The LA Times is reporting tonight that the supporters of the scheme to change the way California awards its electoral votes are pulling the plug on their effort to qualify an initiative for the June 2008 election. [Link] So much for the GOPs attempt to game the system here in California.
UPDATE:
Here’s the [Link] to the LA Times article this morning detailing the departure of two key consultants from the initiative effort.
Democrats have held the majority in Sacramento for over a decade and in that time; San Diego has not been well served.
With the introduction of term limits, the Speaker’s Office has become a revolving door. The exodus of qualified policy staff, and the state of the Speaker’s Office of Majority Services (SOMS), went from being the “Praetorian Guard” to the Keystone Cops in a rather short period of time.
As such, the thinking among Sacramento Democrats became very short term and cyclical focused on the following question: What do we need to do to maintain the majority and the Speaker for the next cycle?
In this environment, the survival of the status quo became paramount. Thus deal-making takes on an increasing prominent role. Therefore, anyone or any region which could disrupt the current balance of powers needs to be placed in check or gotten out of the way, at least until the next election cycle in over.
As the second largest city in the state, I have wondered why, San Diego is not treated as such in Sacramento. IMHO, here’s one reason: It makes sense for the leadership in Sacramento to marginalize areas like San Diego, San Jose, and the Inland Empire at the expense of promoting Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The obvious answer is that there are more Democrats in these two areas so they deserve the lion’s share of the spoils. I won’t argue that, but I would challenge the assumption that the other areas should fall by the wayside.
San Jose is bluer than San Diego and the I.E. is wall-to-wall red, which is why I think San Diego deserves attention as the next battleground.
What makes San Diego so special? We are the largest city in California with a Republican mayor. There is a very good chance of a gay Republican being elected to city council and the Republican candidate for State Assembly in the 78th district is a Latino former police chief. In a nutshell, San Diego is in danger of becoming the launching pad for the next generation of Republican statewide candidates.
We need all the help we can get, and this requires Sacramento Democrats to get out of the box they’ve placed themselves into and actually start doing things differently, to challenge Republicans in this area. The standard response is that’s what the party is for.
As a San Diegan who has watched Sacramento air-drop staffers and pour money into the 78th AD over the last three election cycles all to be destroyed by an above average Republican operation, all I can think is that if Sacramento wants to win here, they’re not lacking in resources or money. What they seem to lack is the temerity to try something different.
From a negotiating perspective, I can’t help but think it makes perfect sense to keep San Diego on the outs. So long as San Diegans are fighting for control of their own city and county, they won’t look to the Assembly or State Senate for much. It’s almost as if Sacramento is willing to surrender San Diego and other places like the I.E. as wastes of money in poor campaign operations, while they shore up Democrats in safe seats elsewhere in the state.
So where does this leave those who life in the fastest growing areas of the state? I guess in the hands of the mega-churches, which seem to be the only body doing any outreach of significance.
-TQ
So tonight is one of the key endorsements for the Democratic primary in the 78th AD. The San Diego Democratic Club – the largest and most powerful of clubs in the county – are hosting their candidate forum and endorsement. Rumor has it, all three of the Democratic candidates (Auday Arabo, Marty Block and Arlie Ricasa) are going to vie for it. Block is the obvious front runner, having spent a ton of time working the vote. But, don’t discount the female / ethnic factor that Ricasa brings. Plus, in a club that values warmth – Ricasa definitely has the right personality. I have to admit, I almost feel sorry for Auday Arabo. Tonight he will get a taste for how Dem activists take to his former life as a Republican staffer and Lincoln Club donor. Does anyone remember the outrage pointed toward Rich Grosch when he tried to run for District 2 as a Democrat after previously endorsing Kevin Faulconer? Or the questions Todd Gloria faced as a result of giving $50 to Mayor Sanders? That is nothing compared to the anger from Dems to have a candidate that gave thousands to Congressman Bilbray (in his race against Francine Busby) and the local right-wing Lincoln Club. Stay tuned…
Via Altercation: Victor S. Navasky the publisher of The Nation has embark on a project to collect quotations from experts regarding the invasion of Iraq who turned out to be wrong which will later be published. This quotation from Bill O’Reilly caught my attention:
“I will bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week. Are you willing to take that wager?”
– Bill O’Reilly, Fox News Channel, January 29, 2003. [Link]
Memo to Bill O’Reily, you were wrong on two counts!
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