Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif., Tom Barnidge column: Barnidge: Winning isn't everything on the political fringes

"I'm probably the most informed person you've ever met," he said. "I truly am an expert on the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, Madison's Notes, the Federalist Papers ... I can go on and on."

And then he did.

A guy that smart also knew that, as the candidate of the American Independent Party, he had zero chance of winning Tuesday's special election.

Green Party candidate Jeremy Cloward ran for the same office on a platform that included reduced military spending, single-payer universal health care, nationalized banks and free day care. But he knew he wasn't going to be writing any legislation.

"In general," he said, "third parties get one, two, three percent of the vote. We knew the odds were against us."

And then there's Mary McIlroy, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate, who lists her hobbies as "crocheting, cooking and working to overthrow capitalism."

"Our goals are a little different," she said of her party. "We don't run candidates with the idea that they're going to get elected."

Mission accomplished.

The three minor-party candidates barely registered a blip in Tuesday's election results. Apart from taking up space on the ballot, it's hard for most of us to figure out what they accomplished. So

why did they bother?

The answers aren't quite as wacky as you might imagine. Well, at least not all of them.

McIlroy said her candidacy was all about sharing the working-class perspective and stomping out cynicism. She said when voting choices boil down to (1) evil and (2) the lesser of two evils, disillusioned voters quit participating.

"I think it's important to have as many viewpoints out there as possible," she said. "When we run for office, we get to raise the issues that are of concern to us."

Cloward, a political-science professor at Diablo Valley College, said his run was about stepping out of the classroom and into the political arena. He believes that Democrats disappointed by their representatives can be persuaded to look at the Green Party.

That's why he says he'll probably run again. Dreamers don't discourage easily.

"Going through this special election gives us a chance to see what it takes to compete with the Democrats and Republicans," he said. "We get to see how much money you need for TV, ads and posters, and how many people you need working for you."

Denham, on the other hand, had grander strategic reasons, which is what you might expect of the most informed person you've ever met. He was laying groundwork. Through an operation he calls Freedom Coalition, he plans to orchestrate the takeover of all 13 Bay Area congressional districts -- he and 12 other hand-picked candidates. We think Specter did this once in a James Bond movie.

"In my opinion," he said, and he has a number of those, "every seat has been held by a person with a totalitarian frame of mind toward government. We have allowed what our founders feared would occur and are moving in a direction of total government."

So Denham's not going anywhere except back to his war room. This race was just the appetizer. He'll be back in 2010 for dinner.

"We're out to win," he said. "I hear you laughing, but we will talk again."

Fine by us. You can't have this kind of fun with David Harmer or John Garamendi.

Reach Tom Barnidge at 925-977-8591 or tbarnidge@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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