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CNN: Click here for CNN's worldwide coverage (August
27, 2003) of Dr. Farrell's gubernatorial campaign.
Finally, a politically incorrect candidate from California. Warren Farrell has officially launched his candidacy for California governor, and his No. 1 campaign agenda is male birth control. Which isn't meant to be funny. His campaign will focus on reducing the economic costs of social neglect, such as when children lose their dads after divorce. Mr. Farrell says he's running because he feels that although his recent literary research with "Father and Child Reunion" and "Why Men Are The Way They Are" has uncovered findings that can alleviate the state's budget crisis, it is too politically incorrect for mainstream candidates to discuss. Thus, policy implications are overlooked. Like why children raised by
single dads, at least in his opinion, do better than children raised
by single moms. What are the candidate's solutions? In
order, a men's birth-control pill and a paternity-fraud bill; universal
prenatal care; listening skills
taught from first grade, with simultaneous retraining of parents; equal
father
and mother
involvement, especially if there is divorce; more male teachers;
stressing female empowerment rather than victim power; keeping taxes
on businesses
low; schools that are friendlier to boys; a commission on the status
of men and
men's health; and restraining the government-as-substitute-husband.
A Candid Candidate in a Herd of Also-Rans By Logan Jenkins Warren Farrell hasn't a ghost of a prayer of being elected the next governor of California. Fortunately for him and his loved ones, he knows full well he's a dead-certain loser. "I'm not delusional," he assures with a smile. Though he may be flirting with other psychic maladies – "I consider politics a form of masochism," he says – Farrell's grasp on reality seems firm enough. That's why it's so weird that he's joined the state's surreality TV show. Who in his right mind would subject himself to this dumb and dumber and dumbest exercise of democracy? In all probability, Farrell won't finish ahead of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, pint-sized actor Gary Coleman or porn star Mary Carey. If he finishes in the top 20, he'll shock the handicappers. Nevertheless, Farrell was willing to put down serious money for the privilege of throwing his Ph.D. into a raucous recall ring littered with fake red noses, breast implants and thongs. So it's a fair question: What's in it for him? What's the percentage? Why would Farrell join a herd of also-rans, all certain to be toasted election night? Why would a nationally known advocate for men's rights – author of five books, including "Father and Child Reunion," "The Myth of Male Power" and "Why Men Are the Way They Are" – choose the most crowded, most, uh, checkered election in California's history as his first foray into elective politics? The answer, teased out from an interview in Farrell's large Carlsbad home, seems simple enough. "Politics," Dr. Samuel Johnson observed, "are nothing more than the means of rising in the world." Like the other 134 candidates, the legitimate and illegitimate and just plain nuts, Farrell hopes to rise in the world – and bring his father crusade along with him. On a Thursday morning, Farrell's house is buzzing with activity. Young people coming and going. One of Farrell's assistants answers the door. Farrell, whose doctorate is in political science, impresses as an academic scholar with a business edge. He began his career as a card-carrying feminist, he says, but years ago realized men/fathers were getting unfairly savaged in the feminist critique of the world. The consequences of the war between the sexes are most damaging during divorce, he believes. Therefore, the California law governing divorce must be changed, he says. Fathers should automatically receive half of the time with their children. In divorce, "women's biggest fear is economic deprivation; men's biggest fear is emotional deprivation." To make parental equality politically palatable, mothers would receive more money following a divorce. Still unfair, but better than the draconian status quo, he says. Provocative stuff, to be sure. But you'd have to be crazy to focus a political campaign so narrowly. Farrell shrugs. He already knows he can't win a plurality of votes. In reality, he's hoping to win the attention of voters – and possibly mainstream candidates who have a real shot at winning. "Everyone knows a man who has been denied access to his children. In this election, there is a little chance to get a little something out there. Someone could Google you, inquiring further, creating a ripple." Before entering the race, Farrell asked himself a basic question: "On a selfish level, how much do I give up, how much do I gain?" He and his wife (she came up with the idea almost as a joke) pledged they would spend no more than $12,000, which they hope to recoup with campaign fund raising. So far, $3,500 has gone for the recall entry fee, if you will, and $2,500 for the candidate statement – $10 a word. Thousands have been spent on diverted staff time, answering e-mails and modifying a Web site. Naturally, his five books, written for mass audiences, are linked, figuratively and literally, to his political campaign. Could the buzz on the campaign trail perk up his sales on the Internet? "If they do, that's terrific," he says. "That's my life. I write to communicate, and I entered politics to communicate." While it's tempting to dismiss them as narcissists, geeks, exhibitionists, I suspect scores of fringe candidates like Farrell are promoting causes they truly believe in. Pieced together, they form a collage of what matters most to a wildly diverse population. Come Oct. 7, however, even the candidates will have to enter a booth and vote for what's best for a state in crisis. Farrell, a Democrat, says he's strongly leaning toward voting against the recall of Gov. Gray Davis. "But," he adds, "I would really be insane if I didn't vote for myself." Logan Jenkins can be reached at (760) 737-7555 or by e-mail at <mailto:logan.jenkins@uniontrib.com>logan.jenkins@uniontrib.com.
