(Cross-posted at Trash Dirty Gary and Ditch Crazy Dana)

OK, so perhaps people in Southern California are finally starting to notice the immense corruption of members of Congress like Gary Miller, Ken Calvert, and Dana Rohrabacher. However, these everyday citizens and typical voters wonder how all this corruption applies to their typical everyday lives.

Why should they care about whatever Gary Miller did with some Lewis Group company in Upland? Why should they care about some land that Ken Calvert owned near March Air Force Base that just happened to benefit from Ken Calvert’s earmarks? Why should they care about Dana Rohrabacher’s Hollywood deals? How does any of this matter to people’s everyday lives?

Follow me after the flip for more…

When all else fails, voters often choose the party of their choice by default. And though the Republican Party is becoming less attractive nationwide, a good plurality of voters in this area still identify themselves as Republican. They still think the GOP is the party of low taxes and fiscal responsibility. They pretty much set their political compass to autopilot, and they just don’t have time to think too much about some silly politics in Washington.

And after all, who has the time to pay attention to these crazy political scandals? Who has time to drop everything in between the PTA meeting and the kids’ soccer game, after a hard day of work and before that fancy dinner that’s supposed to impress the new client, just to learn more about politics? Why does any of this matter?

That’s the challenge here. In order for us to defeat these corrupt Republicans, we have to get our family, friends, and neighbors to realize how all of this corruption is personally affecting them. We have to let them know that all these earmarks that go to these pet projects that just happen to be near their real estate holdings mean money that’s NOT being spent on real efforts to relieve traffic, such as improving local freeways and federal aid for commuter rail. We have to let them know that when these members of Congress try to weaken environmental laws, they are just taking away the parks and open space that we all love to hike through, bike through, and camp at, just so that they can make a little more money on their development projects. We have to make that personal connection, and make these folks realize that all that corruption in Washington really is making life more difficult for them at home in Fountain Valley and Mission Viejo and San Clemente.

That’s the key here. We have to show to them that all this federal money being spent on these shady earmarks is money that’s NOT being spent on the things that we care about. That money should go to our schools. That money should go to our parks. That money should go to our roads. Basically, that money should actually be spent toward helping our communities. These members of Congress should NOT spend that money, OUR MONEY, on projects solely meant to enrich themselves. They’re wasting our time, and they’re wasting our money. That’s why we need to kick them out of Congress!

If we want to defeat Dirty Gary and Crazy Dana and Creepy Ken next year, we need to get these voters in these districts out of their comfort zone of apathy, and force them to see the futility of sending these scumbags back to Congress. We need to get these voters to start caring again. After all, what we don’t like about politics will never go away if we never do anything to change it.

(developments in next month’s CA-37 special. Oropeza snagged the endorsement of the CDP, not the DNC. – promoted by dday)

[crossposted at From the Fever Swamp]

(Note: I’ve amended the diary title to reflect that I’m saying there are clear differences between the candidates; although the facts presented in the article support such a conclusion, the author doesn’t claim that.) 

The 37th district is extremely blue and it’s clear whichever of the Democratic favorites wins (Jenny Oropeza or Laura Richardson), she is going to vote the way progressives would want her to vote most of the time.  On most issues, they’d vote similarly.

On gay rights, though, there appears to be a clear difference between them:

Kuehl also noted that when Richardson was on the Long Beach City Council, she voted against a resolution to oppose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

At the time, in 2004, Richardson said she opposed gay marriage.

Oropeza, by contrast, was a co-author of the 2005 bill to allow gay marriage in California. The bill passed both houses of the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In a race in which Richardson and Oropeza can be expected to agree far more often than they differ, the gay rights issue appears to create some daylight between them.

If this difference between them is being characterized fairly, I’d say that’s reason enough to get off the fence and support Oropeza if gay rights are important to you.

UPDATE: L.B. Press-Telegram reports Oropeza gets endorsement of Democratic Party.

State Sen. Jenny Oropeza won the Democratic Party’s endorsement for the 37th Congressional District on Saturday, demonstrating her strength among grassroots activists.

The party’s backing is an important stamp of approval in a district dominated by Democratic voters, and could bolster Oropeza’s crew of door-knockers and phone bank volunteers.

Oropeza took 119 of the 168 ballots cast by party delegates, or 71 percent, easily reaching the 60 percent threshold needed to win the party’s backing.

Assemblywoman Laura Richardson, Oropeza’s top rival, trailed with 45 votes in polling of party delegates at a union hall in Gardena.

Not sure if this is the state or national party giving endorsement. 

In any case, most of the delegates are from out of the district, as the Richardson campaign points out, so it is not a good representation of the views of district activists or voters. 

The significance is in the resources which will go to Oropeza as a result – both officially from the party as well as from Democrats for whom this endorsement carries weight. 

We’ve had a spirited discussion about recent events in the state Senate.  With everybody talking about winners and losers, I think it’s important to note who’s really being impacted.

Tomorrow night 60 Minutes will have a feature story on homeless dumping at Skid Row in Los Angeles.  You can watch a preview at the link, featuring an interview with a paraplegic named Gabino Olvera, who was dumped and left to pull himself across the street by his hands.

The CEO of Hollywood Presbyterian, whose hospital dumped this man downtown, blames the bus driver.  On tape.

When asked by Cooper whether the van driver was the only person who made a mistake, (Kaylor) Shemberger replies, “Well, she’s the person who made the decision to drop the patient off.” To which Cooper responds, “And to those who would say that you’re basically making a scapegoat of this low-paid van driver?”

“I don’t think anybody is making a scapegoat out of anybody,” Shemberger says.

The next time you want to rant and rave about who has a smaller office and who’s on what committee, get a mental picture in your head of Gabino Olvera pulling himself across the street, while people like Kaylor Shemberger sit in their plush office and look the other way.  Let’s not lose perspective.

(By the way, a special thanks to City Attorney and former Attorney General candidate Rocky Delgadillo, who reached a deal with Kaiser to stop the practice, which apparently Hollywood Presbyterian, in the wake of this 60 Minutes episode, will now sign on to.)