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Unhappy comments have appeared on Facebook over the past day, some regretting and some defending various Democratic officials’ endorsements by Lou Correa. By far most of the endorsers in question are Latino, which of course adds zest to the mix. Comments from endorsers and their defenders have focused on their right to vote for whomever they want — a right that, so far as I can tell, no one questions.
The real question is whether one a public official should expect to get to endorse someone without expecting blowback — or, for those who hate jargon, “negative consequences.” And the answer to that is: “of course not.” If you take a public stand, especially one that many viewing it will see as counterintuitive, it’s going to raise a ruckus. (That’s why the campaign, I presume, talked you into doing it!) In this case, many of the public officials are liberal Latinos — again, that’s why they seem to have experienced a full court press to support Correa, to buttress him on the left — and that means that they should expect even more pushback from people who are trying to make the case that Correa simply does not deserve liberal support.
(Note: I use the word “liberal” here to avoid the by-now-debased word “progressive.” In Orange County the word has taken on a meaning like “mildly libertarian, with a strong emphasis on social and cultural issues, who may have a blind spot when it comes to economic issues” — which is one reason why so much of the rest of the country likes to laugh at us. If you’re a public figure who claims to be “progressive” but shuns the term “liberal,” you should be prepared to explain what the difference is. It often seems intended to mean that you can be “pro-business” — meaning pro-subsidy, anti-taxation, and anti-regulation — so long as you favor LGBT, women’s, and drug legalization issues. Or at least you do if the drugs are controlled by a state-sanctioned cartel.)
Let’s be real: politicians and leading public figures in specific ethnic groups, especially ones that are targets for discrimination and bigotry, are often going to feel the need to give into pressure to support “one on their own” — and it’s the sort of thing on which vendidos like Lou Correa depend. The pressure for conformity among people in Orange County has been enormous this year — and, while I’m disappointed that some people who I think should know better have knuckled under to Lou, I don’t condemn them for it. But I want to suggest some road rules:
These Lou supporters fall into two categories: (1) those who can give compelling arguments (rather than vague ones that fuzz or distract from the issues at hand), and (2) those who can’t or won’t, and who get vague — and touchy — when asked their reasons. It’s perfectly reasonable to ask people for their explanations — and if those explanations are “because I will support any Latino over any non-Latino” or “because I love big business” or “because poor people make me uncomfortable,” then fine. Thank you for the explanation, you qualify for category (1), and now we know more about you.
And if you’re being vague or disingenuous or proclaiming your right to do whatever you want — that’s fine too! We just know that voters should pretty much ignore your endorsement, because either you don’t know why you’re really doing it or you won’t say why — because you’re either nowhere nearly as liberal as supposed or you’re giving into political pressure, which, by the way, smart politicians often do. (Although they may later pay a political price. Try to be a grown-up about that — this is one of those races that people will remember for a long time.)
Now I do have a question for people who endorse Correa. Here is a list of the major outside contributors to Lou Correa’s campaign. (Some other blogger can do the same for supporters of some of the other leading candidates — Joe Dunn’s, Bao Nguyen’s, and Lynn Schott’s.)
Can you tell me whether being on the same side as any of these big contributors bothers you — and, if so, how you reconcile it with your endorsement? My comments will continue after this table, taken from fec.gov, supplemented by the Center for Responsive Politics’s opensecrets.org site.)
