Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk to you about my campaign. My name is Tian Harter, and I'm running for the US Senate seat that is up this year.

However, before I get to that I want to mention that I asked Carol to be a Green Party Candidate because I have seen her tabling at so many events over the years, and I know that a lot of people know her and like her politics. Also I consider the 9-11 bucks to be the most creative piece of activism I've ever seen. I can't think of anybody that do a better job of moving the Green Party forward.

I also want to say that I walked a couple of precincts for Peter Dreckmeier last year when he was running for City Council. At his victory party he gave out low power florescent light bulbs to the volunteers. I think that light bulb is the only political favor I've ever gotten that just lowered my power bill.

Laura Wells has had a great impact on the GPCA. She is currently the world record holder for most votes in the ballot box for a Green Party Candidate, and that the Statewide Green Party newspaper got A LOT better when she was organizing the team that put it out. She really is a great Green.

I joined the Green Party at a peace march during the first gulf war, when some woman walked up to me and asked "Do you want to join a political party based on peace, justice, and ecological wisdom?" I signed up.  It wasn't until I moved to Sacramento and realized that they didn't have groups like the IEEE-SSIT (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Social Implications of Technology Society) where I had focused my activism before that that I became a Green Party Activist. It was just the closest thing to what I was looking for that I could find.

At that time we were working to get the Green Party on the ballot. We succeeded, but then nobody wanted to run for office. I had vivid memories of carrying a sign at peace marches with a yellow ribbon tied around the base, and I realized that the best way to support the troops and fight the politics was to run against the incumbents that had created the policy. Another factor was that I had about 700 stickers that said MEND YOUR FUELISH WAYS left over from the Gulf War, and I was opposed to political parties without Candidates, so I threw my hat into the ring. That's when I developed the first version of the little speech so many of you have heard.

The main goal of this campaign is also to talk about the way we use energy, and the changes we need to make. How many of you came here by transit? (Counting them off) 1, 2, 3, 4. How many of you came here by bicycle? 1, 2, 3, 4, and somebody else. How many walked? 1, 2, 3. The rest of us will need to work on our habits. I know that the transit system isn't what it should be, and when I am elected I won't rest until we have the best transit system on the planet.

I still believe that one of the reasons we are in Iraq is our addiction to oil. The urgency of the need for change is so great the we need a revolution.

I'm not talking about the kind of revolution you participate in by buying a car, I'm talking about the kind of revolution you participate in by not buying a car. The kind of revolution where a revolutionary act is riding transit to get where you want to go. The kind of revolution where you get your food from the local farmers market. The kind of revolution where the pun is mightier than the gun. The kind of revolution where you don't vote for oil companies at the gas pump. When I get elected I won't rest until the difference between an Arkansas quarter and a California quarter means something.

What does an Arkansas quarter bring to mind? Wal*Mart. "The Natural State", whatever that means.

What does a California quarter bring to mind? If you are walking in a grocery store maybe rice, wine, or vegetables. Did you see the California cheese commercial with Jerry Rice in it? If you are walking in a library maybe John Steinbeck. You think the Grapes of Wrath had no impact here? We know better. A generation or so more recently Ken Kesey thickened the pudding here. Maybe you heard about that. In the political system, California is known as the place movements come from. If we (California) can launch the sustainability movement onto the National Stage in a real way, the whole world will thank us.

Running for office is the kind of thing that nobody can do by themselves. The biggest help you can give the Candidates here today is to sign their nominating papers. Please do so before you leave. Thank you!