Republican Supervisorial candidate Carlos Bustamante is betting that the Latino vote in the first district will put him over the top – but does he deserve those votes? Is he really good for Latinos?
We can only judge Bustamante by his associates and by his record on the Santa Ana City Council. We know that he is now hanging out with the extreme right fringe of the Republican Party. That doesn’t bode well. Latinos tend to be centrists or outright liberals. Less than 35% of them are Republicans, and maybe half of that small group is conservative.
I used to think otherwise – but I have learned while working on a great many campaigns that extremist Republicans are a hard sell to Latinos in Santa Ana. Santa Ana School Board member Rosie Avila has proved the exception – but she likely won’t survive another election. Already folks are talking about starting a recall against her.
So what else does Bustamante have to offer? Well, he is backed by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido – a guy who pretty much hates poor people and immigrants. And Bustamante is also backed by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle – you know, the guy that put uniformed security guards at polling places in Santa Ana in order to discourage Latino voters. Nice.
So what has Bustamante done while on the Santa Ana City Council? Glad you asked. For starters he was on the council when the library budget was cut so drastically that today we have a city of over 400,000 with only one public library. Even gang-infested cities in Los Angeles County have more access to libraries!
Bustamante has also presided over a recent mushrooming of graffiti. And the Santa Ana Police Department is vastly understaffed – no thanks to Bustamante.
What about the streets and parks in Santa Ana? Disaster! That is particularly true of our streets. And Bustamante keeps approving massive tower developments that are only going to make traffic worse in our already congested city. What is he thinking? Oh right, take a look at his financial reports. He gets a lot of money from developers.
So where does Bustamante stand with the unions? Well, he didn’t vote against super Wal-Marts – but he did tell labor leaders that he is OK with project labor agreements that ban non-union workers from public works projects. And some of Bustamante’s biggest backers are public employee’s unions, such as the Santa Ana Police and Firefighters Associations.
Bustamante also gave away valuable property, at significant taxpayer’s expense, to millionaire car dealers. I cannot imagine that sits well with Latino organizations in Santa Ana. Particularly when you tell them that one of those rich guys was Lincoln Club member Don Crevier – and yes, the Lincoln Club did endorse Bustamante. That’s called quid pro quo.
I don’t think that Team Bustamante is going to succeed in pulling the wool over Latino voter’s collective eyes. We know a vendido when we see one. Besides, it’s not like Latino voters lack choices in this election. Noted Latino community activist Benny Diaz is in the mix, and the Democrats are pushing carpetbagger Tom Umberg very hard. It will however be a toss-up as to who gets less Latino votes, Bustamante or Umberg.
On February 6, I expect Latino voters will tell Bustamante, “No se puede!”
UPDATE:
Jubal/Matt has finally posted some bad news about Bustamante, over at Red County/OC Blog. Trung Nguyen’s campaign manager, Joe Giardiello says that Bustamante “jeopardizes the chance for Republican victory.” Well said Joe!
It turns out that Bustamante’s negatives, even with Republicans, are through the roof. Even in Santa Ana, his negatives outweigh his positives, 38 to 35%, even though he has 88% name recognition. Yikes! I have been saying for weeks now that Carlos has NO BASE OF SUPPORT in Santa Ana. He really doesn’t – and now we have proof.
Joe also says that Vietnamese American voters will decide the election. What did I say from the start? Janet Nguyen was the best candidate the OC GOP had to offer. Too bad Van Tran couldn’t get past his own ego. Now Giardiello’s talents have been wasted on Trung – and the OC GOP machine has stupidly hitched its wagon to Bustamante. Say it ain’t so!
Joe also has pointed out the fact that only 30% of the votes cast thus far have come from Santa Ana – and of those only 11% are Hispanic. Looks like I called it again. The top Democrat, Tom Umberg, is utterly unattractive to Latino voters. They don’t like Bustamante and Benny Diaz has been unable to mount much of a campaign thanks to the deluded leaders of his party. So Latino voters in Santa Ana are opting not to vote. Can’t say that I blame them.
It should be noted that neither Lou Correa or Jose Solorio have endorsed Umberg. And they won’t. They are effectively sitting this one out while Bustamante takes the OC GOP for a ride, and Umberg does the same to the Democrats.
Can we please have the Bustagump photo again?
One more thing for Latino voters to consider – Bustamante’s biggest fans reside at the Red County/OC Blog – and we know most of their writers are firmly anti-immigrant. And yes, Curt Pringle is one of their writers – as is Bustamante’s consultant, John Lewis.
