(Another longtime Calitician announces. Hogarth is competing against Calitics publisher Brian Leubitz in Pelosi's CD (they're friends). A Blogger v Blogger election...clutch your pearls now while I flip a coin - promoted by Bob Brigham)
With 71 people running for 3 Obama delegate slots in San Francisco, I have teamed up with two other candidates to form the Unity Slate. We are 3 Democratic individuals who represent the diversity of CD-08, the diversity of Barack Obama's appeal, and are excited to bring San Francisco values to the Democratic National Convention. We are Paul Hogarth, Clem Clarke and Myrna Melgar!
The question I asked Hillary Clinton at the Yearly Kos Convention has generated lots of attention. I was moved by the number of people who approached me and said, "great question!" and now it's starting to change the narrative of Hillary's campaign in the mainstream media - as evidenced by this AP article.
But I'm not asking people to thank me. I just did what anyone else is capable of doing - holding politicians accountable by asking a very pointed question that drives the message home. My question was no accident. It was well-prepared, and I put a lot of thought into it. You can too if you take the following advice:
This needs to get out of my system before I can move on to other topics, like the still missing budget. It's going to be pretty linky, but hey I am a blogger not an op-ed columnist.
Topics covered below the jump: diversity, Paul Hogarth and Clinton, the media and local blogging.
If you peruse the virtual pages of BeyondChron, you'll see a couple of articles that dovetail quite nicely together. The first is a story by Randy Shaw with the idea that either former Board President Matt Gonzalez or Sup. Chris Daly will run against Mayor Newsom. Otherwise, why did Daly bother with scheduling a "Progressive convention" for June 1?
The second is an articlce by Paul Hogarth, which lays out the very sound basis for an argument that SF will be a very, very fertile grounds for ballot propositions in June 2008. Mark Leno's decision not to challenge Gavin Newsom (a decision that Chris Daly seems to have strongly disagreed with) and instead challenge Carole Migden will ensure strong turnout in the more progressive eastern half of the City while there will be no major elections in the Western half (or as I like to call the Sunset...the place that elected Ed Jew.)
So, two races might become more interesting. The Mayoral race might well...become a race, and SD-03 might not grate on the nerves of Carole Migden's progressive supporters quite so much given the chance for some real structural reform via the ballot box.
Hey, all you people in the Bay Area? Have you ever wanted to hear me blather on about politics and the internet? Well, tonight you have the chance to hear not just me, but also Frank Russo of the California Progress Report and Paul Hogarth of Beyond Chron. We'll be chit-chatting about how we use politics as a way to promote progressive ideals.
KALW 91.7FM, a local public radio station in San Francisco, is going to be having a discussion of whether the February primary is a good thing for California. Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs will be arguing in support of Sen. Calderon's bill while Paul Hogarth of Beyond Chron be speaking in opposition. You can listen live at 10 AM on the web at the KALW site. I know both of them to be quite bright and well-informed on the topic, so it should be an interesting conversation.
