Here is the second part of the interview Rob Haswell, Democratic candidate for Assembly District 4, has granted my local blog Turn Tahoe Blue. (You can read part I at Turn Tahoe Blue or my diary here at Calitics.)

In this part he talks about Charlie Brown, the Doolittle political machine and the importance of national issues and the disillusionment with Bush for this election.

What is your relationship with Charlie Brown, who’s running for Congress and who’s district over lapses with yours? Do you think a success by his campaign could be helpful to you since your opponent Ted Gaines has aligned himself closely to corrupt Congressman John Doolittle?

  I have a good relationship with Charlie. He’s stepped up to take on one heck of a challenge in John Doolittle and everyone in the Brown campaign is working extremely hard to defeat him. There is no question that my opponent, Ted Gaines, is a product of the Doolittle political machine. Ted was essentially handpicked for this seat by John Doolittle and we don’t hesitate in pointing that out to folks. If both campaigns do well it will signal that Doolittle’s reign is over. To turn your question around a little, I think our success will help Charlie’s campaign because the voters our campaign turns out for an assembly race have a high likelihood of voting for Charlie in an “up ballot” race. I can tell you one other thing: This October and November we will produce the best coordinated GOTV operation that this district has seen from Democrats in years.

Do you think the general disillusionment by voters with the Bush administration will help you win? Have national issues come up often when you talk to voters?

  National issues are always on everyone’s mind, but I have to say, they don’t come up in the context of my race all that often. My race is relevant in national terms because, in some ways, it’s a microcosm of what’s happening at the Federal and State level. In the 4th Assembly District, big-city mega developers wield all the political power. Developers have invested, literally millions of dollars in state and local campaigns here. My opponent alone has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers. This is an example of the undue influence the big corporate and special interests wield in today’s politics. It’s a big reason why we can’t have meaningful healthcare reform, while big pharmaceuticals and big insurance companies and big HMOs keep turning record profits while the rest of us pay more and get less, or don’t have health insurance at all. As far as disillusionment with the Bush administration goes, I think if Republicans are less inclined to go to the polls, while democrats and independents are more motivated to vote for change, that this could have a profound effect across the country and certainly in this district.

Towards the end of this part of the interview Rob mentioned health insurance. Just yesterday the Haswell campaign came out with a news release on this issue titled “Schwarzenegger Punts on Healthcare Reform – Governor Side with Failing Status Quo” (the following is from the news release, not part of the interview):

Democratic Candidate for State Assembly Rob Haswell took time off from his Whistle Stop tour to denounce Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s stand against universal healthcare. The State Legislature passed SB 840, which would establish a single-payer healthcare system that would offer health security for all Californians. Today, Schwarzenegger vowed to veto the bill.

“Time and again this governor has sided with large insurance companies and large corporate special interests, while turning away from California’s working poor, uninsured children and small business owners. Once again, the Governor is showing his true colors,” Haswell said.

Haswell derided Schwarzenegger’s claim that healthcare is a “top priority” and that he’d unveil his plan after November’s election. “Arnold’s political hero is Richard Nixon and it looks like he’s taking a page out of the Nixon playbook,” stated Haswell. “We’re still waiting for Nixon’s secret plan to end the Vietnam War, and I suspect we’ll be waiting just as long for Schwarzenegger’s secret healthcare plan. Meanwhile, the rest of us continue to pay more and get less while insurance companies make record profits.”

Recent estimates put the number of Californians living without insurance at between 6-7 million. SB 840 (Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) would establish a single-payer system in which the state would take over the role that private insurance companies now play. Private medical groups and hospitals would continue to provide care as usual but would be paid through the state system.

You can do your part in helping Rob get elected to the Assembly by clicking on the following links:

Rob Haswell’s Campaign Website

Haswell Campaign Journal

Contribute to Rob Haswell!