ADVANCE AMERICA CASH ADVANCE CENTERS INC., PAC | SPARTANBURG | SC | 29306 | 06/10/2015 | $1,000 | ||
AEGON USA/TRANSAMERICA CORP. PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 02/02/2016 | $1,000 | ||
ALAN LOWENTHAL FOR CONGRESS | ENCINO | CA | 91436 | 12/30/2015 | $2,700 | ||
ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY PAC (ALLPAC) | NORTHBROOK | IL | 60062 | 12/31/2015 | $1,000 | ||
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 04/25/2016 | $1,000 | ||
ANHEUSER-BUSCH PAC | ST. LOUIS | MO | 63118 | 05/17/2016 | $1,500 | ||
AT&T INC. FEDERAL PAC | DALLAS | TX | 75202 | 03/07/2016 | $1,000 | ||
AT&T INC. FEDERAL PAC | DALLAS | TX | 75202 | 09/25/2015 | $1,000 | ||
BLUE DOG PAC | GAITHERSBURG | MD | 20883 | 03/21/2016 | $2,500 | ||
BOARDER HEALTH FEDERAL PAC | MCALLEN | TX | 78504 | 09/26/2015 | $5,000 | ||
BOARDER HEALTH FEDERAL PAC | MCALLEN | TX | 78504 | 09/26/2015 | $5,000 | ||
CA INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOC. PAC | IRVINE | CA | 92618 | 03/18/2016 | $2,500 | ||
CHEVRON EMPLOYEES PAC | SAN RAMON | CA | 94583 | 11/23/2015 | $2,500 | ||
COMMITTEE FOR HISPANIC CAUSES B.O.L.D. | WASHINGTON | DC | 20024 | 10/26/2015 | $5,000 | ||
COMMITTEE FOR HISPANIC CAUSES BUILDING OUR LEADERSHIP DIVERSITY | WASHINGTON | DC | 20024 | 06/29/2015 | $5,000 | ||
COMMITTEE FOR HISPANIC CAUSES BUILDING OUR LEADERSHIP DIVERSITY | WASHINGTON | DC | 20024 | 06/29/2015 | $5,000 | ||
COMMONWEALTH PAC | EARMARKED THROUGH NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | MERRIFIELD | VA | 22116 | 04/18/2016 | $1,000 | |
CULAC PAC | WSHINGTON | DC | 20004 | 12/11/2015 | $5,000 | ||
DAVITA HEALTHCARE PARTNERS, INC. PAC | FEDERAL WAY | WA | 98001 | 03/18/2016 | $1,000 |
DEFENSE ECONOMIC RENEWAL EDUCATION | SEATTLE | WA | 98104 | 03/28/2016 | $1,000 | ||
DEMOCRATS RESHAPING AMERICA (DREAM PAC) | WASHINGTON | DC | 20003 | 06/29/2015 | $1,000 | ||
DEMOCRATS RESHAPING AMERICA (DREAM PAC) | WASHINGTON | DC | 20003 | 09/30/2015 | $1,700 | ||
DEMOCRATS RESHAPING AMERICA (DREAM PAC) | WASHINGTON | DC | 20003 | 09/30/2015 | $300 | ||
DIRECTV GROUP, INC. FUND (DIRECTV PAC) | WASHINGTON | DC | 20004 | 07/28/2015 | $2,000 | ||
DOING RIGHT – RESULTS ACTION UNITY LEADERSHIP PAC | PALM DESERT | CA | 92261 | 12/31/2015 | $1,000 | ||
EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES PAC | IRVINE | CA | 92614 | 03/18/2016 | $2,000 | ||
FARMERS INSURANCE PAC | IN-KIND:MEET & GREET EVENT: FOOD & BEVERAGE | SAN RAFAEL | CA | 94901 | 10/22/2015 | $122 | |
FARMERS INSURANCE PAC | SAN RAFAEL | CA | 94901 | 09/30/2015 | $2,000 | ||
FUELCELL ENERGY PAC | DANBURY | CT | 06801 | 02/08/2016 | $1,000 | ||
GERDAU PAC | TAMPA | FL | 33607 | 12/07/2015 | $1,000 | ||
GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A. PAC | ALBANY | NY | 12207 | 12/28/2015 | $1,000 | ||
IBEW PAC VOLUNTARY FUND | WASHINGTON | DC | 20001 | 11/23/2015 | $5,000 | ||
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS | WASHINGTON | DC | 20006 | 05/17/2016 | $5,000 | ||
INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY PAC | PROVIDENCE | RI | 02903 | 12/11/2015 | $1,000 | ||
INTERNATIONAL PAPER PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20004 | 03/28/2016 | $1,500 | ||
INTERNATIONAL PAPER PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20004 | 12/23/2015 | $1,000 | ||
J.O.E. PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 12/28/2015 | $1,500 | ||
JOBS AND INNOVATION MATTER PAC | EARMARKED THROUGH NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20003 | 04/18/2016 | $500 | |
JOBS OPPORTUNITIES & EDUCATION PAC | EARMARKED THROUGH NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | WASHINGTON | CO | 20005 | 04/18/2016 | $1,000 |
JUDY CHU FOR CONGRESS | ENCINO | CA | 91436 | 03/18/2016 | $1,000 | ||
L.I.E.U. LEADERSHIP PAC | EARMARKED THROUGH ACT BLUE TECHNICAL SERVICES | TORRANCE | CA | 90505 | 12/17/2015 | $1,000 | |
LEADERSHIP FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 03/29/2016 | $1,000 | ||
LEADERSHIP FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 12/11/2015 | $1,000 | ||
LEADERSHIP FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 12/23/2015 | $1,000 | ||
LEADERSHIP FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 09/30/2015 | $2,000 | ||
