I work for the Courage Campaign as the California field manager, and helped to organize this rally.
Last weekend, more than 2,000 people took to the streets to expose the secret billionaires cabal hosted by the Koch brothers near Palm Springs, California. Charles and David Koch invited powerful multi-millionaire conservatives to join them for a weekend at a posh resort to strategize and finance their nefarious plan to squeeze working families, gut social programs, destroy our environment for their profit, and buy our elected officials. The Courage Campaign, joined by an outstanding coalition, were there to let them know they can't come to California to do their dirty work in secret.
The Courage Campaign coordinated a diverse coalition of organizations, bringing together activists - with a broad array of concerns about the Koch brothers - to counter the billionaires cabal. Our partners include Common Cause, CNA, AFSCME, HCAN, Greenpeace, California Student Sustainability Coalition, CREDO, MoveOn, COPEPINK, The Ruckus Society and The Other 98%. My role was to coordinate logistics for the coalition, which is a cohesive panoply of groups committed to hold billionaires accountable for the damage they have done (and stop them before they cause any further harm). This demonstration is the kickoff for national campaigns for corporate accountability and good government this year.
Often in recent history times of turmoil have been preceded by times of great jubilation and success. The great depression for instance of this century was preceded by the roaring 20's. Such is the current state of the Republican Party in California. Great joy and a sense of eager excitement have gripped Republicans everywhere in anticipation of great gains in this year's midterm election. While pollsters and pundits across the state and nation have predicted massive Republican gains this year, the real story of the Republican Party in California is being written in a little watched race in a place where the economic hammer has fallen the hardest. In Imperial County, CA, where unemployment is the highest in the State, the Republicans are facing what amounts to Custard's last stand.
The Republican nominee for the 80th District is a young up-and-coming politician by the name of Steve Sanchez. Sanchez is a Conservative stalwart, well liked by his party base. He served for several years under a previous Republican Assemblywoman, who termed out, as her District Director. Sanchez is a Marine Corps Combat Veteran, active in many non-profit organizations and on the Board of Directors for two local Chambers. In other words, the perfect pedigree for his race. By all accounts he has run a solid campaign, the best his opponent has been able to come up with against him is some missing paperwork on a business he owns, hardly a scandal. Steve Sanchez, a Latino candidate in a District that has been represented by a Republican for 8 of the last 10 years, in a year that is going the Republican's way, has everything he needs to win.
Steve Sanchez will lose November 2nd. Surprised? Don't be. Here is the rest of the story. His opponent, like Sanchez, is Latino. But his Democratic opponent, Manuel Perez, has received nearly $500,000 in direct support from his party to try and hold this seat. Steve Sanchez, the only Latino candidate running for State legislature in California, has received less than $50,000 according to the local paper. That's right, 10% of his opponents sum. In many ways this is the story of the Republican Party in California. In a State with a population that is increasingly Latino, the Republican Party has been completely inept when it comes to giving this important voting block positions of power. While the complexion of the state has changed, the complexion of the party has stood stuck in suspended growth. Perhaps the saddest part of the whole story is, they don't seem to mind. Even when a candidate falls in their laps, a candidate they probably could not dream up, they turn their nose.
So while the Republican Party may celebrate in great glee on November 3rd, the true story of this election and future elections to come lay in a sad story of abandonment in a County that knows what it is like to be forgotten. And one day soon the Republican Party will look back and wonder why they ignored Latino's and their candidates. Standing in their own unemployment line, they will have time to ponder.
Isadore Hall, Assemblyman for the 52nd District, brought five volunteers with him for precinct walking and carne asada. More from Isadore Hall, CA52AD, on the flip.
(The difference between winning and losing in 2010 isn't the mushy middle. The difference is the base. And this is a good start. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
California's Senate Appropriations Cmte passed Mark Leno's SB 810 out of committee, and the Senate will vote on it next week. (UPDATE: make that this week. Started this diary on weekend.) Leno says that the timing is coincidental and not a response to the Brown debacle, but it works for me. SB 810 would create a single-payer, universal health care system in California.
You'll be shocked to learn that Republicans are framing this as Democrats Out of Touch, and it's possible that SB810's supporters will get wobbly. Two things need to happen:
Call the California Senators Calderon, Correa, and Wright and let them know that saving the state billions in waste and fraud is still politically viable - contact info on the flip.
Push back on the corporate narrative - talking points and media links on the flip.
