A long time ago I was told that in this business you are judged by your enemies. If your enemies are mostly democrats then you must be doing something right. They're willing to tear you down, especially people like Andrew Davey who posted on the Calitics page. He's just a punk with a computer.
As we continue to watch the still unresolved special election to replace Lou Correa on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, here are some questions that we progressives should be thinking about:
- So can we just get over it and learn our lesson? Huntington Beach small business owner and progressive activist Joe Shawsums it up perfectly for us:
Maybe I'm naive. I'm definitely a newbie to OC politics, but it seems to me Democrats in OC at the grassroots level spend a lot of time working on the high profile campaigns that don't stand a chance in hell, but little time working on the lower profile campaigns they can win. This one was winnable, but the candidate was not the right choice. Democrats should concentrate on developing strong leaders at the local level. Candidates with strong records of accomplishment locally can win these bigger races.
Right on, Joe! You said it much better than any of us could. I hope we get over our squabbling soon and take your advice. : )
Would you like to see how OC Blog is wrong in its slam of OC Democrats? And is OC forever doomed to be "Red County"? Well, follow me after the flip to find out...
The Senate race in District 34 was by far the most carefully-watched legislative race in the state. It was the only high-profile race, one agreed to be competitive by all analysts.
This district is situated in Central Orange County, in the Santa Ana/Anaheim/Garden Grove area. It is the only district in Orange County that can ever elect Democrats, since the county is so overwhelmingly Republican. The district is 58% Hispanic, but because of low Hispanic participation is competitive between the parties.
STATE SENATOR, 34th District
Completed Precincts: 377 of 377 Vote Count Percentage
LOU CORREA (DEM) 55783 50.1%
LYNN DAUCHER (REP) 54713 49.1%
OTTO BADE 907 0.8%
It looks like Lou Correa will be my next State Senator... But before I declare victory and start dancing in the street, I'd like to reflect over the not-so-ethical behavior by Republicans AND a few "Correa Supporters" that disappointed me... More on the flip
Yet more problems out of Orange County! This time, there weren't enough functioning machines at the polling places on Election Day... And to make things worse (and the wait EVEN LONGER), there weren't enough paper ballots for the voters either! Now while Lou may still be able to win, what would have happened had there were fewer voters in SD 34 who were patient enough to wait in line for several hours in the evening?
Wow, this is some crazy stuff. Correa now has a 783 vote lead.
And as for the Senate Republicans? Well, they are currently trying to find ways to steal the election:
One thing he's doing is looking for ways the Democrats might have cheated in the 34th Senate District race. Lou Correa's dramatic lead among provisional ballots is one thing that's caught his attention, as I've mentioned before.
"Somebody said a lot of signatures looked similar, so we're going to go back and look at those (after the election is certified)," Ackerman said. (OC Buzz Blog 11/17/06)
Now, according to the OC Registrar, Lou Correa has widened his lead to 783 votes! Wow, this will be a steep hill for Lynn Daucher to climb as the Registrar is nearly finished coutning all votes in the 34th State Senate District. Well, what can I say? I guess this wasn't as much of a "lock for Lynn" as all the right-wing bloggers were expecting!
STATE SENATOR, 34th District
Completed Precincts: 377 of 377 Vote Count Percentage
LOU CORREA (DEM) 55147 50.0%
LYNN DAUCHER (REP) 54364 49.2%
OTTO BADE 899 0.8%
With all regular ballots counted, the closest race in Orange County is as close to a statistical tie as humanly possible...
Republican Lynn Daucher leads by ONLY 13 VOTES...
The Orange County Board of Supervisors had a chance to allow the Registrar of Voters to do its duty to rectify this situation by sending out a letter of correction to the 14,000+ targeted voters...
Instead, the board majority let petty politics get in the way.
(The OC GOP has called for Tan to drop out. Also, this story was #4 on Olbermann! - promoted by SFBrianCL)
TAN NGUYEN, GOP candidate for CA-47, has been revealed as "Sergio Ramirez", the mysterious individual who sent out all those threatening letters to Central Orange County Latinos.
(So, funny enough, McPherson invited Lockyer to join him in an investigation. Problem is, Lockyer had started an investigation a day earlier. - promoted by SFBrianCL)
This is THE CLOSEST RACE in the state! If you're in Southern California, please help us out!
2006 Young Democrat Alliance Campaign Mobilization
When: Saturday, October 21
Where: Senate District 34
1800 N. Bush St. #102
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Who: Young Democrats from all over California
Time: 12pm – 6pm
