To Be Fair, I Will Now Present a Message from the Rackauckas Campaign

Perhaps my articles of Wednesday and Thursday have caused some kerfuffling over in the “Rackauckas for District Attorney” camp.  (Or perhaps that is simply a literary device to capture reader interest.)  Either way, this e-mail from OC Political‘s Chris Emami, working in his campaign management capacity, appeared in my inbox last night as 10:12 p.m.  To prove that I’m a good sport, I’ll publish it in full.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas Files for Re‑election
Recently Raised $419,000 in Single Night Fundraising Event 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2014

Contact: Chris Emami

chrisemami@custom-campaigns.com

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas filed his declaration of candidacy for re-election. He filed his paperwork and took the candidacy oath this morning at the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

Before the filing period opened, Rackauckas raised a record‑breaking $419,000 toward his re‑election bid this year in one night. The gala event, held at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, was attended by hundreds of enthusiastic, committed supporters of Rackauckas.

“I am very humbled to have this kind of strong support from so many different segments of the Orange County community,” said District Attorney Rackauckas. “This is an endorsement for the hard working men and women of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, who work tirelessly to make sure that Orange County remains a place where people can feel safe to live, work and play. We have particularly targeted dangerous gang members and violent sex offenders to keep our County safe.”

In preparing for his bid for a fifth term as Orange County’s top prosecutor, Rackauckas has also amassed a large and impressive bipartisan list of endorsers, including Sheriff Sandra Hutchens; Supervisors Shawn Nelson, Patricia Bates, and Janet Nguyen, Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce; State Senators Lou Correa, Bob Huff, and Mimi Walters; Assemblymembers Travis Allen, Tom Daly, Curt Hagman, Diane Harkey, and Don Wagner; Board of Equalization Member Michelle Steel; Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh, and former Democratic Party of Orange County Chair Frank Barbaro. Rackauckas also enjoys the support of numerous local city council members from all across the county, along with numerous prosecutors, law enforcement, and victims’ rights leaders.

“Tony Rackauckas, who for more than a quarter of a century has been working to bring better balance to our justice system, has not just talked the talk, he has walked the walk,” said longtime victim advocate Collene Campbell, National Chair of Force 100 and Founder and President of Memory of Victims Everywhere (M.O.V.E).

In addition to having the financial resources to fund a countywide re‑election effort, the Rackauckas campaign has also secured placement on 17 of the most prominent slate mailers, which will produce millions of pieces of mail sent to Orange County’s Republican, Democratic, and No Party Preference voters.

“Tony Rackauckas is a well-respected professional who people know truly has been fighting for public safety for more than four decades,” said Senior Republican strategist Wayne Johnson. “He’s a career prosecutor, not a politician looking for higher office, and I think that’s what people are looking for in a District Attorney. Having worked for hundreds of political candidates over the years, I can say with certainty that Rackauckas couldn’t be in a stronger position as he approaches his re‑election.”

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Paid for by Rackauckas for District Attorney 2014. ID# 970780.

This is pretty much how traditional politicians think about campaigning — that waving a huge stack of cash around will ward off all challengers — and not thinking about how it looks to voters.  It’s sort of cute, actually.  They have no idea how insurgent politics works.

To be fair, though, this message wasn’t directed at me — or at any readers other than anyone advising Todd Spitzer and perhaps some additional potential challengers.  The Rackauckas Caucus knows that I’m in the race — and will make them spend that money.  They just want to keep others from joining the race.  Once people perceive weakness — who knows where that could lead?

Let’s help them out and really drive that message home!  Here’s the invitation to that swanky $419,000 event:

Page 1:

T-Rack Balboa Bay Club Invitation p1

(“Sponsored by your local ruling class, to whom I am beholden,” would have been more concise.)

Page 2:

T-Rack Balboa Bay Club Invitation p2

(Contact information has been blurred to protect people working for the Rackauckas campaign, who really don’t deserve any personal abuse — and, seriously, I am not being sarcastic there.)

I suppose that how much you want to have a DA who is beholden to these sorts of people depends on what you want from a DA.  That’s all I’ll say here and now — I’ll save my critique (the content of which is probably pretty obvious) for another time.

(Thanks for the ammunition, Chris!)


About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)