Watch out for Part III tomorrow!

cross-posted from my local blog Turn Tahoe Blue

Many people, especially in the media, think that modern campaigns means modern technology. And nothing more. I believe that is not the case and there are two campaigns in the Tahoe area that prove my point.

In Nevada Jack Carter sure uses modern technology, he uses the internet extensively, especially through the blogging activities of his daughter Sarah. This way the campaign got a lot of attention on the big blogs like Daily Kos and MyDD. She also writes daily for the Carter Blog on the Carter for Nevada campaign website. Furthermore the Carter campaign also employs YouTube and MySpace to connect to a wider audience.

All that said the Carter campaign is aware of the fact that if you wanna reach voters you have to go to where they live and engage with them face to face. Jack Carter is constantly traveling to meet voters. He has recently been on a tour through 11 towns throughout Nevada. He has realized that you have got to go to the rurals if you want the people living outside of the major cities and towns to vote for you. His rural strategy is an integral part of this.

A good example of modern campaigning in California is the candidate in the 4th Assembly district, Rob Haswell. He’s got a good campaign website which includes a campaign journal which keeps those interested in his campaign up to date.

Yet, Rob Haswell also realizes that if you wanna win you better get out and travel the district. So, he has recently announced that he will travel to every town in the district on his “Whistle Stop Bus Tour” saying in a press release:

I’m excited to begin our Whistle Stop Bus Tour because it will enable us to share ideas directly with voters in their own communities.

What both candidates have in common is that conventional wisdom and their party’s establishment don’t believe that these campaigns can win. Therefore both Jack Carter and Rob Haswell had to get creative. They both had to move beyond these perceptions and engage directly with as many voters as possible.

A combination of using modern technology, mostly the internet, and meeting face to face with voters is what a good modern campaign should look like. Jack Carter and Rob Haswell show how it’s done.

the san diego union tribune did an actual journalistic investigation (remember those?), found that repubbb congressional candidate jim galley is another one of those “do as i say, not as i marry or refuse to support my children”:

republican jim galley, who is running for congress as a “pro-traditional family” candidate, was married to two women at the same time, defaulted on his child support payments and has been accused of abuse by one of his ex-wives…

galley married his second wife, beth, in 1982 when, unbeknownst to her, he was still married to his first wife, terry. beth and galley divorced in 1990 after she sought a restraining order alleging abuse.

the child support was owed to his first wife.

= more =

of course, the repubbb has some excuses…he didn’t know he was still married to his first wife when he married his second wife, the child support was only in arrears for a few months (!) and the abuse accusations were only made to get him out of the house.

but wait, there’s more! more lies, that is…

during interviews, galley has touted his military service as an advantage over other candidates in the congressional race, saying he was drafted by the navy during the vietnam war. his web site states, “i was drafted it (sic) to the navy, serviced my time,” and then later joined the army.

galley’s military records, obtained by the union-tribune through a freedom of information act request, show he started his navy service april 29, 1974, and was discharged less than six weeks later, while in “recruit training.”

navy spokesman lt. william marks said the navy stopped the draft July 1, 1973, nine months before galley started his navy service…

after serving in the navy, galley’s web site states, he went to work for general motors, and then “because of massive layoffs in the ’70s i enlisted into the army.” his records show he did not enter the army until rebruary 1981. he left the army in december 1984.

his explanation for this discrepancy: “i got the dates wrong.”

yeah, that’s the ticket! and he’s married to morgan fairchild, too.

bonus “the name says it all” sentence, found in the same story:

dan “frodo” litwin, a san diego software project manager, is the sole libertarian in the race.

yessss, precious, we likes the software…

(If you’re in SoCal, go GOTV in CA-50 – promoted by SFBrianCL)

California Women Vote are looking for people to help get the vote out on the days leading up to the Tuesday, June 6th election.  This race between Democrat Francine Busby and Republican Brian Bilbray is going to be extremely close and every vote that we help to turn out to the polls will make a difference in the final result. This is the first time in a long while that a Democrat could win this district and could be the beginning of a larger change in Congressional leadership across the country.
We are meeting each day, June 3rd through June 6th at:

San Diego Marriott Del Mar
11966 El Camino Real
San Diego, CA 92130

We will have signs and greeters at each entrance.More details in the extended.

