Seattle filmmaker running for vice president with Bread and Roses Party
May 1, 2020, 1:06 PM
Vice presidential candidate John De Graaf while backpacking years ago with his son, David. (Photo courtesy of John De Graaf)
(Photo courtesy of John De Graaf)
An award-winning Seattle filmmaker and author has thrown his hat in the presidential race, making a bid for vice president with the Bread and Roses Party.
John De Graaf, who has produced 15 documentaries for PBS, is the running mate of Bread and Roses presidential candidate Jerome Segal.
The Bread and Roses Party, which gets its name from a slogan used in the early 1900s, seeks a departure from a materialistic society and a return to simplicity, with less focus on quantity of money and more focus on quality of time.
The “roses” in the party name, De Graaf explained, represent “leisure time, time to connect with friends and family, time to take care of our health, to exercise, to eat right, to garden, living in an environment that is not destroyed, but is made beautiful by human design.” Party members feel that while earning bread is important, it is even more important to take the time to appreciate life’s gifts.
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As such, the campaign platform includes a shorter work week, more paid vacation for workers, universal health care, and a better quality of health care, free higher education, and more financial support for both the arts and the environment. De Graaf, who is also the author of “Affluenza” and “What’s the Economy For, Anyway?,” said European countries place more emphasis on these areas and consistently show a higher level of happiness in polls than Americans.
The party is not running in any swing states, confining the campaign only to those states most likely to vote blue. De Graaf said he has no interest in taking votes away from Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden in swing states, and encourages everyone in those locations to vote for Biden.
“The Trump administration is the epitome of everything that we find problematic in American life,” he said. “It glorifies the rich, it glorifies the constant pursuit of expansion of wealth, it degrades the environment, … it labels many of our people as illegal, unwanted, useless.”
De Graaf said the Bread and Roses Party does not expect to win any victories, instead looking at the race as more of an educational campaign. He believes the COVID-19 pandemic is an ideal time for people to stop and reflect on what society values.
“Do we want to just go back to the old normal over-consuming, over-worked, constant pressure and anxiety?” he asked. “Or do we want something different, that is more beautiful, something kinder and gentler?”