MUFG AMERICAS HOLDINGS CORP. PAC | SAN FRANCISCO | CA | 94104 | 03/28/2016 | $1,000 | ||
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION PAC | ARLINGTON | VA | 22203 | 12/31/2015 | $1,000 | ||
NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION PAC | WASHINGTON | CA | 20003 | 05/02/2016 | $5,000 | ||
NATSO PAC | ALEXANDRIA | VA | 22314 | 12/23/2015 | $1,000 | ||
NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 03/29/2016 | $5,000 | ||
NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | TOTAL EARMARKED THROUGH CONDUIT: $2500.00 CONDUIT LIMITS NOT AFFECTED. | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 04/18/2016 | $1,000 | X |
NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | TOTAL EARMARKED THROUGH CONDUIT: $2500.00 CONDUIT LIMITS NOT AFFECTED. | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 04/18/2016 | $1,000 | X |
NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION PAC | TOTAL EARMARKED THROUGH CONDUIT: $2500.00 CONDUIT LIMITS NOT AFFECTED. | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 04/18/2016 | $500 | X |
PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY PAC | NEWPORT BEACH | CA | 92660 | 11/07/2015 | $500 | ||
PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY PAC | NEWPORT BEACH | CA | 92660 | 11/23/2015 | $500 | ||
PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY PAC | NEWPORT BEACH | CA | 92660 | 12/23/2015 | $1,000 | ||
PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY PAC | NEWPORT BEACH | CA | 92660 | 06/22/2015 | $1,000 | ||
POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF THE AAOS | WASHINGTON | DC | 20002 | 08/24/2015 | $1,000 | ||
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 12/30/2015 | $2,500 |
REALTORS PAC | CHICAGO | IL | 60611 | 06/29/2015 | $5,000 | ||
REPUBLIC SERVICES, INC. EMPLOYEES BETTER GOVERNMENT PAC | PHOENIX | AZ | 85054 | 03/31/2016 | $1,000 | ||
SMAC PAC | CHANTILLY | VA | 20153 | 12/11/2015 | $1,500 | ||
SMAC PAC | CHANTILLY | VA | 20153 | 06/05/2015 | $2,000 | ||
TESORO PAC | SAN ANTONIO | TX | 78259 | 12/31/2015 | $1,500 | ||
THE DOCTORS COMPANY FEDERAL PAC (DOCPAC) | NAPA | CA | 94558 | 03/01/2016 | $1,000 | ||
THE DOCTORS COMPANY FEDERAL PAC (DOCPAC) | NAPA | CA | 94558 | 09/26/2015 | $1,000 | ||
THREE RIVERS PAC | PORTLAND | OR | 97242 | 03/28/2016 | $1,000 | ||
TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC. PAC | WASHINGTON | DC | 20005 | 12/11/2015 | $1,000 | ||
VAQUERO PAC | BROWNSVILLE | TX | 78520 | 12/31/2015 | $2,700 | ||
VARGAS FOR CONGRESS | ENCINITAS | CA | 92024 | 06/26/2015 | $1,000 | ||
VIBE PAC | PROVIDENCE | RI | 02903 | 12/30/2015 | $1,000 | ||
VIBE PAC | PROVIDENCE | RI | 02903 | 09/30/2015 | $1,000 |
- Are you OK with Payday Lenders that prey on the poorest among us? Lou happily used their money for all of those glossy mailers!
- Are you fine with all of those donations from Insurance Companies and Healthcare Providers opposed to single-payer or a public option and to cheaper prescription drugs?
- Are you happy with all of those donations from Oil and Gas and Telecommunications/Cable companies? They know what they think they’re getting out of Lou — do you?
- Is it the Massive Polluters like International Paper — for whom Lou went to bat as a Senator — that attract you to him more, or is it the Realtors and Landlords?
- Is it the Anti-Progressive/Liberal Democratic Groups — Blue Dog PAC (remember, Loretta once said that she was part of it only as a spy!), Committee for Hispanic Causes, Democrats Reshaping America, JOBS PAC, Leadership for Today and Tomorrow, the New Democratic Coalition, and the nicely but misleadingly named Vaquero PAC (which collects and distributes money mostly from medical/hospital/nursing-home, banking/financial, and agricultural interests, plus the Blue Dogs once again, of course) and VIBE PAC (which funnels money to Lou from casino, real estate, accountants, major health corporations) — that rev your engines?
Is Lou doing well in the primary polls right now? Well that’s because these sorts of donors are paying for those mailers! (And that’s only the ones who are contributing directly to his campaign; we’ll cover independent expenditures in a later post!)
