MANY POLITICIANS are accused of running on only one ideal. In 1996, Steve Forbes ran for the Republican presidential nomination primarily on his flat tax proposal. Four years later, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) did the same by focusing on campaign finance reform. In Virginia's elections this year, there is one candidate who prides himself on only focusing on one issue.
Gary Reams, the Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor, has campaigned only on the issue of marijuana reform. This isn't just the main focus of his campaign; it is his campaign. While this approach might seem pointless and absurd, it's the freshest thing in Virginia politics this year.
At a Sept. 28 rally in the University's amphitheater, Reams delivered a passionate, convincing speech for marijuana law reform. But when the topic didn't change, several questions raced through my mind: Where does Reams stand on education? Gay rights? Taxes? Abortion? The economy?
Reams doesn't stand for anything on these issues. As lieutenant governor, he wouldn't have an opinion on these issues. But to put it bluntly, the lieutenant governor's opinion doesn't matter anyway.
Compare the two other candidates, Tim Kaine (D) and Jay Katzen (R). Their Web pages are chock full of great ideas for improving Virginia, both promising "better education," "tax relief" and "safer communities" (www.jaykatzen.com, www.timkaine2001.org). Don't waste your time reading all the political garbage the candidates spew. The important thing isn't what they plan on doing, it's how they plan on doing that.
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The lieutenant governor has two roles, and the most important is to preside as president of the state Senate, where his only legislative responsibility is to break a tie. The other role of the lieutenant governor is to take over in the event that the governor dies or is removed from office. This year, current Lt. Gov. John Hager (R) had to cast one tie-breaking vote. The controversial bill? One that would have required licenses for salt-water fishermen (an important issue that's on the lips of every Virginian).
In other words, Kaine and Katzen are making all these wonderful promises, when, if elected, they'll be able to make one decision a year, if that. With the ability to vote on every bill, even delegates and state senators have more power and influence than that.
Kaine or Katzen: It doesn't make any difference. The only thing that will change is that the winning candidate will have a leg up in the next gubernatorial election. Even that might not help; this year, Hager's bid for the Republican nomination failed.
Reams, on the other hand, is the only candidate who takes a realistic look at politics and the role of the lieutenant governor. He sees the position as one where he can make a difference through the amount of support he gets and not through the extremely limited legislative power of the office.
In fact, if elected, Reams promises to abstain from casting any tie-breaking votes on bills not directly relating to marijuana. On his Web site, he even goes so far to say that he "will have no mandate to represent the voters on other issues," and therefore won't assert his views on other subjects (www.reamsreeferendum.com).
The lieutenant governor's other role -- to take over if the governor cannot complete his term -- is one that, in all likelihood, he will never have to perform. Reams has promised to reject this responsibility, if elected. If the governor were to die or be removed from office, Reams would resign immediately to allow for another gubernatorial election.
Reams is using a candidacy for a meaningless position to bring one issue directly to the people of Virginia. None of the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general have touched this issue, because all of them are for keeping drugs illegal.
Because of the unusual Reams campaign, Virginians don't need to worry about voting for the "lesser of two evils" in choosing a lieutenant governor, because it doesn't matter who gets elected anyway. The more influential statement can come from what Reams himself calls the "Reeferendum." As Jim Turney, Reams' campaign manager, comments in a phone interview, "The purpose of this campaign is to awaken Virginia's elected officials to the fact that there is a large and growing constituency of Virginians who think that marijuana prohibition has gone too far."
Statistics back up the assertion that marijuana reform is a contentious topic. A Gallup poll from March shows that 73 percent of Americans favor allowing marijuana for medicinal purposes. More importantly, a poll from September 2000 shows that 31 percent favor complete legalization -- an all-time high.
Turney asserts, "To send an effective message, we don't need to win, we just need to do better than expected." By running a unique one-issue campaign, Reams gives Virginians the chance to actually send a message in an otherwise pointless race.
(Brian Cook is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at bcook@cavalierdaily.com.)
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