Libertarian candidate Frank Orland, 83, a retired psychiatry
professor from Cherry Hill, and marijuana-legalization and
free-speech activist Edward Forchion, 40, a former soldier and
long-haul truck driver from Pemberton Township, have their names on
this year's ballot in the Third District, which covers southern and
part of central Ocean County, including most of Dover Township, plus
most of Burlington County and part of Camden County.
The two candidates are the alternatives to Saxton and Democratic
challenger Herbert C. Conaway Jr., a state Assembly member and
medical doctor from Willingboro. But in a district where even
determined, well-funded Democratic efforts barely dented a 60-40
percent split of votes cast in Saxton's favor, neither Orland or
Forchion entertain any hope of electoral success.
"I started out as an FDR Democrat. In the early 1980s, with
Reagan, I became a Republican," with the conviction that government
needs to be less intrusive and more decentralized, Orland said.
But by the mid-1990s, Orland said, he had concluded that both the
Democratic and Republican parties were too controlling. A
conservative friend pointed him toward the Libertarian Party, with
its emphasis on minimal government and enlarging the freedom of
individuals and the private sector of society.
Like the Greens and New Jersey Conservative Party, the
Libertarians place candidate on Congressional ballots to spread
their word under the feet of the dominant two parties. "Two years
ago -- that's the '02 elections -- they asked me to run for
Congress," said Orland, who retired after 35 years teaching at
Drexel University and the old Medical College of Pennsylvania, both
in Philadelphia.
"For many years, I've thought about the philosophy of
government," he said. "I used to complain about it, talk about it,
and complain some more. I finally realized, if I'm complaining so
much, I should try to do something about it."
He is running this year, Orland said, "to spread the ideas of
libertarianism, and for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren."
One view of personal, if politically unpopular, freedom, is
motivating Forchion. He is runs under the banner of the U.S.
Marijuana Party.
"It's a protest, to me. I smoke marijuana on practically a daily
basis," said Forchion, who sought unsuccessfully to legally change
his name to N.J. Weedman; he still uses the nickname on his campaign
Web site, www.njweedman.com.
"I've been in prison for speaking out about marijuana," Forchion
added. "This is just an extension of that protest."
After serving time in state prison on marijuana-trafficking
charges, Forchion was jailed again for parole violation for five
months in 2002 when state officials decided his continued advocacy
of legalization violated terms of his release. After he filed a
habeas corpus motion, a federal judge ordered Forchion's release --
a vindication, the candidate says, that "there's no restriction on
freedom of expression."
Forchion has been arrested for lighting up at the State House in
Trenton, the Liberty Bell exhibit on Independence Square in
Philadelphia, and at the offices of Rep. Rob Andrews, D-NJ, in
Camden County. That last experience got him thinking about the
possibilities of spreading his message through the political
process, Forchion said.
"I've already made up my mind. I'm going to run for some office
every year," he said.
His core audience, Forchion says, are people who are disaffected
by the war on drugs and their own run-ins with its enforcement.
So on one hand, Forchion acknowledged, "I'm the angry pothead."
"At the same time, I am participating in the system," he added.
"That's what democracy is all about."
Both Forchion and Orland insist their voices have something to
add to the broader national debate, in a year when partisans insist
voters choose between two sides. Orland says his lifetime store of
self-effacing psychiatrist's jokes are coming in handy, during an
election season when he meets committed voters who are carried away
by emotion.
Orland said a physician he's known for years berated him for
running as a third-party candidate; a Kerry supporter, the doctor
worries independent parties and candidates can only dilute votes
against the Bush administration, Orland recall-ed.
"He told me, 'You're delusion-al!' " Orland said. "I told him,
'Well, I'm a psychiatrist. I'm supposed to be crazy.' "
Kirk Moore: (732) 557-5728
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