Art, I’m tempted to conclude you are truly dishonest. But perhaps a more charitable characterization is you are prone to exaggeration, leap readily to unfounded conclusions and are uninterested in facts that do not lend themselves to your prejudices.
Or maybe you are just unconcerned about letting ignorance inhibit your opinion-mongering. I don’t know how else to explain so much of what you now blog.
And I say that not because of who you do or not support for this office or that. It’s because you simply make stuff up — and when you get called on it, you go blithely on your way as if nothing ever happened. Your posts blend untruth with truth — and for readers who are unfamiliar with topics you raise, it’s hard for them .
And regarding the Red County/OC Blog blogpen: You forgot to mention that Adam Probolsky — one of your heroine Janet Nguyen’s consultants — is also a Red County/OC Blog contributor. That conveniently slipped your mind.
Curt Pringle has posted once. John Lewis has posted once, at most twice. Janet Nguyen consultant Probolsky has posted vastly more often than either of them. None of them have posted about this race.
As for immigration, you don’t have a clue as to my views — or to any other blogpen member except perhaps Lurch (who gave himself an honorable discharge from the blog a few months ago). Not that ignorance ever stops you.
Jubal/Matt,
I struck those comments after I saw that some of your writers finally posted something negative about Bustamante. A first by the way. I don’t care by the way about your views regarding immigration. Couldn’t care less.
Listen, you need to understand that your blog is the one that tries to report news. That is not what we are about at the Orange Juice. We leave the news to the papers. Sure, on occasion we break a new story. That is bound to happen from time to time. But what we do is OPINION. Is that really so hard for you to understand? This is a political OPINION blog.
Get off your high horse Matt. Your opinions are no better than mine – sure, we disagree but why do you have to keep putting down what we do here at the Orange Juice? Why not just ignore us? Are you that insecure that every little thing I write sends you into a tizzy? If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
By the way, if Lewis and Pringle are not contributing, why don’t you just dump them? They appear to be dead weight.
Art,
You claim Jose Solorio won’t endorse Umberg. You might try paying attention to the race. Jose Solorio HAS endorsed Umberg. He even lent his name to a quote in an AOCDS mailer a day ago saying what a great supervisor Umberg would be.
BTW — I haven’t endorsed any candidate in this race.
A first by the way. I don’t care by the way about your views regarding immigration. Couldn’t care less.
If you are going to characterize my views about immigration, you should actually know what they are.
Listen, you need to understand that your blog is the one that tries to report news. That is not what we are about at the Orange Juice. We leave the news to the papers. Sure, on occasion we break a new story. That is bound to happen from time to time. But what we do is OPINION. Is that really so hard for you to understand? This is a political OPINION blog.
News flash, Art: Red County/OC Blog is news AND opinion. And more than that, we strive to keep our opinions factual.
Indifference to the facts isn’t opinion, Art. It’s indifference to the facts. If you were honest, you would preface your opinions by saying: NOTE TO READERS: I have no facts to back up the following opinion.
Art, I’d be happy to leave you alone. But more and more often you misrepresent my views, Red County/OC Blog — just for starters. Ignoring you is sound advice, but I don’t like to let your untruths and distortions go unanswered.
We’ve worked to cover the 1st SD race thoroughly and factually. You seem to judge us based on the extent to which we do or do not share your intense hatred of Bustamante.
By the way, if Lewis and Pringle are not contributing, why don’t you just dump them? They appear to be dead weight.
I keep hoping they’ll get off the dime and post, but I don’t have time to ride herd on all my contributors.
I struck those comments after I saw that some of your writers finally posted something negative about Bustamante.
I wish you had left it up, as additional evidence that you frequently comment out of ignorance.
Jose Solorio and Lou Correa failing to endorse Umberg is one thing. But the big fish in Central Orange County is surely Loretta Sanchez. Her positives are amazing among Democrats and Latinos in Sup1, and pretty high among Vietnamese and White voters. Yet she, too, has not endorsed in this one. And it’s starting to look like she won’t.
Any speculation as to why?
Art–Opinion is usually based on facts. Get your facts straight–or get a nuevo parajito. Jose Solorio is supporting Umberg.
Jubal,
Solorio endorsed Umberg? I have been out of town. That must have happened while I was traveling. It figures that he, moreso than Correa, would bow to his party’s machinery. It doesn’t mean much. Believe me, Umberg will not do well with Latino voters. He is considered a step back after having a Latino supervisor in Correa.
