Third party

He stood behind the counter, looking up and to my left, as he told me he represented a third party — Grassroots — whose main issue was the legalization of marijuana. He said the party was serious about its cause and wanted its candidates to have a chance on the ballot.

The few times I could catch his eye, he seemed like a sober fellow, committed to his cause. He obviously is taking time to talk to people about what is important to him, and to make a change.

But I have some advice for him if he wants to get his candidates more legitimate press.

1) Don't refer to your political supporters as geriatric hippies. It is funny, but not something to be taken seriously. 2) If every piece of literature you have is a tirade against the media without any actual information, don't give it to your local media and expect a story. 3) Don't tell the reporter your group wants its presidential and senatorial candidate to be taken seriously, then tell her you only chose the guys because you found you had some extra time and they were willing to have their names on the ballot. And that one of them is critically ill, so probably not to call them for comment. 4) A battle cry is pretty cool to have, but "Hemp for Victory!" might not pave the way to the White House.

My visitor probably does have some interesting information, and he alluded to why third parties aren't a throw away vote, which is likely an interesting discussion. But I walked away with the message that the Grassroots party is a one-note song, with an aging, sick leadership and no organization outside a mutual desire to make getting high legal.