In the months since losing to Rep. Mike Honda in California’s 17th Congressional district, Ro Khanna has been busy reinventing himself as the climate-friendly populist candidate.
“I’ve really spent time on issues of the community and it’s made me a better public servant.”
~ after six months, the new and improved Ro Khanna
The patent lawyer label has been replaced with a greener title after taking a job at an energy management company. Climate change is not the only issue Khanna has suddenly deemed important, since November he has spoken out against the expansion of a landfill, joined a successful effort to save a youth soccer field from becoming a parking lot for the 49er’s, and supported local hire/prevailing wage rules in Sunnyvale. All noble causes, but nothing we wouldn’t expect from any Democrat or even a moderate Republican.
But is there really anything new about Khanna’s campaign or will this just be an expensive rerun of 2014?
After using terms like "old and tired" and "old school" during the last election, will the Khanna campaign continue their ageist attacks on Honda?
“The status quo is not working for the country and we need to turn to a new generation […]”
~ Ro Khanna’s new and improved ageist dog whistle
As the proud grandpa of a transgender grandchild,
I hope she can feel safe at school without being bullied.
~ Rep. Honda
Status quo is not a term that comes to mind for most people when they think of Mike Honda; consistently on the cutting edge of social politics through his longtime support of LGBT and immigration issues, leading on progressive causes such as the People’s Budget and education equity, and since his first congressional term in 2000 he has been sounding the alarm on climate change.
The voters have long known what to expect from Honda, his decisions based on ideals likely formed while a child in the Japanese-American interment camps during World War II, or during his two years in San Salvador with the Peace Corps. What comes so naturally to Honda, understanding the needs of the average working-class citizens that populate district 17, is not so intuitive for Khanna. We don’t need to replace Honda - we need to clone him!
During the national outrage aimed at Indiana after they passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, aka the freedom to discriminate law, citizens and LGBT activists pushed back. But the Indiana legislators stood firm until business leaders joined the fray. While Khanna saw this as a chance to take a jab at Honda for his victory speech comment, "I have news for right-wing billionaires: You cannot buy grassroots this year, next year, or ever." Ultimately it showed Khanna doesn't understand the real problem with American politics, the influence of money on our representatives.
We shouldn’t need to rely on corporate leaders or the mega-wealthy to decide what is fair policy, who deserves assistance, or what causes are worthy of our representatives’ attention. With the help of the Supreme Court’s
Citizens United decision and big money donors like Khanna’s, our government, the peoples’ government, has been bought.
The 2014 election set records in district 17 for campaign spending. The combined spending of more than $7 million was 7 times that spent during the 2012 campaign, and that doesn’t include spending by PAC’s and the Democratic Party. The Super PAC created for Khanna alone spent almost $800,000 attacking Honda. Will this election be any different? Will Khanna again reach out to the same billionaires and venture capitalists that led him to be rated #2 in the country with the big money “Fat Cat” donors or the #1 Democrat on Wall Street?
Khanna is already crowing about out fundraising Rep. Honda 3 to 1 raising $800,000 in the first quarter. But checking the FEC filings reveals this claim to be slightly specious. Not only have all but a handful of Khanna’s donors maxed out at $2,700 per election, many of them have already maxed out for both the primary and the general election. About one third of Khanna’s money is earmarked for the general. Over half of Rep. Honda’s contributors gave $500 or less, and only 5% earmarked for the general election.
I could feel the frustration in the email Honda sent to supporters announcing Khanna was gearing up for another run for the seat, forced to expend time raising money for another expensive race that would be better spent working for his constituents.
Here we go again.
Many of you are already aware of it, so I'll cut to the chase: our opponent from 2014, Ro Khanna, is running against me again.
Last time, Ro and his allies spent more than $5 million against me.
Ro’s losing campaign was funded by ultra-conservative mega-donors, but our victory was fueled by 10,000 individual donors, many of them grassroots supporters who gave less than $100.
So I'm asking you to dig deep and contribute $500, 250, 100, 50 or a more comfortable amount so we can win this race.
Thank you for everything that you do,
Mike
Khanna still finds gaining any real grassroots support elusive and must depend on the “
usual suspects.” While he has many CEO’s and business leaders willing to give $2,700, the largest class of donors is venture capitalists and investors. You've got to wonder, what is the expected ROI for their investment in Ro?
Ro Khanna's second run in CA17, coupled with California’s top-two election system will cost the CA Democratic Party and activists time, resources, and money that could be used to fight the GOP during an important Presidential election year. Meanwhile Honda will continue his lifelong battle against the status quo, while Khanna struggles to find a winning platform.