You can just show up at the above location at the beginning of each shift:

Saturday, June 3 – 9:00 AM or 1:00 PM
Sunday, June 4th – Noon or 4:00 PM
Monday, June 5th – Noon or 4:00 PM
Tuesday, June 6th – 6:30 AM or 10:45 AM or 4:00 PM

Please visit www.californiawomenvote.org for more information. 

The League of Pissed Off Voters‘ mission is to engage pissed off 17-35 year olds in the democratic process to build a progressive governing majority in our lifetime. We currently have 17 official chapters around the country.

I’m active in the San Francisco chapter, and I wanted to share our voter guide with you and hear the Calitics perspective on it. In particular, I think Prop 81 and the Controller’s race are interesting ones that aren’t getting any press.

We raised money to print 20,000 of these bad boys, which we’re distributing around town. We haven’t used a dime from candidates or candidate committees.

Governor: Phil Angelides!
Lieutenant Governor: Jackie Speier!
Secretary of State: Debra Bowen!
Attorney General: Jerry Brown
Controller: John Chiang
State Senate District 8: None of the Above
State Assembly District 12: Janet Reilly!

Prop 81 – Library Construction Bond: No
Prop 82 – Universal Preschool: Hell Yeah

Prop A – Stop Homicides Now: Hell Yeah
Prop B – Ellis Act Eviction Disclosure: Hell Yeah
Prop C – Transbay Terminal Authority Shuffle: Yes
Prop D – Laguna Honda Patient Admission and Rezoning: No

See below the jump for our explanations of these.

Governor: Phil Angelides!

Phil Angelides is the anti-Arnold. While Arnold has protected his rich corporate donors, Angelides has a strong history of standing up for children, teachers, and workers. He’s the only major candidate with the guts to call for corporations and wealthy citizens to pay their fair share to rebuild California’s education and social services. Phil also told us he would seriously consider lowering the voting age so that 16 and 17 year olds who pay taxes can get some representation.

Lieutenant Governor: Jackie Speier!

The LT does a little bit of everything, and holds powerful roles on commissions governing California’s universities, environment, and economy. We need an LT who shares our values and has the knowledge to make California’s bureaucracies work for us. Jackie Speier has a strong progressive voting record in the State Senate, and she’s outlined plans to provide Cal Grants to more college students, increase the number of guidance counselors in public schools, and reduce emissions from the state’s buses and trucks.

Secretary of State: Debra Bowen!

The Secretary of State is in charge of our elections. Everyone who remembers Florida, Ohio, and the various Diebold debacles knows how important it is to have a solid Secretary of State. Debra Bowen is a State Senator who has been a leader in technology issues. She was the first Senator with a webpage, and wrote a bill to make legislative info available online. She’s headed investigations into Diebold and it’s her goal to kick their sketchy machines out of California and replace them with secure, open-source voting machines. Amen!

Attorney General: Jerry Brown

We’re going with Jerry Brown, because back in the day, he was the baddest progressive California has ever seen. As Governor, he was a trailblazing environmentalist and he vetoed the death penalty. Then he ran a grassroots campaign for president that refused donations larger than $100. But then some of our friends Oakland aren’t too happy with what he’s done as Mayor, with his “tough on crime” act that hasn’t really involved the community. Brown is running against LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who seems cool, but also makes up nervous. He supports the death penalty, and he also has a “tough on crime” vibe that might not focus as much on rehabilitation and community involvement as we would like.