August 29, 2003 Men's and fathers' rights California gubernatorial candidate Warren Farrell addressed a spirited protest rally against anti-father family court bias Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles. The demonstration was held in front of the huge Los Angeles Superior Court building, dubbed "deadbeat dad court" for the way it handles and manhandles tens of thousands of largely low income and minority fathers. The pugnacious Farrell , like David standing in the shadows of the monstrous Goliath, decried the way the family court system allows decent fathers to be driven out of the lives of the children who love them and need them. Farrell , a best-selling men's issues author who was once a leading member of the National Organization for Women, explained that America has gone from a "women's crisis to a men's crisis" and that now, three and a half decades after the rise of the feminist movement, many of America's worst gender inequities work against men and fathers. One of 135 candidates on the ballot in the October 7 recall election, Farrell detailed his research on the importance of fathers and put forth his long-term solution to relieving California's highly publicized budget crisis--keeping fathers in children's lives. Farrell noted that the way family courts allow divorced dads to be driven out of their children's lives leads to high levels of violent crime and teenage pregnancy--social pathologies which "cost California billions for prisons, courts and social services." Farrell put forth a package of reforms to solve this problem, including the rebuttable presumption of joint custody and placing legal limits on post-divorce move-aways. Farrell also called for addressing the boy crisis in education, forming a state commission on the status of men and men's health, "female empowerment rather than victim power," legislation to combat paternity fraud , universal prenatal care, and "restraining the Government-as-Substitute-Husband." Farrell believes his program will help women as well as men, and says his candidacy represents an important step in building a men's and fathers' rights vote which politicians will seek. The rally drew major media attention, including CNN, Fox News, the New York Times, and others. A coalition of men's and fathers rights groups sponsored the event, including the National Coalition of Free Men Los Angeles, Veterans Fighting Paternity Fraud, the Coalition for Blacks' Best Interest, Pops on Point, My Child Says Daddy, and Women Against Paternity Fraud. Other speakers included Warren Williams of the Coalition for Blacks' Best Interest, who decried a family court system which separates fathers from their children, and Daryl Crismon , a paternity fraud victim who was trapped in a default judgment several years ago and who is being compelled to pay for a child whom DNA tests have shown is not his. Crismon brought his 10 year-old daughter to the speaker's podium and showed the crowd her painful dental ailment, a condition which he says he needs $5,000 to fix but cannot get because of the judgment against him. He explained that the state has put a lien on his house so he is unable to refinance or borrow money, and that the state has revoked his driver's license and threatened him with jail. "Every day when my little girl goes to school the kids tease her about her teeth so badly she's afraid to smile," he said. Marc Angelucci, president of the National Coalition of Free Men Los Angeles and the rally's princiapl organizer, told the crowd "this rally is about unity," referring to the many men's and fathers' groups which came together to voice their concerns. Dianna Thompson, Executive Director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children said that women have a special responsibility to help the fathers' movement and asked "as mothers and grandmothers, how could we not help?" She also decried the ways the paternity establishment system often forces fathers to pay for children who aren't theirs. Nationally-syndicated men's and fathers rights radio talk show host Glenn Sacks praised Thompson as being the "voice of the voiceless" and criticized the media for shutting out men's and fathers' views. He noted: "I receive thousands of letters from men who are victims of this system. Men whose children have been moved hundreds or thousands of miles away from them, against their will. Men whose exes violate their visitation rights and poison their children against them. Men who the child support system is bankrupting to pay for children they can't even see. Men who've been falsely accused of domestic violence and who have lost all contact with their children even though they've never been convicted or even charged with any crime. If a father falls behind on his child support the system comes down on him like a ton of bricks, but when his visitation rights are violated the courts don't do a damn thing about it." Farrell, whose books include Father and Child Reunion, Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say, The Myth of Male Power, Why Men Are The Way They Are , and The Liberated Man , has been published in more than 50 countries and 10 languages. The International Biographic Centre of London ranks him as one of the world's top 2000 scholars in the 20th Century, and The Financial Times selects him as one of a hundred top "Thought Leaders" in the world. The Chicago Tribune described Farrell as "the Gloria Steinem of Men's Liberation" and the Boston Globe calls him "the sage of the men's movement."
