window to accept his material. "It's odd to me that people wouldn't take a flyer, that they wouldn't even want information," he says. He admits the rejection is degrading, but it's not too degrading. "As a social worker, I'm used to people not liking me, people who are delusional, who think I'm out to steal a million dollars from them. So, when I'm doing this, I think about what's more important, health care for all or being humiliated? When I think about it that way, it's not even a choice." Just then, a young man in a silver Camry rolls downs his window and with a friendly smile accepts a flyer from Kunkel. "I'll take a look at it," he says, and he seems to mean it. Kunkel is elated. "Every time someone blows their horn or gives a thumbs-up or gives $2 to my campaign, that's a victory. Fires usually start slowly." It won't be possible to tell how much his fire has spread until Election Day, but already Kunkel's candidacy has managed to activate some who have never involved themselves in electoral politics. They say they've been attracted not only by Kunkel's positions but also by the sense that his candidacy represents an attempt to take back something lost. "So many people of my generation have been disengaged from the political process," said Peter Owen, 33, a free-lance photographer and one of those most active in Kunkel's campaign. "I can't really blame them. This is the first time I've been involved in the electoral process, except for going into a voting booth." Kunkel isn't kidding himself. His district has 34,400 registered Democrats, 21,300 Republicans, and 167 Greens. Assuming the typically high 90 percent turnout rate of Green voters, that gives Kunkel a starting point of ... 150 votes. Needless to say, for a Kunkel victory, Election Day is not going to come down to who can best mobilize his base. Whatever the outcome, Kunkel says his campaign is proving beneficial to his party in terms of electoral experience and name recognition. "We have eight people running in the state this year. [One for state comptroller, four for the House of Delegates, and three for county commissions.] My hope is that next time it will be 28. This is all about growth." Should he fail to beat the odds this time, will Kunkel be one of them? Here, for the first time, he is equivocal. "It's hard, man, it's hard," he says. "I'd be thrilled to death to have other Greens run in the 42nd. Thrilled to death." The rain has only gotten worse, and his coat has darkened as the water has soaked in. After about an hour-and a-half, Kunkel calls the troops together to halt the afternoon's campaigning. As he had insisted earlier, he may be running for office, but he isn't crazy. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun

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Baltimore Sun
Feature Article,
October 29, 2002.

