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That solid block of Loretta signs in the back of the auditorium is the OC delegations.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris last night received the state Democratic Party endorsement for the state’s first open U.S. Senate seat since 1992 with an overwhelming 78.12% of the delegate votes. OC Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez received about 19.3% of the vote. About 2.6% of the delegates favored not endorsing at all.
The overwhelming portion of the visible support for Loretta came from Orange County. (Supporters of both candidates usually refer to them by their first names. In Harris’s case, it is often mispronounced: it’s KAW-muh-luh rather than kuh-MALL-uh.)
Throughout the auditorium, only a smattering of red and blue Loretta signs could be seen during and after her speech to the convention — third-from the last, followed only by Harris’s speech and a stem-winder of a speech by Vice-President Joe Biden, which like all major convention speeches will soon be available for viewing on the party’s cadem.org website — with one exception.
In the far back of the middle right of the room, a solid block of the signs appeared: Region 17 (all but the far north of the county and South County up to southern Irvine, Costa Mesa, and Newport Beach) and Region 18 (South and South-bordering County and northern San Diego County.)
It was, in effect, Orange County versus the rest of the state — and at the end of the night Orange County was swallowing its shattered teeth. In major competitive races, getting over 78% of the vote is not considered to be a reasonable target to set, but a pipe dream.
Why is Orange County so out of step with the rest of the state here? I’ll have some thoughts on that when I return from San Jose (driving home with my family with a nice long layover at my in-laws in Ventura) late tonight, and can do things like posting videos.
But I will have a lot to say on the topic. I don’t think that I’ve mentioned this here before now, but I am the Orange County coordinator for Kamala Harris — and have swallowed a good share of my own teeth over the past few months while trying to organize on her behalf.
By all means, crazy kleptocratic local political blogs, put the blame squarely on me for this big loss in OC. That theory just means that, without my messing up Orange County for them, Kamala might have cleared 80%!
Nah, actually, they understand that I have had the single worst job in the campaign — the only job for which alienation from one’s county political party was actually a selling point!
But the opportunity to serve (to this point and beyond) in this position has deepened my understanding of the striking antipathy that the local party has had for Kamala Harris since at least 2010 — a story that the time is finally right for me to tell. It says a lot about our local Democratic power structure — much of which is OUTSIDE OF the DPOC itself — and with the convention safely out of the way it’s a good time for me to start telling it.
Two final (and tangential) points:
(1) Will Loretta drop out of the Senate race after this debacle? She might, but I doubt it. What people may care most about is: will she decide to try to keep her seat in Congress?
Even if she does drop out of the Senate race — and the consolidation of the Republican Party behind Senate candidate Duf Sondheim, with whom I had a long and unexpected interview at the convention, which I expect to publish on Monday, suggests that she might as well — I don’t think that that’s where she’s headed.
Instead, Loretta is likely banking on Hillary winning the Presidency — after which she’d be a shoo-in for a Cabinet position. I still do like and respect Loretta, and would be happier to see her tapped to become, say, Secretary of Homeland Security than most other possible nominees.
(2) At today’s convention, the endorsements in legislative races will be approved, after which a County Party or State Party Board member (I’m both) can be expelled for going against the party’s recommendation. (I expect that DPOC members will exempt themselves from any sanctions if Loretta does stay in the race and that the state party will just roll its eyes and sigh rather than dissolving the DPOC.)
But since I myself have no such protection, this is my last chance to SAFELY say a couple of things to readers:
* DO NOT SUPPORT Lenore Albert Sheridan is AD-72. I will write more about this soon, omitting the immediately previous sentence if I decide that I don’t want to tempt fate.
* DO SUPPORT Josh Newman over CDP-endorsed candidate Sukhee Kang in my old stomping ground of SD-29. Sukhee’s going to lose badly to Ling-Ling Chang if he makes the runoff — which would be less of a tragedy if he wasn’t likely to also suck up great volumes of state party resources, Jose Solorio-style — in the process of doing so. Newman, on the other hand, can beat Chang — an argument I’ll expand upon soon — and is also one of the nicest, smartest, and mist decent potentially viable candidates that I’ve seen in Orange County.
(If you see a big old honking ad supporting Newman in the right column soon, it will of course be Vern’s doing, not mine!)
I wouldn’t trust Lo to walk my dog.
How about a job as special assistant overseeing Indian-American affairs?
Woo, woo woo!
