Can You Guess Which Party?

From the tide is turning files.

...John Dennis. The San Francisco Republican - a frequent attendee of Tea Party events who is waging a perhaps quixotic war to unseat most-powerful San Franciscan Nancy Pelosi, to whom he has referred as a "wicked witch" - made a campaign stop Sunday at the Cow Palace, where the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo was in full swing. His campaign even altered its signage for the marijuana-appropriate occasion: instead of red, white and blue, the name John Dennis was featured next to Rastafarian red, gold and green. Instead of a star, there's a pot leaf.

The new signage caught Dennis slightly off guard: "Volunteers in my campaign came up with the idea," he said. "I didn't even know they had made the posters [until the weekend], but I think it's definitely appropriate for the venue."

Dennis spent "about an hour" at the event on Sunday. While not every attendee was a San Francisco voter, Dennis says he was met with nothing but kindness and support.

"People were very mellow," he said. "They were pleased we were picking up on this issue."

While he says he neither partakes nor promotes use of the miracle plant - "I'm not telling people to go out and smoke pot, but if you do, it's your choice and your responsibility" - the Pacific Heights resident has made his support of marijuana semi-legalization measure Proposition 19 no secret. He's attended Americans for Safe Access meetings, and endorsed Proposition 19 as early as July.

A Republican? In a high profile race? Supporting legalization? You betcha.

Here is a bit of biographical information on him.

I ask Dennis—whose campaign website describes him as "a successful businessman and entrepreneur"—what the difference is between supporting "corporatism" and being pro-business. He suddenly lights up. "That's a really great question," Dennis says, shooting me a conspiratorial look. The secret is this: He's not actually pro-business. "I'm really more pro-market. Pro-business would lend itself to a kind of corporatism…what I object to is the government picking winners and losers—getting involved in corporations and creating legislation that gives them an advantage over their competitors. "

The anti-business businessman has been forced to reconcile more than a few contradictions during his quixotic campaign. In his bid to attract voters to Pelosi's left, Dennis has attacked the speaker for not pushing hard enough to repeal anti-gay measures like Defense of Marriage Act and the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy. "The government shouldn't be in the marriage business in the first place," he says.

And if you want to donate:

Defeat Pelosi

And believe it or not Mother Jones has an article on TEA Party legalizers. No surprise to those of us paying attention given that some one saw this sign at a TEA Party a while back:

DRUG WAR = BIG GOVERNMENT


Cross Posted at Classical Values