In the Towson-based 42nd District, the race for the three seats in the Maryland House of Delegates has become one of the most heated in Baltimore County, with the Democratic and Republican slates accusing each other of having the wrong answers on education, the budget and the environment, while a Green Party candidate says the other candidates are wrong on just about everything. Two longtime Republican party activists, Susan L.M. Aumann, 42, an accountant from Timonium, and William J. Frank, 42, of Lutherville, a former banker and development officer for a private school, united on a ticket last spring with Del. Martha S. Klima, who is running for a seat in the state Senate. After the primary they picked up John G. Trueschler, 45, a landscape architect and attorney from Lutherville, and have run a coordinated campaign, highlighting the same talking points and emphasizing their relationship with Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the GOP gubernatorial nominee. They back slot machines at racetracks; a 4 percent across-the-board spending cut for all state agencies except education, health and public safety; and creating a Maryland version of Project Exile, a gun-crime initiative pioneered in Virginia. "All of us are concerned about public safety and public education ... but Maryland is broke. We've got some real, tough, wrenching decisions to make in the next 18 months," Frank said. "The answer sometimes in government is 'no.' We've said 'yes' too often in the last four years." Democrat James W. Campbell, 54, is the only incumbent in the race. He has served in the House of Delegates for 24 years and is chairman of an education subcommittee. The social worker and one-time neighborhood association president moved to Ruxton during the summer after the Maryland Count of Appeals redrew the legislative maps. Running with him is Stephen W. Lafferty, 53, of Stoneleigh, who ran unsuccessfully for the House in 1994. Lafferty is also a neighborhood activist and former Baltimore County Planning Board member who works for the state in community revitalization. Rounding out the ticket is Matthew Joseph, 36, of Towson, who took a leave from his job with Advocates for Children and Youth to mount an aggressive door-to-door campaign, reaching, he said, about 15,000 homes. Despite the state's predicted $1.7 billion budget shortfall, they emphasize their commitment to fully fund the Thornton Commission legislation, a plan to equalize school funding across the state. They also support Gov. Parris N. Glendening's Smart Growth policies. The Democrats said they do not favor tax increases, but would do whatever it takes to fully implement Thornton, which would bring $120 million to Baltimore County. The Republicans say they support Thornton conceptually, but would vote for funding only if they think the state can afford it. The Republicans also say they support Smart Growth in theory, but not the way it has been implemented. Frank said in a recent debate that Glendening had sought to punish Carroll County with sanctions for having voted for Ellen R. Sauerbrey instead of him. "The problem with the way it has been implemented is that it has too many loopholes in it," Joseph said. "Carroll County has gotten away with murder." On the budget woes, Campbell said he will rely heavily on a committee organized by House Speaker Casper R. Taylor that is studying the issue, but would consider delaying capital projects or salary increases. Lafferty says the state should evaluate agencies individually for cuts, while Joseph looks on tough times as an opportunity to cut ineffective programs. Rick Kunkel, 44, of Rodgers Forge is the first Green Party candidate for the state legislature from the Baltimore area. A social worker in mental health clinics for the past 10 years, he champions public financing of elections, strengthened environmental protections, a higher minimum wage and universal health insurance. Kunkel said he knows his candidacy is a long shot, but that he believes the major parties have sold out to big-money interests. He refuses contributions of more than $100. "I'm outraged at how your government, our system, has been bought," said Kunkel. "Who's suffering when our state is taken over by big money? Our environment is suffering. The 700,000 people who are uninsured are suffering. The people trying to make a living on minimum wage are suffering."

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Washington Post
Letter to the Editor,
October 26, 2002.

In your Oct. 20 front-page article "Young Voters' Disengagement Skews Politics," Amy Goldstein and Richard Morin failed to mention that the Green Party is the only political party that is growing in size in the United States, and that growth is coming mostly from college-age voters. In fact, with our incredible appeal to youth, the Greens truly represent the future of politics in America. This is the true meaning of "political correctness": to ignore third parties because they don't fit into your neat and restrictive political paradigm. -- Dave Goldsmith

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Towson Times
Featured Article,
October 17, 2002.