Attack attack attack. If you're not a constituent, call them anyway. Let them know that California can show the rest of the country that Democrats understand we want universal healthcare.
(While the issues within the State Capitol are important, we also need to work on rebuilding a sustainable economy for the future. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
According to Miguel Figueroa, the Executive Director of the Calexico New River Committee (the sponsors of AB 1079), "Despite decades of resolutions, studies and promises, our city has not received the sustained leadership and support from California that we need to solve this problem. We commend Assemblyman Perez for making New River clean-up a priority in his first term in office..."
Perez is doing what he said he'd do for the region no one has served up to now- clean up the New River, the biggest environmental and public health disaster in the 80th since the 1940s. Though Senator Ducheny made progress in 2005, it took Perez to get the full coalition together and the federal funds released.
The Desert Sun, true to form, tucks the credit for this "unprecedented attention" and the "reversal of years of neglect" into the second page:
The California-Mexico Border Relations Council in coming weeks will host a public hearing in Imperial County to get residents' feedback. The relatively new organization, made up of key state secretaries, is tasked with identifying major border issues.
Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, a Coachella Democrat who secured the state funding and is organizing the coming visits, has authored a bill giving the border council authority to coordinate a restoration plan with locals and oversee the necessary environmental studies.
(btw, If this had been a Benoit or Nestande Republican success, we'd have seen their names in the first line, plus photo. No liberal media here.)
Yes, I'd like him to do all of this and be as far in front on the budget as Nancy Skinner. But reclaiming a healthful environment along the New River is transformative stuff, too. The people who live along the New River have an Assemblymember, finally.
Perez will face a well funded challenger in all likelihood. Can a Republican challenger can peel this constituency off with attacks on Manuel's support for the gay community and women's healthcare rights? Jeandron tried last year and failed. The New River is toxic to the touch, and dooms the whole region to poverty. If Perez can turn that around, he'll have done more than every Republican combined since the 1940s.
Xposted on mydesert.com, the online edition of the Desert Sun
Rally this afternoon in Palm Springs and tomorrow afternoon in Beaumont to protest the unconstitutional removal of 'fundamental right to marry' for gays and lesbians:
Beaumont City Councilmember Roger Berg was 'arrested' for assault on a woman during a No on Proposition 8 demonstration in Beaumont on Monday, November 3, 2008. In an interview on Tuesday, Betty McMillion, Riverside County Democratic Central Committee chair told BluePalmSpringsBoyz, that Berg had been placed under 'citizen's arrest' by the victim and that police reports had been filed against him. Additionally, a minor filmed and audioed the aggression and has turned copies over to Beaumont police and the District Attorney's office for further investigation.
During Election 2008, spontaneous rallies took place around Beaumont, a city in the San Gorgonio Pass region of Riverside County, midway between Palm Springs and Redlands. A handful of young adults and older teens would gather at major intersections and crowds would gather to protest Proposition 8. Monday was just such a demonstration.
(great ground report from the campaign of my favorite soon-to-be Assemblyman. - promoted by David Dayen)
Large majorities of Perez's ID'd voters have already voted. The majority of VBM and PAV are Democrats this time around. We've expanded the universe to make full use of our powerhouse squad of union brothers and sisters on the job today.
Jeandron dropped some particularly sleazy attack mailers yesterday, but California Medical Association mailed a fold out poster IE for Manuel that's just beautiful, as you can see above. As the man says, it's a movimiento, a social justice movement, not just a campaign.
I'm here in Coachella with CSEA. SEIU is also walking and poll watching, as is LIUNA, United Domestic Workers, CTA. The enthusiasm in Imperial County is unprecedented - that's where Manuel started his day. He's working his way from volunteer site to site from Calexico to Palm Springs today. He'll vote at Coachella City Hall at 3pm, and join Assembly Speaker Karen Bass at the Democratic HQ at 6pm for a rally, then on to Democratic Party at the Agua Caliente, then back to Coachella HQ to get the final numbers.
Two bands, and much food by then. Updates as I can.
Republican Gary Jeandron's gone negative on Manuel Perez again, airing a radio/TV ad that accuses Manuel of being for higher taxes, higher fees, we can't afford Manuel Perez - primal scream, clutch the pearls, etc. The usual GOP disingenuous hysteria.
The Perez campaign has responded:
Now, it's not that Perez thinks that the Grover Norquist pledge is a good thing, he just notes that Jeandron is running on the usual GOP gimmick, while failing to meet the gimmick's standards.