Controller: John Chiang

The Controller is California’s Chief Financial Officer, responsible for keeping an eye on our money, running the state’s payroll, and conducting audits to make sure nothing shady is going on. We like both of the major Democratic candidates, but we’re going with John Chiang because he has the most experience with these kind of technical but important issues. Chiang has worked for the IRS, and he serves on the Board of Equalization, so he knows all the crazy details about how California’s tax system works. He’s never held office before, but he’s worked for Democrats like Gray Davis, Barbara Boxer, and Don Perata. Chiang is running against Joe Dunn, a State Senator from Orange County with an impressive progressive voting record. He was knee deep in the investigation into how Enron ripped off California. But by a hair, we’re going with Chiang.

State Senate District 8: None of the Above

We hate to leave this one blank, but we can’t get behind any of these candidates. We like some things about Leland Yee, like how he opposes the death penalty and the work he’s done for immigrants. But he has a horrible record on renter’s rights, he’s made some sketchy enivormental votes, and he hasn’t really accomplished much in the State Assembly. Mike Nevin is a San Mateo County Supervisor who has some good things to say about “smart growth” and affordable housing. But he supports the death penalty and we’re not convinced that he’ll look out for renter’s rights.

State Assembly District 12: Janet Reilly!

She may not have much political experience, but you’d never know it if you hear Janet Reilly talk about her plans for fixing California. She has detailed proposals for providing health care to every Californian, restoring our environment, and improving our schools. She’s against the death penalty, for tenant protection, and would consider giving 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote. Meanwhile, her opponent, Fiona Ma, has accomplished little on the Board of Supervisors, has a lousy record on tenants’ rights, supports the death penalty, opposes lowering the voting age, and has offered few details on what she would do in Sacramento. Fiona even ducked the Bay Guardian, refusing to meet with them to talk about her campaign!

Prop 81 – Library Construction Bond: No

This one sounds simple: Why wouldn’t you support a $600 million bond for building libraries? Well, here are a couple reasons:
– Prop 81 allocates money only to the construction of libraries- the money can’t be used for librarians, books, computers, or other resources, only building.
– Also, the funds allocated in Prop 81 must be matched by the city trying to use them. This means that the strapped cities that need new libraries the most wouldn’t be able to access Prop 81 funding because they wouldn’t be able to spare the money necessary to match the funds. Meanwhile, Prop 81 would subsidize library construction in more affluent communities, thereby increasing the digital divide.

Our low-income communities absolutely need the access to books, computers, and other technological resources that libraries provide, but brand-new, empty library structures? Not that helpful, and this is all Prop 81 promises.

Prop 82 – Universal Preschool: Hell Yeah

Prop 82 provides free preschool to all kids by raising taxes only 1.7% for only the super rich (individuals who make over $400K or couples who make over $800K). It’s pretty simple: kids who go to preschool do better. A study showed that every dollar we invest in preschool will save $2.62 in juvenile hall and other costs related to dropouts.

Prop A – Stop Homicides Now: Hell Yeah

Our city is facing a crisis of homicides and gun violence, with young people in low-income communities (like Western Addition, Mission, and Bayview/Hunter’s Point) particularly impacted. Prop A creates a citizens council to address the systemic causes of homicide. This council will be in charge of $10 million a year for the next three years for innovative violence prevention programs including job training, after school programs, and summer internships, as well as a fund to support the families of homicide victims. Prop A is a critical step in addressing homicide in our city proactively and thoughtfully.

Prop B – Ellis Act Eviction Disclosure: Hell Yeah

Prop B requires real estate sellers to tell potential buyers if there were any Ellis Act evictions on a property, and if any of the tenants were disabled or elderly. The Ellis Act allows landlords to get out of the rental business by evicting their tenants. But it’s being abused by real estate speculators who buy rental properties because they want to kick out the tenants and convert the rentals into condos. Prop B protects renters without restricting real estate sales.

