CA-10: Joan Buchanan Enters Race

3 great Democratic candidates in the race for the 10th (1.25 / 4)

3 great Democratic candidates in the race for the 10th

Indeed. Garamendi, Hampton, and Woods.

And then there is DeSaulnier and Buchanan.

Twitter: @BobBrigham

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by: Bob Brigham @ Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 21:58:10 PM UTC

Do you know anything about DeSaulnier and Buchanan? (7.00 / 3)

Mark DeSaulnier has repeatedly voted the right way and been a great legislator for his district. To slander them, or to hint at slandering them, is really ridiculous.

That being said, there are a lot of great candidates in the race. It'll be a slugfest.

I think?

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by: Brian Leubitz @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 00:48:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

About DeSaulnier and Buchanan (0.00 / 0)

DeSaulnier:
- voted for the Maldonado blackmail primary (SCA 4)
- does not live in the district
- has only been in his current office a few months
- spoke to our county Central Committee (Solano) and did not impress
- was a former GOPig
- thinks more of Tauscher is what we need

Buchanan:
- also voted for the Maldonado blackmail primary (SCA 4)
- lives in the district
- has been in her current office for only a few months
- holds a hard-fought for seat (AD-15)

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by: Airpower @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 01:53:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mark D (5.00 / 1)

Has represented CoCo for years. So what if he used to be a Reep?  He was a moderate one at that and now he is one of the most liberal legislators in the Legislature.

Buchanan is far from a leader.  Have you seen how many bills she's introduced in the legislative session? 9.  That is not leadership, that's being afraid to eff up.

What does Garamendi know about CoCo?  Not much I'm afraid...

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by: modem @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 02:31:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Leadership????? (0.00 / 0)

News Flash...

The State is Bankrupt!  

Part of the problem with CA is that we have had a bunch of reps in Sacramento (like your Mark D) who think that introducing lots new bills is what they are elected for.  This is typical tactical thinking which, in my view, has been the bane of the State Democratic Party and has contributed much to the State's problems.  What the State Democratic Party should be 100% focused on is strategic things which will go to the heart of overturning what has driven our State over the cliff, e.g.:

a) term limits - which have lowered the gene pool of the reps we have to select from (to wit the Assembly's breathtakingly stupid staff pay raises during one of the State's worst fiscal crisis's when lots of people are being laid off, when Wall Street and other executive compensation is being ridiculed in D.C., and when the State Assembly itself is asking the voters to pass a bunch of ballot measure tax increases - if the ballot measures fail it will again be caused in large part by the Assembly's self inflicted wound)...if you doubt my gene pool thought, just go to Sacramento and then go to Washington, D.C. where you can't note the breathtaking chasm in quality of talent which separates the two...both in terms of the legislators themselves and the staff (B people tend to hire C people).  Furthermore, what top educated person would want to make a career of government when they know that they will be termed out just when they are gaining the experience and expertise which makes them effective?  For a State which is of the size and economic power of say Germany, to have such people is a crime in of itself and we are now reaping the results.

b) 2/3 requirement - which the Dems should be able to kill if they approached the problem with a truly coordinated campaign with strategy, messaging, war room, etc (to wit, the entirely predictable budget crisis where the Dems repeatedly compromise/cave/cede all negotiation strength and allow themselves to be held hostage by fringe Republican's who are branded as 'moderates who compromise'...BTW, watch this happen again in a couple of months after the ballot measures fail and the State sinks deeper in debt)...if you doubt this, I challenge anyone to show me what tangible things the Dems in Sacramento are doing to position themselves for when the ballot initiatives fail and they find themselves in the same position as they were in the Summer - do they have a war room,?  Have they figured out the individual Republican's weak spots and are they ready to exploit them?, Do they have a communication war room to win the messaging war?, Do they have proven external experts or more of the same hokey/underwhelming insiders running things?...I predict that they do not and that they will loose again (you can't keep doing things the same way with the same people and expect different results).

C) State ballot initiatives - which allow small minorities (whether they are the LDS or Big Oil, or the Insurance Companies) to put crazy things on the ballot which tie the hands of those we elect to represent us and restrict the required flexibility to govern effectively.  This could easily be done by doing away with paid signature gatherers or some other method.

Dealing with the three above things strategically would be what I would call leadership...not introducing a bunch of bills.

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by: lisav @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 15:59:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Right on point! Pls write more!!!! (0.00 / 0)

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by: res ipsa loquitur @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 18:33:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Insulting (6.00 / 3)

to the Assembly leadership for her to run.  Obviously she's not beholden to anyone, but people spent millions and put themselves on the line to get her elected in a seat that could easily flip in a special.  Let's just say that I'd be shocked if Bass lifts a finger to help her, whereas in past special elections Sacto staff is always dispatched to GOTV.

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by: David Dayen @ Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 22:16:08 PM UTC

Tough choice.... (4.00 / 1)

All the candidates should check with Jackie Spier to find out what it's like to run against John Garamendi. Mark DeSaulnier is a stellar individual so this is a tough call. Joan is not making many friends by abandoning a hard fought win in a swing assembly district, the 15th.  

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by: stevefilson @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 00:36:04 AM UTC

hm (0.00 / 0)

Speier lost at least partially because Figueroa played spoiler...

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by: Sertorius @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 05:25:49 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm glad she jumped in (4.00 / 1)

The House of Representatives has only 75 women out of 435...we need more women in DC not more of the good old boys.

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by: davidbalamo @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 00:55:34 AM UTC

That's a great point... (3.00 / 1)

and definitely something I consider myself.

BearFlagBlue | Nor*Cal Style. East Bay Attitude. Progressive Politic.

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by: sean mykael @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 01:35:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Your numbers are wrong...its actually worse for women (0.00 / 0)

The NY seat held by Kirsten Gillibrand is now occupied by a man, and down in SoCal Hilda Solic's seat looks to to at risk.  With Ellen going, it could mean only 72 women out of 435.    

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by: TobyfromOrinda @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 16:34:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Why is anyone afraid of a special election in AD15? (5.00 / 2)

So if Buchanan wins, we have to get back to work in an area we have momentum in anyway.  The more organizing we do there, the bluer it gets and the more likely we are to hold onto the area for a long time, even after the lines are redrawn in two years.

Democrats won the special Congressional election in New York recently despite the fact it was a conservative district.  They worked hard and won.  We've only gotten stronger in AD15 and who's to say we can only win it with her?

Tough to blame someone for going after a Congressional seat that only opens twice, maybe three times in a lifetime.  Yes, it'll be tougher to get to 2/3rds in the short term but we're working on that issue, too.

2010: We Vote. Dems Win.


www.youngdems.org

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by: Rocky Fernandez @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 01:45:51 AM UTC

Great, I get to say this here also: (3.00 / 1)

If Garamendi runs in CA-3, he will be struggle to keep the seat for as long as he is in the House, and he will not be able to legislate as a progressive.

If he runs in CA-10, he can probably keep the seat indefinitely, and can legislate as the progressive he is.

I'm not even saying that I necessarily will even endorse him (for all my opinion matters.)  I'm saying that trying to convince him that he has some duty to run in CA-3 rather than CA-10 is silliness.  There is very little question as to which race is better for his political future.

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by: Seneca Doane @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 02:27:59 AM UTC

come around more often, Seneca! (5.00 / 1)

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by: David Dayen @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 03:33:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

congressional boundaries change every 10 years (8.00 / 2)

the 3rd, should garamendi run in it and win it, could very, very easily be redrawn with bits of yolo county and sac county, and perhaps chico too, to be a safe enough seat for a dem like john. he'd only need to hold it in one election cycle before the new lines were there.

after all, the 1st and the 5th CDs are already ludicrously blue as currently drawn; it shouldn't be that hard to spread the blue around and make both the 3rd and 4th within range. sacrifice the 2nd, and we could rather easily have 1,3,4,5 all go dem consistently.

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by: wu ming @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 05:25:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

and just to clarity, since bob brigham made the same mistake in another diary (6.50 / 2)

prop 11 does not address congressional redistricting,. only state-level districts. so tweaking the 3rd wouldn't be affected by 11.

quite regardless of whether garamendi ran in the 3rd or not, we ought to try to tip the 3rd and make the 4th competitive in the next redistricting, by shuffling some of those yolo and sacramento county dems into those districts. trade chico for the northern part of the 4th between the 2nd and the 4th, and we might have 2 swing districts without sacrificing any dem safe seats (the 1st and the 5th are ridiculously blue, as is pretty much everything west of sacramento.

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by: wu ming @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 05:42:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

musical seats (0.00 / 0)

Disappointed that Torlakson decided not to run for this congressional seat.  He will make a fine St. Superintendent of Public Instruction, though.  

While Buchanan, DeSaulnier, and Garamendi are each very good folk and whichever one wins will be an excellent Member of Congress, I think Torlakson would have been the best of the bunch.

I'd be quite disappointed if we lost Buchanan's Assembly seat to the Reps. Of course, if DeSaulnier wins, his seat could go to the conservative Dem Canciamilla--which would be horrible!!  And if Garamendi wins, we'll have a Rep as a Lt. Gov, giving that person a leg up in 2010.  

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by: DanKalb @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 02:54:00 AM UTC

Lt Gov appointment has to be approved by 2/3rds... (0.00 / 0)

...of the legislature.  Or maybe traded for something that the Dems want...

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by: SPD @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 06:03:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

uh... (0.00 / 0)

...so what you're saying (based on your scenarios) Mark D. ought to win...

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by: modem @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 09:49:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]