ALL MAY BE fair in love and war, but the same free pass should not be extended to politics.

Recently Kimiko Burton's campaign has been running ads that create confusion about the Green Party's endorsement in the race for public defender. The San Francisco Green Party would like to set the record straight as voters study their options for the March 5 election.

One ad, paid for by Burton's campaign committee, features a photo of Kimiko Burton and her father, state senator John Burton, with Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate for president in 2000. The photo was one of many snapped at a speaking engagement featuring Ralph Nader back in October 2001 and has nothing to do with the public defender's race.

In the context of the ad, however, the photo implies that Nader has endorsed Kimiko Burton. There has been no Nader endorsement. The San Francisco Green Party has endorsed Jeff Adachi for public defender. We are impressed with Adachi's 15-year trial record in the Public Defender's Office, his managerial experience as chief attorney, and his commitment to juvenile justice, immigrant rights, and hiring a diverse staff based on merit.

Just as important, our party was established, and has grown in membership and stature during the past 10 years, precisely because of our principled stand on challenging political machines and the corporate-funded domination of politics that plagues the two major political parties and prevents true progressive reform.

Kimiko Burton was put in office by the Burton-Brown machine, named after her father and Mayor Willie Brown. This type of insider politics is anathema to progressive politics in San Francisco. The Green Party is actively working to create a fairer political system by advocating for true electoral reforms such as instant runoff voting (Proposition A on the March ballot), real campaign finance reform, and an end to backroom political appointments like that of Kimiko Burton.

Jeff Adachi (a liberal Democrat) has progressive credentials and has waged a vigorous, grassroots campaign. His opponent, meanwhile, has raised an outrageous amount of money for this campaign – more than $500,000 – mostly from out-of-town sources close to her father. She has also used large amounts of unreported soft money from special interests loyal to the Brown-Burton machine, money that is not counted toward her supposed spending cap.

Adachi, while lacking Kimiko Burton's high-powered political backing, has an abundance of experience and a solid record of excellent service, both of which give him an edge over his well-funded opponent. He comes from a working-class background and has represented 2,500 criminal cases and more than 50 felony trails, defending people who could not afford a lawyer. The Green Party feels strongly that this kind of experience is what should be used as the measure for choosing qualified candidates, not the backing of political machines that perpetuate political appointments.