It has been a standard political practice of Republicans on the national level to use political shorthand and cultural wedge issues in a divide and conquer strategy to win elections. What is not well appreciated is these methods are also being used on the local level, reflexively, as if this is the normal way of engaging in civic discourse.
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Pippin Dew, Jess Malgapo, Rozzana Verder-Aliga, and Anthony Summers
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Over my next few diaries I would like to share my experience of working toward electing more and better Democrats, and how I came to endorse Pippin Dew, Jess Malgapo, Rozzana Verder-Aliga, Anthony Summers for Vallejo City Council.
For more information on the Vallejo race see:
Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Introduction (This Diary)
Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Meme Warfare
Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Category Collapse Disorder
Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Jump Start Vallejo
Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Cartoons & Correspondence
Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Election Results
A few months ago the above candidates started coming to our Democratic club meetings and asked how they might get the endorsement of the Democratic Party for the upcoming election.
The process was not as simple as they might of thought, because local club is only one small element in the process. The actual endorsement is done only by the Solano County Democratic Central Committee. And the local club has to follow that endorsement.
This requires the candidates to lobby members of central committee for their vote and forces them to get to know all the democrats in neighboring cities, at the county level, and our state and federal representatives. Clearly, anyone considering running for local city office should spend a few years getting to know the larger community surrounding the city.
Out of the ten candidates running in this election the majority were registered as Democrats. The Central Committee automatically extends an invitation to each Democrat running when the filing period ends.
As I'm in my third year of being a club president I have gone through one full election cycle and I was prepared for the candidates visits. Or, I though I was prepared for it. As you will see in upcoming diaries I'm hoping to share the whole process with everyone.
The 2013 election is unusual for because all the rest of Solano County has moved to even year elections. (Some attribute the City not moving to even years to the political divide we have in Vallejo.) In fact on the ballet is item to move the elections to even years.
I started preparing for the process by deciding to base my endorsement on the candidates positions on Public Safety Staffing, Labor Unions, The Vallejo Economic Development Strategic Plan, Municipal Equality Index, and the 2012 California Democratic Platform. And to prepare for discussion I introduced these as educational topics at club meetings starting at the beginning of the year.
I would like to add two more considerations that influenced my thinking on the endorsement process. And these I learned from my being a member of Daily Kos. I pride myself in being "reality based" and I looked for that similar quality in the candidates. Second, I understand exactly why conspiracy theory thinking diaries are discouraged at Daily Kos. And, this understanding leads me to be careful not to make my decisions based on that type of thinking.
Pippin Dew and Anthony Summers were among the first candidates to start attending our club meetings and they joined the club. As they showed up unannounced the club had to make a decision to allow any Democratic candidate running for office to have 30 minutes to introduce themselves, take questions from the club members, and ask for support. This would be only for their first visit to the club.
Jess Malgapo and Rozzana Verder-Aliga arrived at subsequent meetings, and joined the club. It was agreed by the club that in addition to a first time 30 minute opportunity that all candidates present would be allowed reasonable time to comment after any new candidate's presentations.
It should be noted that three other Democrats running for City Council attended our meetings and made initial out reach for our clubs support. But, for various reasons were not endorsed by our Central Committee. And, it is these three candidates that are now running against the candidates I'm supporting. The stakes are high because these three candidates with current vice-mayor, if elected, would have 4 out of 7 votes. With this majority they can move forward or block any action on City Council.
Now you might say, they are all Democrats what is the problem? Well the problem, as I see it, is best described by George Lakoff in his writings about the Political Mind. And perhaps these considerations are third filter in my appraisal of the candidates. Simply put the candidates I'm supporting are willing to look at things using complex causality models rather than direct causality models. They also have demonstrated the ability to switch between the two modes of thinking depending on the circumstances.
This is why it was so important to set a foundation for the election civic discussion to be based on. And the foundation that I'm using are The Vallejo Economic Development Strategic Plan, Municipal Equality Index, and the 2012 California Democratic Platform, and the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. These documents become the reality that the candidates have to cognate and understand. And in their discussions and actions one can see a bias toward one way of causal thinking versus the other mode as delineated in Lakoff's writings.
In the next installment we will look at an video excerpt from the Candidates Forum held on October 3, 2013 at the North Vallejo Community Center. I was the host and moderator of the forum, and I crafted the final format of the event with input from club members. In addition I will expand on some of the points touched on above.
In the upcoming 2014 elections if we want to elect more and better democrats we must be prepared. I'm hopeful that sharing my experience of the current election will be helpful for fellow Democrats. The most important advise I can give my fellow Democratic leaders is plan ahead and do not underestimate the lead times it takes to put together a campaign and to get things done.
Regards,
Jonathan Gordon (linkage)
Vallejo Street Prophet
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of United Democrats of Southern Solano County, The Solano County Democratic Central Committee, California State Democratic Party, or the National Democratic Party.
Partial List of Endorsements for
Pippin Dew, Jess Malgapo, Rozzana Verder-Aliga, and Anthony Summers
Vallejo Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee
Solano County Democratic Central Committee
California Real Estate Political Action Committee (CREPAC)
Vallejo Police Officers
Vallejo Firefighters
Vallejo Education Association
Napa-Solano County Building and Construction Trades Council
Napa and Solano Counties Central Labor Council
Communications Workers of America Local 9404
Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 3
Glaziers Local 169
Cement Masons Local 400
Painters Union Local 376
Iron Workers Local 378
Iron Workers Local 118
Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 343
Sheet Metal Workers Local 104
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 180
Operating Engineers Local 3
Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 16
United Food & Commercial Workers Local 5
Carpenters Local 180
Teamsters Local 315
Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla
Mayor Osby Davis
Solano County Sheriff, Thomas A. Ferrara
Supervisor Erin Hannigan
Supervisor Jim Spering
Supervisor Skip Thomson
Supervisor John Vasquez
Solano County Superintendent of Schools, Jay Speck
Solano County District Attorney, Donald A. du Bain
Vallejo City Councilmember, Hermie Sunga
Vallejo Unified School Boardmember, Hazel Wilson
Vallejo Unified School Boardmember, Raymond Mommsen
Vallejo Unified School Boardmember, Rev. Dr. Tony Ubalde
Solano County Assessor-Recorder, Marc Tonnesen
Solano County Board of Education Boardmember, Larry Asera
Former Vallejo City Councilmember, Michael Wilson
Former Vallejo City Councilmember, Tom Bartee
Former Vallejo City Councilmember, Cris Villanueva
United Democrats of Southern Solano County President, Jonathan Gordon
From http://www.jumpstartvallejo.com/