THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
www.cagreens.org
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Contact: Erika McDonald, Media Committee chair, 415.337-1499, Erika@dolorespark.org
Story of Green Party candidate's uphill battle
to topple most powerful woman in Congress over war in Iraq opens in San
Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO - Based on her spirited attempt to challenge the most
powerful woman in Congress with a Green Party candidacy, pioneering lesbian
playwright Terry Baum will be performing the story of her campaign in a
play called "Baum for Peace or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
Democracy."
Opening tonight at the Marsh Theater, the play combines the worlds of art
and politics in a humorous portrayal that brings contemporary American
democracy to life.
Driven by protest against the invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq,
Baum's 2004 campaign to challenge House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was
plagued with ballot problems that led to her filing a case with the Supreme
Court. She even was arrested during a protest to force to registrar of
voters to count all the votes.
Despite receiving more than the required 1,500 write-in votes to appear on
the November 2004 ballot, some votes were not counted because of a technicality - some write-in voters did not connect the arrows next to her
name, although they clearly wrote her name in the space provided. The mistakes cost Baum a chance to meet Pelosi on the ballot.
Pressing ahead nevertheless, Terry did receive a record number of write-in
votes in November 2004. A recent court case suggests Baum was incorrectly
denied the right to meet Pelosi in the 2004 General Election.
Baum has been writing plays since 1972. Some of her most recent works that
were performed in San Francisco include "Two Fools, or Love Conquers All -
Not!" about a romance between two women who can't legally live in the same
country, and "Waiting for the Podiatrist" in which Baum played an entire
family caught up in the melodrama and absurdities of life in the Intensive
Care Unit.
