Pubdate: Thu, 15 Jun 2006
Source: Hartford Advocate (CT)
Copyright: 2006 New Mass. Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/182
Author: Adam Bulger
Cited: Efficacy http://www.efficacy-online.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Cliff+Thornton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

GREEN THUMBS UP

Connecticut's Green Party Revs Up With Cliff Thornton's Bid for the 
Governor's Chair on a Drug Decriminalization Platform

Derek Slap, spokesman for John DeStefano's bid for governor, said he 
hadn't paid much attention to Cliff Thornton's campaign.

The New Haven mayor is considered more progressive than Stamford 
Mayor Dan Malloy his rival for the Democratic Party's gubernatorial 
nomination and I thought DeStefano's campaign might be watching 
Thornton, the Green Party candidate for governor.

Slap noted, positively, that Thornton is the first African-American 
to run for governor in the state, and said that after looking at 
Thornton's website, he had a sense of deja vu.

"On the major planks here, I think there are a lot of similarities 
between what the Green Party cares about and what John DeStefano 
cares about," Slap said, noting that the campaigns line up on health 
care, election reform, death-penalty opposition and medical marijuana.

But Hartford native and Glastonbury resident Thornton, a long-time 
drug legalization advocate and first-time political candidate, saw a 
clear distinction between his campaign and the campaigns of DeStefano 
and Malloy.

"I'm not insane. They're insane," Thornton said. Their insanity, he 
said, stems from support of drug prohibition.

"DeStefano and Malloy are applying the same tactics that have been 
employed for almost a century, in and around drug prohibition. We 
have had almost a century of the war on drugs," Thornton said. "Yet 
there are more drugs selling for cheaper prices on our streets than 
ever before. Would you say it's time to look at something different 
than what we've been doing?"

Through the organization Efficacy, which Thornton ran with his wife 
Margaret until he accepted the Green Party's nomination in April, 
Thornton clocked in a decade advocating drug legalization in the 
U.S., Canada, England and New Zealand. He bristled at the notion that 
he was a one-note candidate, though.

"There are a lot of other things. I'm against the death penalty, I'm 
for the estate tax. I have a universal health care plan," Thornton said.

Thornton's race is part of the Green Party's first bid for statewide 
office. New Haven political activist Ralph Ferrucci, who ran for New 
Haven mayor in 2003, is running for Senate, and officials within the 
Green Party said they are looking for candidates for all state 
offices. With approximately $20,000 in their campaign war chest, the 
Greens have more resources than ever before. But they still have work to do.

"We're a party that's in the process of rebuilding, quite frankly. 
We've had an office we haven't had a chance to fully staff," Tim 
McKee, Thornton's campaign manager, said. In order to get Thornton on 
the ballot, the Greens need 15,000 signatures by Aug. 9. McKee said 
they currently have just under 1,000.

Meanwhile, the party is still reeling from defections and from a 
divisive 2004 election.

"I think people know that the 2004 presidential race split us quite a 
bit. Locally, people like [New Haven alderwoman] Joyce Chen switched 
and became a Democrat. [Hartford City Council member] Elizabeth 
Horton-Sheff left because she thought we were talking too much about 
international issues like the war. Quite frankly, this is the first 
time we've had to talk about statewide issues," McKee said.

Thornton was optimistic about the race.

"We're going to win. We're not going to place or show. It's not about 
how Rell is untouchable or how we're taking votes away from the 
Democrats. But if we do, so be it. They're not doing shit anyway," 
Thornton said. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake