A SethInCA Project: Help engage Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews with the Netroots

by: sethinca

Mon Jun 19, 2006 at 20:38:00 PM PDT

(Warner's loss was something of a shock, but now we go back to square one with Matthews. - promoted by SFBrianCL)

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos, SethInCA and MyDD)

The short version: I'm going to go interview Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews, the Democratic candidate for Congress who's challenging David Dreier in CA-26. I'd like to encourage her to become involved with the netroots, and as a start I want to reach out to her with your questions. Please post any questions you'd like me to ask her in the comments section.

The long version: Two weeks ago, Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews pulled a major upset and won the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 26th District of California. Her primary opponent and the assumed favorite of the race was Russ Warner, who had made a decent show of fundraising and received the endorsement of Gen. Wesley Clark. But Matthews, who was also the nominee in 2004, pulled an upset and won.

sethinca :: A SethInCA Project: Help engage Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews with the Netroots

I've speculated (dirty tricks?) about the reasons for Warner's disappointing defeat, but the bottom line is that Matthews is the nominee this year. And if ever there was a year for a turning of the tide in Congress, this is that year. Even if she can't quite win in this Republican district (46% R to 35% D), she's still fighting the good fight, not to mention forcing Dreier to spend money defending his seat. Or at least, that's the hope. In 2004 she came closer than any other challenger in California in her race to unseat closeted Republican David Dreier (54-42). She and two radio hosts gave Dreier hell on immigration, and during the campaign she publicly "came out" and challenged Dreier to do the same. Print media ignored the story, but it got some play on the radio and the web.

I called her office on Friday (guess who answered the phone? Matthews!) to ask for an interview, and her staff agreed. Later this week I hope to head over to campaign headquarters to take some pictures and ask her some questions. My hope isn't just to ask her some questions, but to try to get her more involved with the netroots. So far, her website is a disaster, but hey, Russ Warner's spiffy website didn't win him the nomination.

This is where you come in: please post questions you'd like me to ask her in the comments. (Maybe some advice for her too.) I'll bring some questions of my own, and we'll see what happens. Watch SethInCA for the results.

Tags: CA-26, Cynthia Matthews Rodriguez, David Dreier, (All Tags)

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A SethInCA Project: Help engage Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews with the Netroots | 2 comments

What's different this year? (0.00 / 0)

Will she be focusing more on immigration rather than playing some sort of gay shame game with him? Yes, the guy is a huge hypocrit, but what GOP Congressman isn't? What will give people the motivation to change their voting pattern after all these years?

As to the website...that video is so cheesy it's ridiculous. I'm all for supporting kids, especially with special needs, but what's with the "Would you allow this kid to go without health insurance?" It's a little too Sally Strothers for my taste.

I think?

by: Brian Leubitz @ Tue Jun 20, 2006 at 13:27:06 PM UTC

Cynthia Matthews REALLY Needs a Functioning Website (0.00 / 0)

I agree with SFBrian's comments above about the "gay shame game". To allow that to become a big issue in this election when our country is faced with encroaching fascism, a never-ending war in Iraq,in which American soldiers are being captured, tortured and beheaded,well, let's just say that the private sex lives of Congressional candidates is not America's biggest worry.

I hope when you interview Ms. Matthews, you will let her know that I am supporting her in the 2006 election mostly because I detest David Drier and his unquestioning and unwavering support of the Bush administration's ruinous policies, and I would vote for whatever Democratic challenger happened to be running against Drier. But Ms. Matthews needs to give voters a positive reason to vote for her, as opposed to simply voting against Drier.

My point is that she is sort of a stealth candidate... very invisible (much like her website). If people like myself who want to attempt to volunteer to support her campaign with a cash donation are stymied by the lack of functional website for the candidate, how can she expect the undecided voter to find out anything about her ?

Even on a very low-tech level, I see tons of bright yellow and blue David Drier signs posted all over the place in Arcadia, yet I have not seen one sign with Cynthia Matthews name anywhere. Can't the Democratic National Committee afford to at least pay for some signs so that even the most lazy voter can at least have a subliminal form of name recognition with the Democratic candidate for Congress?

by: jobaby57 @ Thu Jun 22, 2006 at 20:23:20 PM UTC

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