(Some strategy McCain has to win over California… – promoted by Lucas O’Connor)

Sen. John McCain will be appearing tomorrow morning with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at an “environmental roundtable” in Santa Barbara.  Yes, that would be the same Santa Barbara where a 1969 ecological disaster shocked the nation, leading to the birth of the environmental movement.

That’s right.  Sen. McCain is either so tone-deaf or just astonishingly arrogant that he thinks he can come to the scene of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, demand an end to the federal moratorium on offshore drilling, and simultaneously paint himself as a champion of the environment.

Of course, all he’ll really succeed in doing is painting himself into a corner.  You see, McCain has to try to defend a position that creates virtually no relief from escalating gas prices (up 273% during the Bush Administration), lines the pockets of oil companies and speculators, and subjects the nation’s coastlines to incredible environmental peril. And, to top things off, he has to explain why he’s suddenly in favor of ending the drilling moratorium despite his long-held position in favor of the drilling moratorium.

Tickets to this feat of derring-do are apparently still available at McCain’s website (one per email address), should you be in the area and wish to bear witness to McCain’s pandering. Please see the end of the post for details of planned protests.

Sen. McCain has given us ample evidence that he’s willing to sacrifice his scruples in his quest for the presidency.  Just last month he was calling for a gas tax holiday. Now he’s twisted his principles into a pretzel to support a new gimmick that he hopes will hoodwink the American people.  The only problem is that this one won’t work either.

According to an article in today’s SF Chronicle, lifting the offshore drilling moratorium would do nothing to ease the price of gas at the pumps:

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted last year that if the moratorium were lifted, it would take until 2012 to start leasing the areas and until 2017 before oil began to flow.  The agency estimated that U.S. oil production would increase by 7 percent — about 200,000 barrels a day — by 2030, which it said would have an “insignificant” impact on oil prices.

According to the same article, even his GOP sidekick in California is insightful enough to disagree with McCain’s stance on the moratorium:

“California’s coastline is an international treasure,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said last week, explaining why he opposed his ally McCain’s bid to end the drilling ban.

In the meantime, while McCain is trying to peddle smoke and mirrors, Sen. Barack Obama has announced plans which could lead to immediate relief at the gas pumps:

Sen. Barack Obama on Sunday said as president he would strengthen government oversight of energy traders he blames in large part for the skyrocketing price of oil.

The Democratic candidate’s campaign singled out the so-called “Enron loophole” for allowing speculators to run up the cost of fuel by operating outside federal regulation. Oil closed near $135 a barrel on Friday – almost double the price a year ago.

“My plan fully closes the Enron loophole and restores commonsense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future,” Obama said in a campaign statement. […]  Obama’s campaign said the candidate would go further by requiring that U.S. energy futures be traded on regulated exchanges.

Obama also would ask the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to consider whether traders should be subject to higher margin requirements. He also would work with other countries to regulate energy markets and press the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to investigate possible market manipulation.

And not a single dolphin, seal or seabird would be harmed in the production of Obama’s gas price relief plan. Unfortunately, John McCain can’t say the same thing. Here’s the historical backdrop for McCain’s appearance in Santa Barbara tomorrow.

In January 1969, a Union Oil Company (now Unocal) drilling platform six miles off the coast of Santa Barbara suffered a blow-out. According to the LA Times, oil spewed out at the rate of 1,000 gallons/hour for over a month, with more than 3 million gallons fouling the environment before the pipe could be capped.  

The results were disastrous:

Eight hundred square miles of ocean were impacted, and 35 miles of coastline were coated with oil up to six inches thick. The oil muted the sound of the waves on the beach and the odor of petroleum was inescapable. The ecological impact was catastrophic.

Rescuers counted 3,600 dead ocean feeding seabirds and a large number of poisoned seals and dolphins were removed from the shoreline. The spilled oil killed innumerable fish and intertidal invertebrates, devastated kelp forests and displaced many populations of endangered birds.

The clean-up effort began almost immediately, with significant active participation from the local community. The damage was so intense and extensive that people of all age groups and political persuasions felt compelled to help in every way they could. On the beaches, piles of straw were used to absorb oil that washed on shore, contaminated beach sand was bulldozed into piles and trucked away. Skimmer ships gathered oil from the ocean surface, and volunteers rescued and cleaned tarred seabirds at a series of hastily set-up animal rescue stations, one of which was located at the Santa Barbara zoo.

While the popular backlash against the oil companies involved grew, the public discussion that was to have long term consequences for the nation started in earnest. For example:

President of Union Oil Co. Fred L. Hartley:

“I don’t like to call it a disaster, because there has been no loss of human life. I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.”

Santa Barbara News Press Editor Thomas Storke:

“Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.”

President Richard Nixon:

“It is sad that it was necessary that Santa Barbara should be the example that had to bring it to the attention of the American people … The Santa Barbara incident has frankly touched the conscience of the American people.”

Nature writer John McKinney:

“I had been impressed by the way energetic college students, shopkeepers, surfers, parents with their kids, all joined the beach clean-up. I saw a Montecito society matron transporting oily birds in her Mercedes.”