Story By Bryan P. Sears Respond to this story Email this story to a friend It's not easy being Green. Or Libertarian or Constitutional or even Independent. For voters and candidates who feel the two major parties in Maryland don't reflect their values, third parties are often a lonely option. Rick Kunkel, a Green Party candidate for House of Delegates in the 42nd District, knows that all too well. Kunkel, 44, was a ``lifelong Democrat" until Ralph Nader ran for president as a Green Party candidate two years ago. ``Nader's campaign completely turned me on," Kunkel, the only third-party candidate in the 42nd District, said. Kunkel, a social worker, is running for one of three seats in the House of Delegates against Democrats James Campbell, Matthew Joseph, Steve Lafferty and Republicans Susan Aumann, Bill Frank and John Trueschler. For Kunkel and other third-party candidates, the road to elected office is tougher than for candidates in the state's two major parties. No third- party candidate has ever won a state election. First, there are the petitions that must be filed just to get the party official recognition so voters can register as a party member. Then, a candidate for the third party must collect signatures equal to 1 percent of the number of people who voted in the district in the last gubernatorial election to have candidates' names added to the General Election ballot. Kunkel added an additional hurdle - he only accepts campaign contributions from individuals of $100 or less. Regular guy on the fringe Of the more than 63,000 registered voters in Baltimore County, 546 affiliate themselves with the Green Party. About 30 percent of those live in the 42nd District. ``This is a pretty anti-third-party state," James Gimpel, a politics professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, said. ``(Candidates) have to really work hard to identify themselves (to voters)." Gimpel, who spoke on the broader topic of third parties in Maryland and not about particular candidates, said that most members of third parties fall into two categories, ``cranks" and those who have an issue they feel would not be considered if they did not run for office. ``Some, quite frankly are delusional," he said. ``It's hard to know why they're running, quite frankly. If the issues they were talking about were mainstream, we'd be hearing them from the two main parties." Kunkel is sensitive to the unflattering portrayal of those who run as third-party candidates. ``I'm just a regular guy," Kunkel said. ``I'm a regular guy who is concerned with the direction that our state and planet is going." Issues in the mainstream Kunkel said his issues are mainstream. He said when he goes door-to-door and speaks to voters, he notices a ``disconnect" between voters and Annapolis. In addition to the traditional Green Party value of protecting the environment, Kunkel advocates universal health care for all of Maryland's citizens. He said there are 700,000 residents who do not have health care and the state could provide the service without increasing the budget. ``The percentage of those without health care in Maryland is lower than other states," Kunkel said. ``But the fact is that so many of our brothers and sisters are without health care and that is a sin." He also believes in reforming campaign finance laws to prevent ``buying access in Annapolis," and the repeal of the 10 percent tax reduction enjoyed by Marylanders over the last five years, along with institution of a progressive tax structure. `Green Party values and ideals are not fringe and are not out of the mainstream," he said. ``If I could have a conversation with each of the 63,000 voters, I know I would win." But Kunkel is realistic about his chances of winning _ or of making a significant change if he did. The Republican Party holds just 35 of 141 House of Delegate seats and is considered to be only a marginal force in Annapolis. Kunkel, if he won the election, would be a party of one. ``We're trying to start a movement here," he said. ``I'm convinced that 100 years from now people will look back at 2002 and wonder why health care for all was such a struggle."

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Baltimore Jewish Times
Cover Story,
October 17, 2002.