UPDATE - I had this diary all wrong before, I referred to the wrong attack ad. Now it makes sense.
All of the Republicans running in the Coachella Valley bill themselves as moderates, Gary Jeandron and Mary Mack are two prime examples. Yet here's Jeandron's latest literature being dropped at the Catholic churches in Brawley. Note the absence of any mention of jobs, affordable healthcare, schools, or water:
Reaching back into the culture warrior bag of tricks. Such a moderate! 30 years in Palm Springs, and this is how Jeandron treats the gay community. And hey, way to protect our kids - denying the most vulnerable young women any chance at professional healthcare in a crisis. Compassionate conservatism, again.
For Perez, the problems in our state are jobs, schools, healthcare, and sustainability. That's what our families need, not a California version of the Ministry of Virtue and Vice. Please help Perez teach Jeandron what values we share here in the 21st century: Manuel Perez' Act Blue page.
Gary Jeandron breaks his own pledge opposing new taxes - even before Election Day.
We're used to politicians breaking campaign promises after they are elected to office. George Bush has done it. Governor Schwarzenegger has done it. But it is a rare sight to see politicians break a campaign promise BEFORE they are elected... And that's exactly what Gary Jeandron has done.
Gary Jeandron has been on the campaign trail saying he opposes new taxes and even asking Manuel Perez to sign a "no new tax pledge."
But Jeandron violated his own pledge, at least twice since he signed it. First, he supported increasing property taxes last year as a school board member. And now, he supports raising the local sales tax by a 1/2 cent.
More, including Manuel's latest TV spot, over the flip.
(Full disclosure: I'm an elected DSCC delegate, thanks to constructive nagging in 06 from the Calitics crew, and I'm an alternate to the RCDCC as soon as I'm properly sworn in. I'm on the board of Democrats of the Desert, a chartered CDP club, and of the ACLU Desert Chapter.
UPDATED: As of September 21st, Democratic volunteers registered 786 Democrats, 143 Republicans (well, it's the law), and 171 Other.
At Netroots Nation, NYBrian and hekebolos had a terrific panel on getting involved with your local Democratic Party. Most of us have plenty to say on that subject, and in my region the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee takes its share of criticism from the local clubs and activists. But this year, we have plenty to applaud, and I want to share the work that the RCDCC is doing to support our current candidates, and those coming up. The board has several new members, and the new chair is making everyone work, work, work.
Crossposted at dkos.
One week ago, Republican Leader Mike Villines and the California Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon featuring a presentation outlining the Republican game plan in the 80th and how they would offset Manuel Perez's double-digit lead.
A key part of the Republican strategy hinged on filing a politically driven, frivolous lawsuit to challenge Manuel Perez's ballot designation as an "Educator."
But today the Sacramento Superior Court dealt Republicans a loss, blowing up their key strategy. It would seem Rove's maxim: 'Attack the Democratic candidate's strength,' just won't work on Perez. In fact, it boomeranged.
Portions XPosted 8/3/2008 11:23 AM PDT on MyDesert.com
According to one of my activist friends, a former deacon of a religious extremist church in Utah, who attends an evangelical megachurch in the Coachella Valley in order to monitor its adherence to the tax code as it applies to its tax exempt status, churches across America today began '100 Days of Prayer' against Marriage Equality and cajolled their members and attendees to vote in favor of Proposition 8 and defeat gay marriage at the polls in November.
Proposition 8 is an amendment to the California State Constitution that would ban Marriage Equality and would dictate that marriage is only between 'a man and a woman.' Prop 8 is another in a long line of attempts by out-of-state religious extremist organizations that attempts to further the religious extremist agenda as a step towards fomenting theocracy rather than democracy in the United States of America:
(Proposition 8) (a)mends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: The measure would have no fiscal effect on state or local governments. This is because there would be no change to the manner in which marriages are currently recognized by the state. (Initiative 07-0068.) (Full Text)
From the pulpit of the church, directly in violation of the principles of the separation of church and state, church leaders discussed the impending vote on Prop 8 and advised members to not only 'pray' for the success of the proposition, but to also vote for Prop 8. My friend advises that in churchspeak, this use of the term 'pray' means 'send money.'
