First, I am running because Texas needs an alternative to the old politics - the politics of money, power, and corruption embodied by the two "major" parties in this nation today. Those old politics have led our country to a dangerous place, in a lot of ways, and the two major parties don't want to tell you about that because they are the ones who got us here.
In truth, there is no more difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party than there is between Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Each side has their role to play in the piece of theater we call government today; each side is rewarded handsomely for playing their respective roles; and each side is more than willing to "play along" to keep their prosperous lifestyles.
The Tweedledees say they're an alternative to the Tweedledum[b] misrule this nation has suffered under for the past six years, but actions speak louder than words. The Tweedledees now have a majority in Congress, yet they have done nothing to end the disastrous and illegal war in Iraq; they have done nothing to reverse - or even slow - the destruction of our Constitutional liberties by the Tweedledum administration; they have done nothing to reign in the corrupting influence of corporations in our national life today; and they have done nothing to impeach and remove from office either the President (sic) or the Vice-President (sic), despite the introduction of legislation to cause that to happen.
Second, I am running because this nation is being led down a dangerous - even ruinous - path by those who offer the people what I call bogus choices at every turn. For example, you're told that the only choice you have in this race, and in most others, is between the Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate; but that choice is bogus - it's not really a choice at all, because the difference between the two is minimal. It doesn't matter which wing of the Republocrat party you vote for; you're still voting for those old politics, and for all the catastrophes they've led us into.
The real choice, the one the people in charge don't want you to see, is between the old politics of money, power, and corruption represented by the Rebublocrats, and the new politics of the people, the environment, and the earth represented by the Green Party. You are told to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," and that if you vote for anyone but a Republican or Democrat, you're wasting your vote. If you really want to waste your vote, then cast that vote for one of the Republocrat candidates; it's like choosing between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Third, I am running because we need to get back to the truth. We need candidates for office who are willing to tell you where they actually stand on the issues, not what their campaign manager's assistant's focus group's polling company says you want to hear. We also need candidates who will tell you the truth about the way things are, instead of trying to misdirect you away from the disastrous effects of a century of the old politics. We need candidates who will tell you the truth about the environment, about the economy, about the illegal wars that are killing our young people for the profit of the corporations owned by the Bush family and Mr. Cheney (the Carlyle Group and Halliburton, respectively).
So what is that truth? What is is that the hacks in both wings of the Republocrat Party are scared spitless you'll see? Their fear is that when we see where they and their old politics have brought us, we'll throw them out on their collective and respective ... ears. You know something? They're right! The next 4-5 years are going to see upheavals the like of which haven't been seen for centuries, upheavals that could have been prevented if it hadn't been for the greed and power hunger of the people who rule this country.
The Green Party has stood for decades against those old politics, and for the new politics of the people, the environment, and the earth - the politics of hope for the future. I stand solidly on that same side, and ask you to join me in deflecting this country from the course that has been set for it by the old politics and by the old politicians. Remember, as you evaluate the candidates, who stands for things as they are and who stands for a different, brighter future.