| First, the money laundering. According to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, Fabian Nunez took several million dollars from AT&T in exchange for pushing this year's bill to deregulate cable and internet video services. Not only did he do it, but he did it through the CDP. The press release is here
Next, the wealthy elites. In August we were treated to a disturbing quote from the co-chair of DiFei's reelection campaign. Keep in mind that Phil Angelides' tax plan was to increase the burden on the extremely wealthy but not on anyone else. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
"A number of my Democratic friends, who have raised lots of money for Democrats, have said they cannot support Phil," said Angela Bradstreet, a well known San Francisco attorney and co-chair of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's re-election campaign. "This is the first time I can remember it being so pronounced."
Bradstreet, a Democrat who said she is voting for Schwarzenegger, argued that the governor has re-established himself as a moderate who has shown strong leadership on economic issues.
"Quite frankly, I'm also sick and tired of paying taxes," she said. "And that's Angelides' solution -- raising taxes."
Between these two examples, it is clear to me that the CDP is not being run in the best interests of most California Democrats. It reminds me of the way the DNC used to be run for the national donor elite, except we were able to recapture the DNC with a fairly simple formula: the DNC chair is apparently elected by the various state parties, and running on a platform of giving more money to the state parties and less to the high-priced media consultants favored by the donor elite, Howard Dean cruised to victory. This obviously infuriated the donor elite, but the party's grassroots saved the day with a lot of small donations to keep the party going.
I'm not sure how the leadership of the California state party is determined, so maybe someone could tell me: what would be the equivalent way to seize power for the people within California? What would be the structual opportunities and limitations? And what would be the risks? As a native Californian, I'm embarassed that so many other states elected Democratic governors this cycle while Democratic juggernaut California couldn't keep pace.
Cross-posted at DailyKos and MyDD. I am affiliated with the University of Chicago Democrats. |