Twenty-seven years later, the White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a report that summed up the repercussions of the Santa Barbara oil spill:

“The federal government had largely ignored the need to protect commercial, recreational, aesthetic, and ecological values of the area.” With the damage caused by the oil spill the threshold had been crossed, and never again would environmental costs be seen in the same light.

The tangible long term outcomes that were the direct result or a consequence of the oil spill included at least the following:

• A broad environmental grassroots movement was founded leading to the first, Earth Day in November of 1969.
• Get Oil Out (GOO) collected 100,000 signatures for a petition to ban offshore drilling.
• The Environmental Defense Center was founded and the first Environmental Studies program was started at UC Santa Barbara.
• The California Coastal Commission was created from a statewide initiative.  This commission today has powerful control over human activities that impact California’s coastal areas.
• The State Land Commission banned offshore drilling for 16 years, until the Reagan Administration took office.
• President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, leading the way to the July 1970 establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) became law.

Since the days of the Santa Barbara oil spill, the ocean and coastal tourism and recreation industries in California have only grown — to the point where they now generate $12 billion a year and employ hundreds of thousands of people. John McCain would put all of that at risk just to advance his political ambitions. He has some nerve, indeed.

Here’s the information on planned activities:

WHERE: The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol Road (off of Los Olivos and just north of the Mission).

WHEN: Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24, 2008.

TIME: Be outside the Museum at 8 am. The event starts at 9 am. People with tickets (available under “events” on the McCain website) have been told to arrive at 7:30 to clear security.

PARKING: Will probably be very limited, especially with security precautions in place. Consider parking at Rocky Nook Park or Women’s Club located across Mission, or in nearby neighborhoods, but please be careful when walking and please obey all traffic and other regulations. Do not trespass.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please show up with placards, signs, or other expressions of your opposition to the Bush/McCain proposal and in favor of preserving our beaches, our environment, our ecosystem, our community, and our planet. It is an affront that this event would be held in Santa Barbara, the birthplace of our country’s environmental movement. We must send a clear message that drilling is not the answer to high fuel prices, especially with the catastrophic consequences the City of Santa Barbara and other U.S. communities have experienced.

MEDIA COVERAGE: Will probably be extensive, since a large contingent accompanies Senator McCain as he campaigns. Please direct those seeking interviews to representatives of the environmental groups who will be present, or the Obama campaign, or elected officials present. If you have a story to share based on your own personal experience, please use your best judgment in doing so.

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party

Tomorrow, John McCain will be jetting into Stockton, California, the foreclosure capitol of the US. But don’t worry. McCain’s not going there to meet with middle-class Americans who face the loss of their homes. Instead, he’ll be there for a big-buck fundraiser to be hosted by billionaire developer Alex Spanos. Spanos is perhaps Stockton’s best-known resident and a major donor to Republican causes ($8.1 million in 2003-04).

Hank Shaw of the Stockton Record gives us the lowdown on the Republican Central Valley aristocracy who will be in attendance at the gala:

The new news is that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be at the party, too, as will a who’s who of local Reeps. Congressional candidate Dean Andal will be there, as will his employer Gerry Kamilos. Andal hopes to beat Rep. Jerry McNerney this year, and the man Jerry ousted — former Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy — is supposed to appear at casa de Spanos, too.

Other luminaries:

• Pat & John Quinn (supermaket moguls)
• Bah-zillionire investor John Calamos
• Shopping center tycoon and Scooter Libby fan Mel Sembler
• Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian
• State Sen. Jeff Denham
• Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi
• Local political consultant Don Parsons
• Claudia and Greg Pruett of the tomato processing plant Vaquero Farms
• Former California GOP chief Bob Naylor

…and a cast of thousands. The hootenany start at $1,000 a head, payable to “MaCain Victory California,” which is presumably the Arizona senator’s state fund. But it’ll raise lots and lots more, because — at least in theory — 13 “co-chairs” have agreed to raise at least $25,000 for McCain (that’s $325,000) plus 24 who have (again, in theory) promised to raise at least $10,000, adding another $240,000.

McCain is scheduled to arrive via private jet at the Spanos Jet Center at 4:00, attend another event, and then arrive at the Spanos residence for the 5:30 fete. As he travels around Stockton before arriving at the Spanos estate, though, McCain will be driving through a city that has for the last year been consistently ranked as the foreclosure capitol of the United States. With 8,376 homes currently in foreclosure, one in every 27 people in Stockton (pop. 290,000) has faced the loss of their home since the sub-prime mortgage meltdown began last year. The problem is so widespread that the City of Stockton has a special page on its website giving advice to its residents who face foreclosure:

Somehow, though, I’m guessing that McCain won’t be touring the parts of Stockton that look like this:

He just might, however, pass by one of the three (!) buses that are operated by the entrepreneurs at Stockton’s RepoHomeTour.com.

And you know, it’s really too bad that McCain will be seeing Stockton from the back seat of a limo and not from the inside of one of the Repo Home Tour buses. Maybe if he got out and mingled with the non-billionaires a little more regularly, he would be just a tad more sensitive to the problems that face real people. Instead, just two months ago, McCain scoffed at the idea of government relief for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Republican John McCain on Tuesday derided government intervention to save and reward banks or small borrowers who behave irresponsibly though he offered few immediate alternatives to fixing the country’s growing housing crisis.[…]

“I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers,” McCain said.