Former-President Bill Clinton, during his initial race to the Presidency, had a saying, "It's the economy, stupid." The focus on the failings of the Bush economy lead to Clinton's election and swept the supply-side Republicans from office for eight years. Eight years of Democratic-lead prosperity, balanced budgets, and a peace-time economic bonanza for small business and working class families.
Now, America is faced with another economic debacle thanks to another member of the Bush family and to supply-side Republican economic policies that only benefit the rich and big business. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), presumptive Democratic nominee for the Presidency in Election 2008, has a detailed plan to strengthen the U.S. economy and to deliver us from eight years of mismanagement.
Obama's plan is especially needed in the Coachella Valley with California one of the states hardest hit by the housing crisis, predatory lending, and rising commodity prices, with Riverside County one of the hardest hit counties, and with the Inland Empire, the San Gorgonio Pass, and the Coachella Valley as some of the hardest hit local regions.
Made it out last night for the first time in too-long-a-time to the Palm Springs Village Fest Voter Registration & Candidates Tabling with the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club, the Palm Springs Democratic Club, and the Democrats of the Desert Democratic Club. What changes are wrought with success and volunteer enthusiasm!
First, I espied the big tent, symbolic of the Democratic Party in Palm Springs. Afterall, we are the party of the LGBT community, the senior community, the African-American, and the Latino communities in the Coachella Valley! Come one, welcome all! Thanks to Cathedral City Councilmember Greg Pettis for the loan to the cause.
The tent was festooned with colorful red, white, and blue bunting and banners announcing the various Democratic Club involvements, candidates and initiatives. Peter East, Secretary of the Palm Springs Democratic Club, was credited with creating the amazing signage for the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club and the Palm Springs Democratic Club. Eye-popping posters and signs for Julie Bornstein, Democratic Candidate for the 45th Congressional District, Manuel Perez, Democratic Candidate for the 80th Assembly District, and No on Prop 8 signs abounded. Manuel Perez? Yes, Manuel Perez! More on that to follow.
Yesterday morning, Agxibel Barajas greeted me from the front page of our local paper, The Desert Sun. Agxibel is the office manager and scheduler for Manuel Perez, the powerful progressive Democratic candidate for California's 80th Assembly District. We're going to lose her in the fall when she heads to law school, and that's going to hurt. She and Manuel go way back:
Six years ago, Agxibel Barajas was asked what she wanted to do with her life.
"Her response was: 'I hope to be the first woman president of the United States,'" said Manuel Perez, who at the time was a field representative for Assembly candidate Joey Acuña.
Barajas had arrived at his office wanting to volunteer her services for Acuña's campaign.
Six years later, the Coachella native is featured in a documentary by "Mad, Hot Ballroom" writer Amy Sewell that attempts to get people talking about why the United States has yet to elect a female president.
As you know, we need 6 seats in the Assembly to reach a 2/3 majority, and the latest news shows that one of those six is looking good.
I just got the results of an internal poll taken in AD-80 which shows Democrat Manuel Perez with an 11-point lead over Gary Jeandron in the seat currently held by Republican Bonnie Garcia.
AD-80: poll conducted June 10-12, 2008.
Sampling error is +/- 4.9%.
Manuel Perez: 47%
Gary Jeandron: 36%,
18% undecided.
The generic ballot tracks with the poll, as 49% desire a Democrat in the Assembly, to 36% for a Republican. The registration advantage is in the double digits as well, and the polling memo notes that almost 40% of DTS/Independents and nearly 20% of Republicans are Latino. Perez is the right fit for this district. And once bio material is presented, Perez' lead jumps to 52-39. Perez' name ID is higher in the district, too.
Best of all, Perez is a better Democrat, a transformational progressive who will be a real asset to the Assembly and not just a cog in the wheel.
This is not only good news for Perez, but Julie Bornstein as well. I fully expect Perez to have a strong grassroots operation throughout the district, and where that overlaps with CA-45, that means more Democrats coming out to vote.
Disclosure: I've been with this campaign since the 2007 CDP Convention.
Manuel Perez has a significant, double-digit lead over his Republican opponent and
is well-positioned to win back the seat for Democrats in California's 80th Assembly
That's the latest polling we have (Source: Heidi von Szeliski and Associates), and it looks good all over.
This has been a district made for Democrats to win since the last redistricting, and yet we've lost over and over. But now California Democrats are heading into the general of a key battleground for our 2/3 majority fight with four major factors in our favor: numbers, nominee, polling and ground game.
I work for the Courage Campaign as the California field manager, and helped to organize this rally.