If Hillary wins and Loretta loses, she is a lock for a high appointment in the Administration, likely Cabinet level.
Regardless of whether she’d walk your dog right over an open manhole, about which I’ll express no opinion, I do like the idea of a Secretary for Homeland Security who opposed the USA PATRIOT Act.
Do you like the idea of an HSA Secretary who consistently gave the Military-Industrial-Security complex carte blanche, (and cashed their PAC checks) including the recent Defense Authorization bill containing carte blanche for Domestic NSA Spying? Nothing to do with having married an MISC Industry LOBBYIST of course. My reaction, nausea, but that is default these days. If HilLIARy’s future includes the White House instead of the Big House, toxic fallout from a Sanchez appointment will be lost in the noise.
And what DHS Secretary would you expect Hillary to appoint who would be better in that respect? (Now Bernie would be a different matter.)
Loretta as the “Director of Homeland Security”? Surely, you jest? You might as well put big signs along our borders that read: “Come one come all. You don’t need no stinking papers. Free medical. Free education. Driver’s licenses. You stay, we pay. Bring your families too!”
I made a choice to live in California. With that came the realization that in the majority of cases I would be given a choice between Frankenstein and Dracula in most elections, with Frankenstein (or his descendants) ending up the victors. Now with the ideological overlap between the Democrats and Republicans that holds true more today than ever. And you are able to clearly recognize the outcome as our quality of life as common people continues to erode.
My hope is for Loretta to drop out of the Senate race and run for reelection of her congressional seat. IMO she’s done all the damage that she could possibly do as a congresswoman. So she will just be a placeholder who would prevent Correa from causing further damage. After losing his Supervisorial bid if Lou lost the congressional race maybe it would shatter his will/ego and he would leave politics altogether. That’s my dream. However, I know that the power associated with elected office is sort of like a heroin addiction and a terribly difficult habit to beat. But I can still hope.
Let me do this Dan Patrick Show Style:
BEST AND WORST OF THE WEEKEND:
Best: By far was the burger and beer event at St. John’s in Santa Clara. Where else could you see Anne Gust Brown doing a shot with Bob Weir and Mark Zuckerberg? Plus Ron Owens shows up. It was decidedly Un political.
Worst: the relentless jockeying by some of the attendees and delegates, I get this is how it is supposed to work, but it seems to be uglier and more aggressive than in the past. Almost a “we matter, the votes don’t attitude “.
As for Loretta, no one expected much less from her as Kami had most of this tied up months ago. The Nor-Cal puppeteers made sure of that. She WILL be anointed (essentially) come June/November. As for Ms. Sanchez, many have speculated her goal was to make a top two, take hear beating and be at the front of the line for the Di-First who is now 82 and in struggling health (her biggest risk hereally is Jerry Brown, with whom Loretta is not particularly friendly, who could appoint another Nor Cal dem, if Feinstien should retire or die). 2018 isn’the that far off, when you serve in Congress until January 2017. A lot of free time and banked money!
Anyway, go to St. John’s in Santa Clara.
Loretta’s demeanor is just not senatorial. Let’s face it. Kamala seems to have a little more class and presents herself in a more stately manner. On that basis alone Kamala wins hands down. The fact that Loretta is from OC is meaningless to me. Most of the time she acts like she’s from Mars. Is she going to send out another sexy postcard next Christmas? Geez. I can’t wait. 🙂
Cross-posted from the penalty box at Illiberal OC, where anonymous sad sack “Pinky” notes that I acted as an attorney for the Sanders campaign and am volunteering extensively in OC for the Kamala campaign. The ninja warrior wants to know what I’m doing for the Dunn campaign. As I have no assurance that my comment there will be approved, I’ll post it here as well:
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I’ll be covering the CA-46 race honestly. I’m not part of his campaign, but doing that sort of coverage may be more critical than what I’m doing in the Presidential or Senate races.
Note, by the way: I was acting as an election protection lawyer for Bernie’s campaign at the Nevada caucuses only. My only continuing formal role in his campaign is as a small donor and volunteer on phone banks and such.
As for Kamala’s campaign, I’m doing administrative and voter contact work only (unless they need me to make an appearance somewhere on her behalf.) Anything I do as a blogger — which I’ve mostly foregone pending the CDP convention endorsement vote — will be without their advance knowledge, consent, or control.
Admittedly, none of this volunteer work is as critical as Pinky’s flinging guano at me from the shadows of anonymity. That’s REAL campaign work! I hope that HE gets paid for it!