BTW, I still believe that your blog is pretty much anti-immigrant. Whether you are or not is immaterial. You are not your blog – you are just one of the writers there. If you take into account the comments on your blog as well as the contributions of your bloggers, the overwhelming sentiment is anti-immigrant. What do you expect from a blog called Red County? You guys were much better as OC Blog.
Lastly, it sure looks like I was right about Bustamante and Janet Nguyen. You will never admit it. All you look for is negatives when it comes to my contributions, but you miss all the times that I am spot on. Typical.
Jubal,
One more thing, this country was founded by business owners and hard working men and women who fought against tyranny, overly high taxes and under representation. It was NOT founded by paid consultants. People who are paid to care will never do so as sincerely as those who care because they truly believe in a cause. I would think in the era of Jack Abramoff that consultants would go hide under rocks, but I guess things are different in the OC. I will never allow paid consultants to join my blog team.
BTW, I still believe that your blog is pretty much anti-immigrant. Whether you are or not is immaterial. You are not your blog – you are just one of the writers there. If you take into account the comments on your blog as well as the contributions of your bloggers, the overwhelming sentiment is anti-immigrant. What do you expect from a blog called Red County? You guys were much better as OC Blog.
That makes no sense. You can believe the sun is blue — that doesn’t make it so. If you’re going to base that charaterization on the opinions of some commenters, you’re opening the door to a pretty unflattering characterization of Orange Juice.
You guys were much better as OC Blog.
Another news flash for Art: It’s still the same blog. The name changed, the design changed, but the content and purpose hasn’t.
Lastly, it sure looks like I was right about Bustamante and Janet Nguyen. You will never admit it.
You may turn out to be right, Art. If that happens, I have no problem acknowledging it.
All you look for is negatives when it comes to my contributions, but you miss all the times that I am spot on.
No, I link to and salute your posts when I agree with them. But the negatives are so abundant.
People who are paid to care will never do so as sincerely as those who care because they truly believe in a cause.
Has it occurred to you that you can care about a cause you are paid to be working on? Did you care about any of the campaigns on which you were a paid staffer or consultant? What’s with your irrational hatred of anyone who makes a living in politics?
“I would think in the era of Jack Abramoff that consultants would go hide under rocks, but I guess things are different in the OC.”
Well, things ARE different in the OC. I’ve been finding that out the hard way…
“I will never allow paid consultants to join my blog team.”
… And that’s why I love coming here to O-J. Plenty of good discussion, without any of that annoying consultant spin. Keep up the good work, Art!
: )
Art:
You know something is amiss when Andrew Davey is the only one coming out in your defense.
Davey:
You know nothing about nothing. You’re a hypocrite and a hack, nothing else. You’re a disgrace to your fellow liberal bloggers who use facts to create their arguments.
Poster 13,
Andrew is a friend of mine and I appreciate his words of support. I am sure others will follow. The Orange Juice has had a profound effect in central OC – despite what you might hear to the contrary from political consultants. They don’t like it when activists get things done without money changing hands…
Jubal works for John lewis therefore his blog should be considered an in kind donation to Bustemante.Jubal is a hack who lives off his wife,who works for John Lewis.
Poster #13.
As a member of the Juice blogpen let me state that every one of us is capable of defending ourselves when our posts are challenged. If not, than we should not step on this Internet playing field where getting attacked for our views can be a daily occurance.
We surely are not all in lock step on the political posts but that is what makes this blog a success. Like the rest of our family Art can defend himself.
Jubal works for John lewis therefore his blog should be considered an in kind donation to Bustemante.Jubal is a hack who lives off his wife,who works for John Lewis.
Wow — anonymous AND wrong. A nice combo.
Yes, I worked for John Lewis — 13 years ago. He remains a good friend for whom I have great esteem — but there’s no business relationship.
And my wife worked for John throughout his Senate tenure, which ended in 2000. She worked for John’s consulting firm for about one year, until June 2004. She no longer works — which makes it hard for me to live off her.
Did Sean Mill write this? Art Pedroza claims to be a Republican & then throws Bustamante under the bus. Art, sounds like you are a true RINO(Republican In Name Only). Too bad you cant be an absolutely blind partisan like Claudio & take care of your own no matter what. Is Bustamante perfect? No. Is he better than some of the other wackos on the council (Read: Kyoto Treaty)? Yes.
Blaming Bustamante for graffiti is pretty lame…you are smarter than that Art. If you were a true Republican then you would know that the blame lies with the huge number of incompetent parents in Santa Ana who could care less what their kids are doing all hours of the night.
Poster 19,
Waaaah! Whatever. Bustamante is NOT endorsed by the OC GOP. I look forward to his defeat on Feb. 6. All Pulido hacks must go!