Pham asks, “What about Tan?”
Quang Pham sure gets around! He has his own blog, and he is part of our blog team here at the Orange Juice, and now apparently he is also blogging at OC Blog, while Jubal is on vacation. His latest post in fact takes me and my fellow blogger Tim Whitacre to task with regard to Tan Nguyen – the former Democrat who is now running against Loretta Sanchez, the former Republican, for the 47th Congressional District.
Pham wants to know why OC Republicans have yet to close ranks around Nguyen. He asks in particular if the candidate Nguyen defeated in the June primary, Rosie Avila, the conservative Santa Ana School Board member, is going to help him. I doubt it very much. Avila is already planning to run again for the 47th in 2008. I think she is still in shock over her loss to Nguyen, but honestly she did not spend any money against him. One mailer from her pointing out Nguyen’s record as a Democrat – including his campaign against GOP conservative favorite Dana Rohrabacher in 2004, would have tanked Nguyen once and for all.
Pham also wants to know if Whitacre and I are going to help Nguyen. I don’t think he will be seeking any advice from us. Nguyen paid Tom Fuentes a boatload of cash to be his consultant in the primary. If Fuentes is still advising him, he surely does not need to hear from me or Whitacre. Besides, he has yet to contact me – and I am guessing that Whitacre has not heard from him either.
My sources tell me that Nguyen won the primary in part because he focused on immigration, but also because he spent a great deal of money advertising to Vietnamese-American voters in their own media. That won’t bring him the same return in the general. Sanchez has worked very hard to reach out to Vietnamese-American voters in her district.
Nguyen is also going to have a hard time because the issues he references on his website are not bedrock Republican issues. Here is what he has to say about his issues, “There are several important subjects which are near and dear to the hearts of the voters in our district, such as immigration, securing of our borders, affordable medicines, pensions, and job outsourcing. ” Really? What about education, taxes and the war in Iraq, not to mention the situation in the Middle East? I think Nguyen needs to update his issues.
I realize that Nguyen spent $349,000 of his own money in the primary. In fact he loaned that money to his campaign. That is ironic since one of his stated goals is to get rid of our federal budget deficit. How can he say that when his own personal deficit is nearing a half-million dollars?
Let’s face it – Sanchez got almost a thousand votes more in June than all the Republican candidates combined. If more voters go to the polls in November, Nguyen will be toast. In fact, I think that is his likely fate no matter what he does prior to the general. The numbers just aren’t there.
If Nguyen wants help from me or Whitacre, he ought to start by calling or emailing us, not by having Pham write about it. I don’t know what I can do to change his fate though. The OC GOP voter registration scandal in central Orange County has hurt all of our candidates, and unless local Democratic voters elect to stay home in November, Nguyen will be a fading memory by this time next year. And, from what my Democratic sources tell me, Sanchez will be working on running for the governorship of California after she gets reelected to Congress. Maybe Nguyen can switch to the Libertarian Party and run against Sanchez for the governorship in four years.
Art,
Tan may be a former Democrat, but you will always be an A-Hole. Way to support YOUR parties candidate. You & Timmy can go work on Rosie’s campaign in 08…I’m sure Tan doesn’t want anything to do with you & all your political hacks!!!
3:16,
Wow. That was clever. You must be the genius behind those “Think Tan” signs.
Believe me, if Tan wants nothing to do with me that is fine. All the better as I won’t have to take the blame for his eventual blowout by Loretta.
Tan didn’t ask me to write this. I haven’t spoken to the guy since March. Actually his campaign manager Ryan told me tonight at Jack Wu’s event in NB that their campaign ignores the local blogs since comments from Art and Tim have been so negative. Lynn Daucher gets butchered here as well for being a RINO.
More observations from Tan
Folks, the crazy candidates like me have no such problems.
Thank you very much!
To Tan campaign. (Ryan) I may know how to win election against Loretta in ethnically dominated district. So if you are interested I would like to disuse it person to person. You may call me at 714-979-6966.
Quang,
It would appear that Tan and his advisors have fairly thin skins. That is not an ideal trait for politicos.
Am I to embrace Tan merely because he spent a ton of his own money, on his own behalf? Money does not make the man, at least in my book. The guy was a Dem candidate just two years ago – and I have yet to find out why he left that party for the GOP. Is he merely opportunistic? Who knows?
Whatever you might think of Rosie Avila, she is as real as real gets. But Tan spent money on mailers and she did not. He focused on illegals, and she did not. I am not convinced that Rosie is the best candidate to oppose Sanchez, but she was certainly “real.”
RE endorsements from local politicos and grassroots organizations, let’s be honest – there are not many of either in central OC, particularly in Santa Ana.
As for paid consultants, Tan did indeed have one – Tom Fuentes – and he paid him quite well.
Ethnic base is important, as we saw with Tan and also in the Harmon v. Harkey race. However, I don’t think it will be enough for Tan to prevail in the general.
Finally, if a candidate is running for the U.S. House, he better get up to speed on education and war – or get out of the race. Sanchez will hit Tan hard on both issues. “I don’t know” won’t satisfy the media or the public.
Looks like Tan is the Harold Stassen of the central county.
Hey Harold Stassen was a great man.
Great catch, Great comparison
Tan the next Harold Stassen
The citizen statsman from the 47th CD.
Sure Stanley. You know how to win. Keep telling yourself that.
You are a loser. Eres un perdedor.
Art, Tan’s team has a thin skin but so does quang. Maybe teach him to toughen up.