I know some of the people on that list of “progressive” endorsers of Lou. Most of them are good people whom I suspect have buckled under to pressure — which is funny, given that they are complaining about “bullying” — and I don’t judge them too harshly for it, although I hope that they realize that they will inevitably face future consequences for their alliances. And if any of them want to argue for Lou on the merits based on the above list of contributors, we’ll donate space for them — though they should expect that their arguments may be rebutted in comments and later posts.
But, again, let’s be real: Lou Correa success in churning out those glossy mailers is a direct result of his being the kind of candidate that Bernie Sanders slams — and that even Hillary Clinton pretends to slam. He’s not “progressive” unless “progressive” means nothing — which is exactly what his big backers want it to mean.
If that doesn’t represent your view of the political world, you might want to say so — loudly and soon.
This will end up with a story; skip the rest if you must, but do read the last two paragraphs.
Dan Chmielewski — recently seen lauding a vicious, deceitful, and illegal web page attacking Joe Dunn (“illegal” because it does not identify who posted the web page as required by FPPC regulations, anonymous hit jobs being something that, based on his blog, Dan seem to savor — has come out with an attack on Joe Dunn supporters for “bullying” Benny Diaz after he came out and endorsed Lou Correa.
For those who know Benny, the notion that he can be “bullied” is ridiculous — although not as ridiculous as the notion that Dan himself, the biggest bully around (who bellowed at and intimidated Kamala Harris supporters earlerthis year) is a decent and honest judge of what constitutes bullying.
Dan addressed this piece showing where and to whom and for how much Lou Correa is selling out to wealthy corporate interests by trying to change the subject to infividual donors. Let’s not: individual donors are not the one shoveling money at Lou so that he will carry and support legislation to help them rip off the vast majority of Americans. But that’s exactly what those corporate donors want from him — and it’s what he deliver
But let’s talk for a moment about Benny Diaz — not to slam him or bully him, but just to explain his views. Benny supports Latinos against non-Latinos; that’s his thing. It makes politics very simple. And I’m glad that there are people like Benny that are unwaveting advocates for Latinos, no matter what, because Latinos have by and large been treated badly and as a group they do need some unconditional love. It’s the responsibility of the rest of us to decide whether to take a given view of Benny’s setiously, or dismiss them.
I remember one DPOC meeting several years ago, when I got up and gave a short speech warning people that we as a party wanted to keep our distance from then-State Senator Ron Calderon — an ally of Lou Correa’s. That Calderon was dirty was an open secret among political observers. As I recall, this was before he was indicted, but at a time that a scandal was starting to break regarding graft with an LA-area water board.
Most of the people there listened attentively and showed proper concern regarding my “everyone should be aware of” sppech — even though, of course, we weren’t going to do anything about it. Anyway, some time later, Benny stepped up to the podium and took issue with my characterization of the State Senator who would soon embarrass the whole state Democratic Party that hadn’t had the sense to get away from him while it could. Benny gave a rousing speech, saying that no matter what accusations were going around, we should remember that Calderon was a Latino Democratic official and had been a good friend to Latinos in Orange County and he didn’t want to hear criticism of him at a Democratic Party meeting.
That’s the sort of support that Lou Correa is counting on: unquestioning qnd willfully blind support, regardless of character or policy, based on nothing more than shared ethnicity. Again, there *needs* to be some people like that who look on any of their “family” with unconditional love — and sometimes it’s a mistake to listen to them. It was a mistake back then with Ron Calderon; it’s a mistake now with Lou Correa. At least, unlike Dan, it’s the ethnicity that Benny likes rather than the vendido corruption.
*What is interesting is how much Television Advertising Lou is putting out. That cannot be cheap. The list of contributors certainly doesn’t add up to the amount and cost of the television ads being posted – unless of course he is getting sizeable discounts. Seeing his final closing finance report after the election should be very telling.
Independent expenditures. We’ll get to those, time permitting. (Or better yet: anyone who knows their way around OpenSecrets want to step up on this one?)
I haven’t seen any TV ads by lous campaign can you post a link or tell me where i can see them?
I have been a supporter of Joe Dunn since he first ran for office and support his run for Congress. Your posts as usually hurt the candidate that you allegedly support and show your great white superiority to judge free of race.
It is unbelievable that you single out Benny Diaz for some alleged conversation that he and I do not remember at all. To believe that the Latino supporters of Lou are supporting him purely based on their ethnicity, highlights your bigotry.
If you were not so condescending maybe you could have a conversation with people that respects their intelligence.
Jesus Flipping Christ. Accused of condescension by Florice Hoffman.
Florice, my sense of you over years now is that your memory is often conveniently selective. You also seem to have some difficulty with reading comprehension, and I will “respect your intelligence” by spelling it out very clearly.