Don’t spend too much time arguing with Dan’s sock puppet.
Lord knows when he washed it last . . .
I’m not the awarding authority, but that gets MY ‘skadoosh’ !
Please join the “Lenore Landed the CADEM Endorsement Party” to be held this Saturday!
If you wish to attend please email: RNLDODONNELL@AOL.COM
Oh, yes. There will DEFINITELY be more on that topic.
Will not be joining that endorsement party, if she runs out on her political commitments the same way she ran out on her legal commitment to us, we will all be in a lot of trouble.
Your Sheridan opposition is the subject of much discussion in some circles.
Perfect! I look forward to expanding upon what happened there — once I’m done calling Bernie Sanders supporters today, which is the sort of thing actual political activists do.
By the way — why are you hiding your identity?
You can officially dispense with the “I don’t mind anonymity, I just mind it when someone lobs personal insults (my paraphrase)” stance.
If it’s basic anonymity that you don’t like, then take it up with Vern and get the blog’s policy changed.
I don’t know why you say that in this case. I didn’t threaten to spike his comment. What he said wasn’t an insult. I could be the lead-up to a threat, or to a less ambiguous attack — but as it is, it’s fine.
I’m also not complaining about your own comment, which is a cogent (even if misguided) challenge. I’m talking about people who take advantage of the ability to avoid challenges to their own credibility, which anonymity can provide, to boost their own political (and sometimes paid-for) ends.
If you’re the same “anon” as we’ve had here for quite some time, that doesn’t describe you.
Well, I say that in this case because “Francis” didn’t really deserve to have you digging into why he or she is hiding his or her identity.
Well then I’ll stick up for Greg’s little innocent question. Francis was suggesting he’s part of an inner Democratic circle that talks about Diamond a lot, in presumably an unflattering way. This is what Diamond always has to hear, usually from people who won’t say it under their own names.
Still, I’d be flattered if I were Greg. People like Chmielewski are always talking about what an unimportant pariah he is in the Party, but he must be important if they’re talking about him so much.
I’d say that “Francis” can take can of himself or herself or itself or themselves, because the cordial email I sent to him, her, it, or them bounced.
So, what I’ve accomplished so far is to determine that this somewhat reasonable sounding anonymous person is lying about how to contact them.
I know that you value your anonymity; it’s part of your very brand. But my involvement in politics is as an activist, not as a dilettante, so my perspective will differ from yours.
AND anon has an e-mail that, if I remember correctly, I have reached him before on. (Though it’s been years.)
One of the very few instances in which I agree with anon – get over it Diamond.
Bite yourself, junior.
There is no good reason for anyone in the information age to be voting for, or supporting Lenore Albert Sheridan. Google is your friend.
My brief experience with her: NUTJOB.
Really, the best we can do against Travis Allen? And Karina the best we can do against Harper? What’s happening to our party in OC?
How electable can she be, facing discipline by the State Bar, and a malpractice lawsuit from a client?
Are you positive of that?
(I refer to your use of the singular case.)
Yes…
If you mean to imply there may be more than one disciplinary case, then you have a point, as there are three separate case numbers which are combined into one proceeding.
There is one malpractice case in OC pending.
But there is much, much more crunchiness in the Court records.
We need to talk. I think that you can save me some time on a story I’m writing.
I hope that your email is real; otherwise, write Vern and let me know how to reach you.
Well, all righty then! Contact vern at chezvern@aol.com
Ask me…I will answer.
Ask you what? I have no idea who you are; why would I seek your answers?
Run for assembly Vern.
We like Kamala in this race…
It does not surprise me that Loretta Sanchez did better than Kamala Harris by the OC voters.
I’ve been wondering for months: where is Kamala Harris? She virtually has no presence in So Cal (I assume she’s better known up north), no one (when I ask friends and family) can tell me anything about her and her accomplishments.
With the multiple scandals in the OC and Californian’s getting gouged by gas prices, I keep asking: where is she?
I assume she’s a smarter, more polished candidate than Sanchez, but I really don’t know. Sanchez might not be the brightest light, but she does have a good voting record.
I am inclined toward Harris, but I worry that she’s just someone who has the right resume at the right time, yet has no passion for the position.
I’m not just trying to goad you, I really want to know more about Harris. California needs a powerful, smart, aggressive and active senator, not just anyone will do.