Bustamante headed for a tough week

O.C. Supervisorial candidate Carlos Bustamante is in for a tough week. Latino Democrat Benny Diaz and his volunteers are putting up signs all over Santa Ana even as I write this post. His signs are emblazoned with the word “Democrat.” He won’t have to take many Latino votes from Bustamante to make a difference.

There are also a multitude of pajaritos reporting that the long-awaited hits on Bustamante are on the way. He is going to get body-slammed for allying himself with Lupe Moreno, from what I hear, and his eminent domain deals are going to be exposed at last. It sounds like Bustamante’s detractors have been reading my posts. My guess is that he will lose a big chunk of votes over the next few days.

I also hear that he is mighty nervous about the latest Ream assessment scheme. Will Bustamante speak out against this new tax and risk angering Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream? I doubt it. You can expect that Bustamante will be asked about the assessment at every single campaign stop going forward.

Sources have also revealed that Bustamante accepted money from a body shop in south Santa Ana after he voted to give them a variance. And apparently he took money from a car dealer’s association as well – more quid pro quo for his eminent domain deals?

Finally, no suprise that the machine types at Red County/OC Blog are defending Bustamante’s fake Democrat mailer, which my co-blogger Claudio wrote about earlier today. They ripped Cassie De Young for doing the same thing last year – but Bustamante can do no wrong in their eyes. That’s how it goes when you hire Red County blogger John Lewis as your consultant. Imagine if Janet Nguyen had hired Lewis instead of David Gilliard? She’d be the toast of the Red County/OC Blog.

Nguyen did send out an enormous mailer today depicting her with GOP stars Ed Royce, Tom McClintock, Arnold Schwarzenegger and even Newt Gingrich, who towers over the diminutive Nguyen in their picture. She pulled out the immigration card again though. The mailer includes the statement, “Janet Nguyen is the proven conservative who will fight crime and stop county tax dollars from going to benefit illegal aliens.”

I also received another anonymous hit on Tom Umberg. This one talks about his ties to the Orange County bankruptcy and his personal debts and ties to gambling casinos (are there any other kinds of casinos?). This mailer might stoke more support for Benny Diaz, who timed the installation of his signs perfectly. Go Benny!


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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.