Barbara Pash OCTOBER 18, 2002 Baltimore Rick Kunkel is a full-time social worker. Last spring, he took on a second full-time job, although this one's unpaid. Mr. Kunkel is the Green Party candidate for the House of Delegates in the 42nd District. With 167 Green Party members among the district's 63,104 registered voters, Mr. Kunkel is — to say the least — a long shot. And no one is more aware of that than him. "I wake up in the middle of the night and think, 'What am I doing? This is crazy,'" said Mr. Kunkel, a 44-year-old Rodgers Forge husband and father, who now spends a good 40 hours a week ringing doorbells, handing out fliers, attending political forums, being interviewed by the media, and holding signs at street corners where "I get 20 waves for every flipped finger. But I don't mind. At least there's a reaction." People enter the political fray for all sorts of reasons, even a contest they appear to have virtually no chance of winning, says David Conn, director of government relations and public policy at the Baltimore Jewish Council. Some have an issue about which they're passionate, and use their campaign to highlight it. Some are fed up with the current political leadership. Some run at the urging of their political party in a district dominated by the opposition, in effect agreeing to be "sacrificial lambs," Mr. Conn said, "but also generating more interest in the race and in their party." For candidates from third parties, the goal is to start building a base in local and state politics, thus making the party important in future electoral calculations. The candidates themselves may be long shots, but the people they're running against don't necessarily see it that way. "When a clear front-runner has even token opposition, it energizes their campaign," Mr. Conn said. "Typically, you'll see their fund-raising efforts increase. If there's no opposition, it's difficult for them to go to people for money." Besides, dark horse candidates have been known to win. "It happens all the time," said Paul Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland, College Park. "I call it the snowball's-chance-in-hell factor." Mr. Herrnson cited U.S. Rep. Daniel Rostenkowski, a Democrat from Chicago. "He was considered a shoo-in until he was indicted and then was beaten by an unknown, Michael Patrick Flanagan. It enabled Flanagan to topple a political giant," he said. There doesn't even need to be a last-minute scandal to make a once-safe incumbent vulnerable. Mr. Herrnson refers to the Richard Nixon-era Watergate events. "Before Watergate, the Republicans didn't have much to worry about. A lot of weak Democratic candidates ran because conditions suggested the Republicans would retain their seats," he said. "After Watergate, the environment changed." Alan Zukerberg is the Republican candidate for state senator from the 11th District. Of the district's 69,036 registered voters, 43,755 are Democrats, 17,193 Republicans, according to the state election board. Despite these odds, Mr. Zukerberg, a 56-year-old retired attorney, says he wouldn't have entered the race if he didn't believe it was winnable. His opponent is Paula Hollinger, who is not only a Democrat but a four-term incumbent in the seat. "There have been other uphill battles that I've won," Mr. Zukerberg said, referring to his community efforts, most recently as president of the Pikesville- Greenspring Community Coalition, an umbrella organization for neighborhood groups, a position he resigned when he decided to run for office. He also switched political parties in order to do so. "When I did the cemetery fight, people laughed in my face. They said I was a fool," Mr. Zukerberg said of the successful effort two years ago to prevent a residential development on part of the Druid Ridge Cemetery land in Pikesville. "But I studied the situation, made my alliances and we won." Now, Mr. Zukerberg's mission is to let voters know "who I am and what I've done. What I want to overcome is that people will vote for [Mrs. Hollinger] just because of name recognition." For Kenneth Holniker, name recognition is not an issue. Neither is fighting an incumbent. A 30-year resident of Eldersburg who with his late wife, Peggy, founded Beth Shalom of Carroll County, the 74-year old Mr. Holniker, an attorney, is running as the Democratic candidate for the House of Delegates in the 9B District. The legislative district is a brand new "sub-district," as it's officially called, in Carroll County that was created by the state's redistricting last spring. The district is predominantly Republican, with 11,558 registered Republican voters vs. 8,495 registered Democrats. Mr. Holniker says he entered the race because he feels strongly about the future of the area. "I don't want to see Eldersburg go downhill, as it's been doing," he said. "I know the problems, and I'm willing to put the time and effort into solving them." Mr. Holniker said he isn't too concerned about the disparity in voter registration. "I have the name recognition," he said. "I think I can pull an upset." By state law, as a third party candidate, Mr. Kunkel had to get his name on the ballot by petition. He went through two petition drives because Rodgers Forge was originally in the 43rd Legislative District but after redistricting ended up in the newly redrawn 42nd District. The state officially recognized the Green Party as a third party two years ago, and Mr. Kunkel is one of three Green Party candidates running for the House of Delegates in Baltimore County. "You have to build movements," Mr. Kunkel said. "It's like starting a campfire. First you find pieces of tinder, then you add more wood and soon you've got a bonfire." For long-shot candidates, the main challenge is getting their name in front of voters. Mr. Kunkel has a Web site, www.rickkunkel.org , that he hopes will accomplish that. "The underdog candidate has to do things in more creative ways than the favorites," Mr. Conn said. "Classically, what the underdog wants to generate is free newspaper and TV coverage. That's why you see the underdog challenging the front-runner to debates." Mr. Herrnson agrees. "If you expect to be competitive, you have to compete," he said. "If you're the challenger, you better be working your tail off. Unless you're a celebrity of some sort, you have no track record, no history, no name recognition." But don't get Mr. Herrnson wrong. He has a friend who has run for U.S. Congress three, maybe four, times. His friend has never won but that doesn't deter him. "He feels he's meeting people, learning things. Sure, he'd like to get elected, but even if he doesn't, he feels he's doing something valuable," he said. So does Mr. Herrnson. It's not easy to run for office. "People make sacrifices, in time and money. They do this willingly and no matter how pathetic any candidate's chances look, I commend them," he said. "This is what makes democracy work."

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Baltimore Jewish Times
Letter to the Editor,
September 27, 2002.

In "Familiar And New," your Sept. 13 article about the races in the new 42nd District, you mentioned the three Democratic and three Republican candidates in the general election, but failed to mention that for the first time in Baltimore County history a Green Party candidate for state delegate will be on the ballot. Rick Kunkel offers a true alternative to the "business-as- usual" approach of the other candidates, and the Jewish Times does its readers no service by ignoring this honorable man and his "corporations out of government" campaign. Dave Goldsmith Woodstock, Maryland

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Baltimore City Paper
article featuring Rick Kunkel,
August 6, 2002.

