A plan to rock Sacramento

Jenny Marder

As the lead singer of hard-core punk band T.S.O.L. -- True Sounds of

Liberty -- Jack Grisham has spent 20 years using music to channel his

rage against the government. Now he’s looking for a more constructive

way to solve the system’s problems.

As one of almost 250 people who filed papers to be in the recall

election of Gov. Gray Davis, the odds may be slim, but Grisham --

punk rocker, father, surfer and socialist at heart -- thinks this

election was made for him.

Grisham, 42, sits comfortably on his living room couch surrounded

by a roomful of eclectic trinkets, voodoo dolls and religious

imagery.

A glass cabinet to his right contains an Indian hatchet, “jinx

removing” bath salts and a signed picture of actor Errol Flynn. A

platinum record of the band Offspring’s 1999 album, “Americana,”

which Grisham sang backups for, is framed above a hearty collection

of CDs and videos. Across the room, a pass to a NOFX concert is

looped around the neck of a Jesus Christ figurine.

Many of his views on government are as offbeat and edgy as his

lifestyle.

The government, Grisham said, should be like a referee in the

third period of the Stanley Cup playoffs: “You sit back and let them

play. You protect where needed, you guide when you can, you serve the

people.”

The unlikely candidate, casually clad in jeans, a sage green

button down shirt talks about the plight of the American people and

its governing body, which he says is a mess.

Central to his platform is health care, which he believes the

government has a duty to provide to every citizen.

“Supposedly, we have the fifth biggest economy in the world, in

California,” Grisham said. “It’s bigger than most countries, and we

can’t take care of our own people.”

He also calls for welfare reform, support for single mothers,

alternative sentencing, a 3% tax on fast food and the legalization of

marijuana.

Grisham says his appeal is that he is the average citizen. He has

been in prison, he pays child support for his 16-year-old daughter

and he can’t afford his own health care. As an average guy, he

believes that he can understand the common citizen’s struggles in a

way that many politicians can’t.

He thinks his victory will be dependent on his not having the

money and public image of candidates such as Arnold Schwarzenegger

and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

“I think that these candidates have really lost touch with the

basic citizen of California,” he said. “When was the last time that

one of them had to worry about health insurance? When was the last

time that they worried about where their next rent check was going to

come from or whether their kid is going to get a hot meal? That’s

stuff we worry about.”

Grisham did not want to discuss T.S.O.L.’s new album, “Divided We

Stand,” which is scheduled for release this fall. Although all his

albums are political, Grisham said he firmly believes that his music

should remain separate from his campaign.

He also believes, however, that everything he’s learned from 20

years of touring with T.S.O.L. will benefit him as governor.

The band “operated like a bunch of socialists,” Grisham said. They

always kept their backstage area open and were known for finding crew

members at recovery houses and rehabilitation centers.

The recall election is scheduled for Oct. 7. On the two-part

ballot, voters will first choose whether to recall Davis, and then

pick a candidate to succeed him.

“I was always anti-government, anti-government, anti-government,”

Grisham said. “And it’s like, well, we’ve got a government and we’ve

got to deal with it, and it would be better to have somebody in there

who’s looking out for us than somebody who isn’t.”

As of Wednesday, Grisham and 131 other candidates were certified

to run in the election.