The same article went on to give the Democratic response to McCain’s laissez-faire attitude:

Democrats accused McCain of lacking the skills needed to lead a country on the brink of recession.

“Instead of offering a concrete plan to address the crisis at all levels, McCain promised to take the same hands-off approach that President Bush used to lead us into this crisis,” Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said in a statement.

It’s clear that McCain and the elite guests who will be hobnobbing at the Spanos estate don’t have any problem with that hands-off approach. And they certainly don’t have any difficulty in averting their eyes from the crisis that surrounds them. After all, what’s the matter with all those irresponsible people in Stockton? Why can’t they just eat cake?

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party

Last night the Amador County Democratic Central Committee held their annual fundraiser dinner in Jackson. Even though Republicans outnumber Democrats in Amador (9,378 to 7,161 or about 11%) there was a large and enthusiastic turnout for the event. As you can see, there were probably 125 people in attendance.

EDIT by Brian: Flip it.

 

Calitician Randy Bayne, who is Chair of the Amador DCC, acted as host for the evening.

The evening’s extra special guest speaker was none other than both large and small-d Democratic heroine Debra Bowen. She spoke at length about the challenges she faces in ensuring that every vote is counted.

Bowen particularly stressed how her approach to the Secretary of State job was influenced by the events in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. As she watched the Secretaries of State in those two states, who both served in highly political roles as state co-chairs for the Bush campaign, she vowed that as SoS in California she would do her utmost to insulate herself from partisan political activity so that the integrity of the voting process would be above reproach.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Bowen doesn’t support the election of Democrats throughout the state. But she clearly feels that she can be of most service by leaving the campaigning to others and focusing on her role with as much impartiality as possible. Nevertheless, Bowen encouraged us to get busy working on behalf of candidates throughout our districts, exhorting the audience (and I’m paraphrasing), “Your job is to get the votes for Democrats; my job is to make sure those votes are counted accurately.”

Bowen also told the audience about her shock and delight at receiving the phone call from Caroline Kennedy (“I nearly fell off my chair!”) informing her that she had been selected to receive a Profile in Courage award. Personally, I can’t think of a better choice.

One other thing that stood out about the evening was how incredibly gracious Debra Bowen is. Before dinner was served, she circled the room and greeted the guests at each and every table. After her speech, she again visited every table, handing out what seems to have become her trademark – Hershey kisses.

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party

(Good work, Larry! – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Larry Handerhan is an employee of the California Democratic Party who runs Chairman Art Torres’s San Francisco office. This weekend, he and some friends decided that it was time to take the fight for equality to Sacramento. Larry wanted to share his experiences from the weekend, and we thought the folks at Calitics would be interested.

By Monday, April 21st, organizers of a discriminatory anti-marriage initiative must submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. By most reports, they are within reach of that goal.

That was sufficient motivation for me and three fellow members of the San Francisco based Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club to brave I-80 early Saturday morning and join Equality for All’s “Decline to Sign” Campaign in Sacramento.

L to R: Larry and his friends, David, Jason and Cecilia

Upon arrival at the SEIU-UHW Union Hall in Midtown, we were greeted by strong coffee and enthusiastic organizers. As volunteers filled up the seats in advance our 10 AM training, an Equality for All Staffer proudly acknowledged that this was their first “standing room only” training session.

Introductions established that our group – 40 strong – hailed from all across Northern California. They included GLBT parents, straight allies, Sacramento activists, a young couple ready for marriage, and the President of a South Bay PFLAG Chapter and her husband – “the other half of a lesbian parent.”  

Most impressively, nearly half of the group was affiliated with a church congregation – highlighting the deep GLBT support in California religious communities that is often underappreciated.

Each volunteer cited different personal and political motivations for their attendance, but everyone agreed stopping the ballot initiative now would allow activists and community leaders to focus on the myriad of other challenges facing California in the upcoming months.

Our Trainer Kelly – an eight-year field organizing veteran – explained our plan: stop paid signature gatherers from collecting names and identify supporters by having them sign an equality pledge. She emphasized the importance of working as a team and not engaging our opponents. The 45 minute training was one of the most organized I have attended, and I felt very prepared to tackle my turf: the Wal-Mart in Roseville, CA.

My group of six had only positive experiences with community members despite the conservative slant of Roseville’s Saturday afternoon Wal-Mart patrons. One woman explained her son was gay, while another signed our pledge despite disapproving looks from her husband. About fifty percent of those who stopped signed, and many others alluded to their support even if they were hesitant to put their name on it. It was a successful exercise in grassroots field work, hampered only by a disapproving Republican registering voters at the same location.

At the afternoon Debrief, we learned that our shift secured 863 “decline to sign” pledges, recruited 21 new volunteers, and ran off 4 paid-signature gatherers. Those numbers – coupled with the hundreds of additional people we engaged in dialogue and the camaraderie facilitated between volunteers – make me confident in our chances come Monday.

There are 6 days left; what are you waiting for?

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party