Academic

Nader Names Former Public Defender As Running Mate

By Dan Filler

How easy it would have been to miss the news that Matt Gonzalez, a former San Francisco County public defender, has agreed to serve as Ralph Nader's running mate on the Green Party ticket.  Obviously, nobody - not even Gonzalez - is taking this candidacy seriously.  But as a former public defender myself, I have a particular affection for the guy.  He's a beer drinking poet who lived (and perhaps still lives) in a shared apartment in a middlin' part of SF.  He is exactly the kind of person who should have no shot at getting elected to anything, and certainly has no business becoming a permanent Wikipedia trivia feature.  Unlike Barack Obama, whom we're told hides a life-long laser-like ambition and drive, Matt Gonzalez seems the sort of fella who has been waiting for a bong hit all day.  Is that what we need for a Veep?  Perhaps not.  And God knows we don't need Ralph Nader for anything other than entertainment at this point.   But for those of us brought up on Richard Linklater flicks, Matt Gonzalez seems like a candidate out of Hollywood.  Or perhaps Texas.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).