Prop C – Transbay Terminal Authority Shuffle: Yes

This one’s a little wonky, so stick with us. The Transbay Joint Powers Authority is in charge of building the Transbay Terminal to link BART, MUNI, and CalTrains, which is crucial to the future of public transit in the Bay Area. Prop C would do three things to shuffle the Transbay Authority: 1. It requires the Mayor him/herself attend TJPA meetings (instead of the Mayor’s designee) 2. It replaces the MUNI director with the Supervisor who heads the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. 3. It puts the Board of Supervisor who represents the neighborhood (financial district, SOMA, etc.) on the Transbay Authority. The Transbay Terminal is important enough that we think the Mayor should be personally involved. We also think it makes sense to have the Supervisor in charge of public transit there also instead of the MUNI director, because the Transbay Terminal is a lot bigger than just MUNI.

Prop D – Laguna Honda Patient Admission and Rezoning: No

Laguna Honda is supposed to a hospital for seniors. Recently they’ve been admitting a lot of patients suffering from mental illness and substance abuse problems, some of whom have gotten violent and caused a lot of trouble. We understand that this is a problem that needs to be fixed, but Prop D isn’t the way to do it. Prop D doesn’t provide for how to care for the patients it would remove from Laguna Honda, meaning a lot of them would get kicked out on the street. The sketchiest part about Prop D is how it rezones public land all over the City to allow for private nursing homes to be built. Huh? What’s that got to do with Laguna Honda?

Check out this editorial from the North County Times about Dick Cheney’s visit to California 50 District the upcoming June 6th special election. Visit www.californiawomenvote.org and www.myspace.com/cawomenvote for more information.

When Dick Cheney came to town

By: JOHN VAN DOORN – Staff Writer

Imagine that: Vice President Dick Cheney came to town to (1) endorse Brian Bilbray, and (2) to say that the eyes of the nation were on the 50th Congressional District, which is where Bilbray is running.

This was news. Voters in the 50th, much of which lies in North County, cannot be expected to check the eyes of the nation, not without years of ophthalmological instruction. If the vice president can, and did, more power to him. All those eyes. We’d best stand up straight and try not to stammer.
Cheney was an especially big gun to visit San Diego for the purpose of endorsement, even if the significance of the race in the national scheme of things had been obvious for months. Cheney’s timeline was a trifle askew: More eyes of the nation will be focused on the 50th during and after a vice president’s visit than before.

More to the point: Republicans are running scared, even if very few will say it out loud. So Cheney’s visit was no surprise.

The fall of the house of Cunningham is a very serious part of the fear. While in Congress as the representative for the 50th district, Randy Cunningham took bribes in cash, cars, houses, yachts and antiques to do what he could for defense contractors.

And went to jail, said to be the worst offender in the history of Congress, noted for offenders of every stripe.

There is fear elsewhere among Republicans because corruption on their side of the aisle in Washington has tainted others and engulfed a few, such as Tom DeLay. Almost certainly there are more storms to come —- all sides agree on that, the Democrats gleefully —- and this creates a certain edginess among politicians and their handlers.

(To be fair, or at least balanced, the Democrats have a few bad apples, too, but the scale seems less imposing. The Republicans for the moment have the market cornered.)

You throw in a deceitful war, the bumbles of Katrina, the grotesqueries of immigration policy, and the fatness of Fat Oil and you’d run scared, too.

Mind you, Bilbray is no prize. As a congressman once before, and as a lobbyist after that, he had certain connections in Washington and involvements with oil companies that appear, at least to his critics, unsavory.

Thus, Cheney came to town. Once an oil man himself, he spoke to the faithful about the campaign in the 50th District, and said the nation needs Brian Bilbray. Cheney also spoke to military groups and raced about the region doing what he could for George and country.

The 50th race has been ugly, at least in terms of television advertising. The assaults by the Republican machine in Washington on the Democratic aspirant, Francine Busby, have ranged in tone from vicious to scurrilous, with several stops in between.

Busby’s people have gone negative, as well, but they say they’re only defending their candidate.