For most Maryland politicians, getting on the ballot is the least of their worries during an election year. It's a simple matter of signing some documents and writing a check for anywhere from $50 to $300 dollars to the Board of Elections. That's because most politicians are Democrats or Republicans. Third-party and independent office seekers have to earn their places on the ballot by submitting the valid signatures of at least 1 percent of the electorate they hope to represent. Statewide, that means 27,000 signatures. That's a lot of time spent pounding the pavement, offering clipboards and pens to bewildered strangers. Still, it's better than it used to be for alternative candidates. Before 1998, when ballot-access reforms were enacted, independent and third-party challengers had to collect valid signatures of 3 percent of the electorate before their names could be offered up to voters. Candidates currently negotiating the petition process say the reductions have helped--but only so much. "Maryland still has some of the toughest ballot-access laws in the nation," says Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News, a monthly publication that tracks balloting rules nationwide. "While improved, there really hasn't been a lot of change." For example, Maryland is one of only two states (along with New Mexico) that requires candidates to petition to get on the ballot while simultaneously requiring parties to do the same to win state recognition, and the perception of political legitimacy that confers. Winger credits neighboring Delaware as a "model" for open ballot access. There, a nonmajor party is recognized when it gets 1/20 of 1 percent of registered voters to join, and there are no petitioning requirements for individuals running under that party's aegis--they simply pay a fee to get on the ballot, as do Democrats and Republicans. Maryland officials "had noble intentions when they crafted the [1998] legislation, but it's pretty clear that the system is still designed to provide ballot obstructions for minor-party candidates," says Isaac Opalinsky, co-chairperson of the Maryland Green Party (which achieved state recognition in 2000). "It's a one-party state, and the laws do a lot to preserve that." The Greens would like to see petitioning eliminated for candidates from recognized parties, a status a party obtains by gathering 10,000 voter signatures and maintains by getting 1 percent of the electorate to either join it or vote for it in any statewide election. Opalinsky says signature collecting wastes campaign resources, burns out volunteers, and diverts candidates from discussing the issues. Critics of ballot restrictions say the rules aren't just inconvenient, but unconstitutional. After Green David Gross was denied a spot on the ballot in the 2000 1st Congressional District race because more than 1,000 of his signatures were ruled invalid, the party took its dissatisfaction to court, suing the Maryland Board of Elections. (The Greens are the plaintiff in the suit, but members of other third parties filed affidavits of support.) The state won summary judgment in the case, but the Greens have appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, which heard the case last fall but has yet to rule. Third-party and independent candidates face their greatest petition challenge when seeking statewide office, where 1 percent of eligible voters translates into more than 27,000 signatures. (And petitioners are advised by the State Board of Elections to exceed the minimum by at least 20 percent to provide a buffer for the inevitable disqualifications.) If well below the 80,000 signatures required prior to the 1998 rule change, it's still a daunting figure. "We were planning on running a gubernatorial candidate for this election, but due to the harshness of ballot-access laws, we determined that it was beyond our finances and resources," says Stephen Krukar, chairperson of the state-recognized Maryland Constitution Party. "The citizens of Maryland lose because the different parties have different ideas that can be beneficial to hear." The Libertarian Party is the only third party likely to have a candidate on the gubernatorial ballot this fall. Indeed, it is the only minor party likely to place a candidate on any statewide ballot. The only other third-party candidate seeking statewide office--Green Party comptroller candidate Beth Hufnagel--is doubtful about collecting enough signatures by the Aug. 5 deadline. "It's not looking real good," she says of her petitioning efforts. (Robert Stewart, an independent gubernatorial candidate--who must also collect signatures--did not return calls seeking comment.) "The whole [system] is designed to rob the voter of choice," says Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Spear Lancaster, a retired marketing executive from Anne Arundel County. "They call this the Free State--that's a joke." The Lancaster campaign began collecting signatures last fall, and broke the 30,000 mark in July. Lancaster says he hopes to ultimately submit "between 33,000 and 34,000" signatures. Paul Herrnson, a University of Maryland professor of government and politics and editor of the book Multiparty Politics in America, doesn't feel the third-party candidates' pain. A consultant to the Commission to Revise the Election Code--a think tank established in 1996 to examine Maryland electoral procedures--Herrnson contends that the state's ballot-access laws are "pretty reasonable" and "a burden, but not that great of one." "Seeing conspiracies and seeing high hurdles [to ballot access] is a typical response of minor parties, which are often parties out of sync with how the public views politics," Herrnson says. Collecting signatures might be difficult, he adds, but it is "nothing like the burden that [Democrat and Republican] candidates face when they have to campaign in a primary election to get on the [general election] ballot." Third-party candidates may even give incumbents "another advantage" by dividing the competition, he says. "I think [incumbent] accountability is more important to governance than having a bunch of names proliferate on the ballot." But one person's cluttered ballot is another's freedom of choice. Libertarian candidate Lancaster blasts concerns that easing regulations will lead to overloaded ballots as "specious, insulting, and degrading." "I believe in Maryland right now that we have 18 [state] senators that are running unopposed," he says. "Don't tell me we have choices when only one person is running." Adding another wrinkle to challenges third-party candidates face is the Maryland Court of Appeals' late-June redistricting, which shifted many already-campaigning candidates into different districts. For third-party candidates this meant many of the signatures collected prior to the district shift had to be tossed out. And the Aug. 5 deadline for petition submission was not changed. Rick Kunkel, a Rodgers Forge social worker and Green Party candidate for the House of Delegates, began his campaign in the 43rd District, which straddled the Baltimore city/county line; post-redistricting, he is now running in the all-Baltimore County 42nd District. "Redistricting whacked us a little bit and set us back a couple of steps," Kunkel says. "All of the signatures we collected in the city were no good." He says his campaign is "recovering" and, indeed, he has already submitted nearly all of the signatures he needs to qualify for the ballot in the 42nd. But while he believes he will be on the ballot come November, he still questions the process. "We're an official party," he says. "We followed the rule and regs to become an official party--so what's this second [signature] hurdle about? If I had decided to run as a Democrat, I could have gone to Annapolis, paid my 50 bucks [to file], and I'd be in the primary."

