One of the Alternatives to Candidates Whitman and Brown

Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman aren’t the only choices California has for governor.

In fact, a third choice – Carlos Alvarez of the Peace and Freedom Party – attended Candidate Brown and Candidate Whitman’s first debate September 28 at the Mondavi Center at the University of California at Davis.

Candidate Alvarez, a youthful and bespectacled 23, did not share the stage with Candidates Brown and Whitman and told debate attendees and media representatives outside the Mondavi Center that he felt he and other minor party candidates were wrongly excluded.

Candidate Alvarez, a grocery worker at Vons/Pavillions and member of United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 770, in Los Angeles, handed out a two-sided sheet – one side English, one Spanish – outlining his position on various issues.

“No solo un voto,” it says on one side. “Todo un movimiento!”

Translated: “Not just a vote, a people’s movement.”

Candidate Alvarez says he is the candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

At the Party for Socialism and Liberation website, this January 16, 2008 essay makes the case for socialism as the only “solution to the deepening crisis of capitalism.”

Here are the seven boldface headlines on the topics Candidate Alvarez addresses in the handout he had at the Mondavi Center:

“End the Wars! Bring All Troops Home NOW (Fin a las Guerras!)

Education is a Right

Universal Healthcare for All

Full Rights for All Immigrants

Full Rights for LGBT People

Make Big Polluters Pay

Tax the Rich! Jobs for All”

In bigger and bolder print, Candidate Alvarez says, “STOP The CUTBACKS!”

He queries:

“Why when there is a budget crisis do the politicians target those who can least afford such vicious cuts?”

Candidate Alvarez says he believes that rather than representing the people, politicians represent corporate interests.

“Tax the rich,” Candidate Alvarez says. “If there have to be cuts, chop from the top.”

All people should have the right to vote regardless of immigration status, Candidate Alvarez says.

“We demand free education – pre-K through university, a raise in teachers’ salaries and an immediate reduction in classroom size. “

Candidate Alvarez also calls for the abolition of insurance companies because they care more about profit than providing healthcare, a moratorium on foreclosures and the “right to a job with a real living wage and union protection.”

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