What are the reasons you decided to run for governor? First, my wife, Liz Dowling, suggested it. I would never run without her pro-active support, otherwise you win office by destroying a family. Second, this is a perfect opportunity to present fathers' and mens' issues to the public, which are otherwise too politically incorrect for any mainstream candidate to articulate. With 30 years of writing about these issues, and a PhD in political science, well, all the forces came together. Is this run planned as a one time thing, or are we A one time thing unless some other extraordinary opportunity like this recall re-creates the conditions in which I can again be totally honest and not have to live a long-term political life with its Sirens of political correctness and its sacrifices to privacy, etc. You discuss your policies on father's rights, gun control, and
abortion at your site http://www.warrenfarrell.com/gov/ but where
do you Drugs: Marijuana, alcohol, coffee and sugar legalized but well taxed. Economy: be business-friendly (low taxes, caps on unemployment insurance); subsidize job training and education, especially in the technical fields; eliminate affirmative action hiring, but expand affirmative action scholarships and training awards for the minority sex in fields that have less than 20% of one sex. Security: spy, infiltrate, use technology to tap phones, etc., but do not publicly reveal names of suspects until the suspect has been subjected to careful investigation and determined to be reasonably likely of being guilty. What else would you like to tell us about your campaign? It's exhausting, unifying, energizing and increases my respect for politicians. Politics is the only job you get by exposing yourself to people who won't get their job unless they attempt to ruin you. Between that and campaign laws, if you go into politics to make money dishonestly, you're crazy.
Three ways: Hiring: Exchange programs with male business executives, entrepreuneurs, accountants, politicians, leaders. Recruiting: special males-for-teachers scholarships; free tuition; and special outreach to boys in high school. Legislation:The more single moms a school district has the higher the percentage of male teachers the district be required to have so boys brought up by moms have positive male role models when young, and do not join gangs to get a male role model. Since tossing in your hat, what has been the reception you've
recieved from others in the Democratic party? My supporters are about 1/3 Democrats, 1/3 Republican and 1/3 Independent. Having seen you on a couple talk shows, you appear to be a soft-spoken
man. Do you carry a proverbial big stick? My "big sticks" are The Myth of Male Power, Father and Child Reunion and in brief, my writing, where a loud voice and interrupting are not required. My other "big sticks" are being willing to research, speak up, hone sound bites from in-depth material, and, now, risk it all in the political arena. Interrupting and shouting are mediums that defy my message, so they must be used sparingly. When I taught a class once, I never raised my voice until, once, at the end of the year, it felt momentarily appropriate: three kids in the class cried. How can people assist you in your campaign? It is so hard for me to ask for the help of others, but boy, it's character-building to realize that is part of the test: knowing how to inspire a state run by a team starts with knowing how to create a campaign team. The toughest part is asking for contributions. The upfront costs are over $10,000, and then there's no real end to it. The only way this campaign will be effective is with activists inviting me to do press conferences/protests, etc., in their city. So please email me with your willingness to help, or help via logging on to paypal through my www.warrenfarrell.com/gov web site. Any final words? Let others have the final word.
The Washington Post: Profile and picture. August 16, 2003 |
