A Barbara Lee Rally:
Downtown Oakland

Gibbs
10/22/01

On a clear Sunday afternoon early this week, some 2-3,000 celebrities and average citizens rallied in the Oakland City Hall Amphitheater to offer their support to Congresswoman Barbara Lee for her stand—she was the lone vote against the war effort—in Congress; a stand that has brought recriminations and life-threatening calls and letters.

They chanted, Thank you Barbara Lee for your courage; they read from the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sang their support. Lee told the crowd that they are the patriots. She thanked them for their support of her.

In the audience were Ishmael Reed, writer, Danny Glover, actor, Alice Walker, writer, and local political leaders like Alameda County Board of Supervisors member Keith Carson, City Council member Nancy Nadel. But Jerry Brown was absent.

Last week, Audie Bock, former Greens Party State Assemblywoman, former Independent Party State Assemblywoman, and recently announced Democratic contender for Congresswoman Lee’s seat, made the announcement that she intended to vie, as a Democrat, for Barbara Lee’s Congressional position. Taking advantage of what she sees as a weakened Lee, Bock is putting her hat into the political ring to unseat Lee.

Audie Bock became a political significant factor when she stealthily got into office because Elihu Harris, former State Assemblyman and former Oakland City Mayor, miscalculated his position in relations to Bock’s, and did not do the necessary campaigning, thinking he was a shoe-in. Now that Bock has gotten the political urge to run again, her incompetence in office, a brief time though it was, will be dredged up again.

During her stay in office, she had many problems—local staff problems, party locality problems, legislative problems, etc. In short, her major achievement was to get into office. After that, everything went downhill. But her announced intention to unseat Barbara Lee does show one thing about her: she has gotten the political bug, and she, like all politicians, seemingly, will take advantage of any opportunity to get into and stay in office—any political office.