On the lookout for a job -- Democrat Jose Medeiros wants to draw attention to job crisis On the lookout for a job -- Democrat Jose Medeiros wants to draw attention to job crisis (February 20, 2004)

By Grace Rauh

Jose Medeiros has walked precincts and made phone calls for political candidates in the past, but this marks the first time he has worked on his own election campaign.

Medeiros is nevertheless unfazed by opponents Manny Diaz and Elaine Alquist -- both Democratic heavyweights -- in the state Senate primary because he didn't enter the race to win, he says.

Medeiros jumped in to gain statewide and national attention to the job crisis in the U.S. and to compel Sacramento and Washington, D.C. officials to create incentives for companies to keep jobs in America.

"I think I brought it to the attention of the Democrats," he said.

Medeiros, who was born in Portugal and has lived in San Jose since age six, is out of work and piecing together IT consulting gigs to get by, he said.

He became something of a local celebrity in December 2000, when he stood outside the Knight Ridder building in San Jose with a sign that read 'unemployed tech worker, will work for food,' he said.

Medeiros wants the state to cancel contracts with companies that use offshore workers or give preference to companies using California or in-country employees.

Medeiros contends that high unemployment levels are interconnected with the state's budget woes.

"We need to be talking about jobs," he said. "I think the politicians were trying to avoid it ... because they probably don't have solutions for it."

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.