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Sunpaper
Letter to the Editor from Dave Goldsmith,
September 9, 2002.
President Bush is totally out of his league on foreign policy. Before Sept. 11, Mr. Bush made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian problem; after the terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Mr. Bush rewarded evil with a promise that he would support a Palestinian homeland. Mr. Bush has isolated the United States, given comfort to our enemies and disheartened our friends abroad. In truth, this appointed president is ill-suited to govern our democracy. Dave Goldsmith Woodstock The writer is the coordinator of the Baltimore County Green Party.

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Sunpaper
Letter to the Editor from Dave Goldsmith,
August 2, 2002.
It is hard for me to sympathize with Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich regarding debates ("Candidates debate about their debates," July 28). In 2000, I asked Mr. Ehrlich to endorse a then-pending House resolution to make it easier for third-party candidates to enter the presidential debates. No friend of democracy or open debates, Mr. Ehrlich's position was that it should be made more difficult to get credible candidates into the presidential debates. From my vantage point, Mr. Ehrlich is now getting his just desserts. Dave Goldsmith Woodstock The writer is a member of the Baltimore County Green Party.

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WYPR 
Marc Steiner Interview with
Alison Gibbons, Rick Kunkel, and Isaac Opalinsky
July 30, 2002.

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Sunpaper
Letter to the Editor from Dave Goldsmith,
October 28, 2001.
Instead of squandering millions (billions?) of dollars (not to mention thousands of lives at home and abroad) on yet another oil war, why doesn't the United States invest a small part of that money in breaking our dependence on fossil fuels? To ask that question of oilmen such as President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney reveals the deep-seated corruption at the heart of our political system. Dave Goldsmith Baltimore

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