(1) This was not “a conversation”; it was a public statement in the portion of DPOC meetings where we used to be able to give three-minute talks at the end, before the dangers of unapproved commentary was largely restricted. I don’t recall whether you were there, so your not remembering my speech and his is not probative — although had you been there it would have been interesting to see whether your instinct told you to defend Ron Calderon or not.
(2) I “single out Benny Diaz” both because he’s the guy who said what I say that he said and because I was absolutely shocked by his blatantly stating that we shouldn’t probe too much into accusations of his corruption because he had been a big long-term supporter of OC Latino politicians. Maybe he doesn’t remember saying it, because his presenting that view didn’t make an impression on him, but OF COURSE he would like to say that he doesn’t remember it given that it was not too long after that that Ron Calderon was arrested and drummed out of the Senate, making his position look bad. (If you’d really like me to ask people who were likely there — there’s no easy way to look up when the speeches could have been because your protege’s approach to taking meeting minutes involved avoiding taking meeting minutes — whether they recall it, I’ll be happy to do so.)
(3) I have not said that as a general rule Latino supporters of Lou Correa “are supporting him purely based on their ethnicity.” Your gloss on what I wrote suggests that you are either feeble or deliberately twisting my words — and I don’t think that you are stupid. Many people support him because they are “Business Democrats” (as you used to not be, until your employers/clients decided that they would make common cause with the most venal Republicans around). Some have their incomes dependent in whole or substantial part on Lou’s favors; do I have to name names? Others are crowd followers, or don’t know much about his voting record. Others are bullied into that support by friends of yours — like Chmielewski — even if not in this case you yourself. (I know, you don’t regard yourself as a bully — although you’ve called me one for correctly using parliamentary procedure to keep views from being suppressed — but all I can say is that you apparently don’t see Dan Chmielewski as a bully either — and I need make no further argument than that.) But still others DO support him largely (I’m in no position to say “purely”) due to their shared ethnicity — a charge, by the way, brought by Latino supporters of his opponents — which I know because they flat out say “let’s elect a Latino!” in their posts of support for him and provide no other rationale.
In deference to your tender sensibilities, I’ll hold off on points (4) through (15)-and-counting until after the primary. And if you’re accusing me of something as serious as bigotry, Counselor, you should have something a lot better than what you’ve shown to back up that allegation. And you don’t.
Hey Greg, it’s that same protégé who stood up and defended you when the DPOC removed you. Funny how you conveniently forgot that.
So you think that Florice’s protege deserves consideration from that when it comes to the question of how well she did her job? How tribal of you.
I appreciated even the meek defense, but it was needed less as a response to the result than to the process — which (have I publicly told this story yet?) involved people (including the Chair) writing checks for other people for their dues, after the deadline to do so had passed and in violation of state law against making contributions to a PAC in others’ names, so that they could vote against me. I was confident going in because I knew who had and hadn’t paid dues and just didn’t expect them to blatantly violate the law like that in order to railroad me.
Why haven’t I ever turned in an FPPC complaint about it? Residual and probably misplaced loyalty, I guess. Thanks for reminding me to rethink that, Chemmy.
(I’ll let Vern decide whether you get to use that name here or whether we’ll change it to something like just “Chemical.”)
“If you were not so condescending maybe you could have a conversation with people that respects their intelligence.”
Nailed it !!
Well said Florice.
Thanks for your worthless pseudonymous opinion, “Stephan Cheng.” (Vern: feel welcome to verify this.)
Jeez, speakin’ of the race card…
I just got back from an OCWD meeting where I had to hear Ernesto Medrano and Arte Montez strain to equate opposition to Poseidon to privileged white disdain for people of color and the vibrant but needy central County. Now … must … puke…
Disappointed in Art. It would be very difficult to raise expectations of Ernesto high enough to ever yield disappointment.
If they were honest they’da just said “We represent unions and we want any union jobs however temporary and whatever the fiscal and environmental cost.” But trying to turn it into some kind of racial injustice was gross. Latinos are gonna have to pay jacked-up Poseidon rates along with everyone else, and they’re going to be suffering a mucked-up beach just like everyone else.
We are just four days away from election day. I hope you will remember to return your Vote By Mail ballot and show up to the polls to cast your vote on June 7th. Don’t forget, your vote matters.
I also hope you will be able to join me this weekend as my team and I Get Out The Vote. I am excited to share with you that Congresswoman Linda Sanchez will be joining my volunteers and I at 1pm on Saturday June 4th at my Campaign Headquarters located at 50 South Anaheim Blvd Suite 90 Anaheim CA 92805. I hope to see you this weekend.
Best,
Lou