Laura Winchester, a friend of mine and local Democratic activist, is supporting John Burton for Chair of the Democratic Party of California. My first reaction was that we needed an outsider for this position, but I always listen when Laura has a strong opinion on a subject. She has been right more than I care to acknowledge here.
Anyways, here is her guest post:
Sen. John Burton for California Democratic Party ChairAs you may know, the Democratic Party is holding its Assembly District Delegate elections this weekend. In each of the 80 AD's, 12 people (6 men and 6 women) will be elected to represent their District at the annual State Convention for the next 2 years. As expected, interest is higher than usual after the exciting Presidential election.
Locally, in AD35 there are 26 people competing for these positions, in AD37 there are 22, in AD38 there are 19, and in AD 41, there are 28. It's exciting to see not only longtime activists running, but new people who got involved in the Obama campaign, and are now looking to stay involved .
One thing you can expect to see at each caucus is a strong presence from the John Burton campaign, looking to court delegates and activists, and20elect as many Burton supporters as possible.Current Chair Art Torres is retiring in April, and Burton declared his candidacy late last year. He quickly garnered the endorsements of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Barbara Boxer, State Senate Pro-Tem Darryl Steinberg, and all Ventura County Democrat electeds, including Rep. Lois Capps, Sen. Fran Pavley, Hon. Pedro Nava, Hon. Julia Brownley and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell. Equally strong has been his support from rank and file Democrats at the local level.
LA County Central Committee Chair Eric Bauman had declared his candidacy for the Chair position early in 2008, but a few weeks ago he bowed out, and is now running for Vice Chair instead. That leaves current Vice Chair, Alex Rooker, as the only other candidate in the race and Sen. Burton as the overwhelming favorite.
A legendary figure in California politics, Senator Burton has over 40 years of public service, including multiple terms in Congress, the State Assembly, and State Senate, where he served as Pro-Tem from 1998 until retiring in 2 004.
While some activists might question the ability of a powerful insider and longtime politician to bring change to the party, one only need look at his record to know that fear is unfounded. He was a Progressive before it was cool, always on the cutting edge. But most importantly for a party leader, he knows how to win elections. His leadership and fundraising ability is unquestioned. It takes money to win elections, as well as powerful strategy, discipline and organization. I have no doubt that Sen. Burton will be able to raise the kind of money and attract the talent, both professional and volunteer, that we will need to compete and protect the seats that will become more competitive after Prop. 11 is implemented.
Posted on his website, www.burton2009.com, is a powerful message and plan that addresses his vision for the future of the Party. He makes specific reference to two of our districts here in Ventura County , and recognizes the difficulty of competing in red districts. This is good news for us and all "red zones" in California . Take a few moments and read his ideas and plan for leading the CDP. Once you do, I'm confident that you will be excit ed and energized about supporting Sen. Burton, and will join the hundreds of Democrats that have already committed to help elect him as our new Party Chair.
UPDATE: Laura, thanks for writing this guest blog entry. I checked out the Google News search results and you were correct, this entry was the number one result for John Burton!
Laura,
I expect John Burton will become the party chair. Have fun at the caucuses and let us know how they went.
Those interested in John Burton's character and tactics would be advised to read here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/8/21259/64734
Still, with Rooker dropping out of the race, continuing to fight about Burton is pointless. He'll be the chair, since he's running essentially unopposed--making his mad dash to lock up progressive support through the actual use of a political consulting firm look more than a little over-the-top.
If anyone who reads this is interested, btw, I'll be standing for election in the 35th district. It is somewhat difficult to Venturans to win here, as Santa Barbara tends to bring out their people to vote for Santa Barbara slates.
Still, if you're a registered Democrat living in the 35th (Pedro Nava's district), please come out to vote on Sunday for our Ventura delegate candidates: myself, Katherine Holland and Sandra Kinsler. Registration begins at noon, and voting begins at 2pm. The location is here:
Eastside Library
Martin Luther King Room
1102 E. Montecito St.
Santa Barbara
Hi Brian, thanks for the post! The Caucus went well today - all twelve of the 37AD delegates elected have endorsed John Burton. I'm working another Caucus tomorrow and hope it goes as well as this one did.
As far as some of the chatter regarding Sen. Burton and his campaign, and his behavior - I haven't seen it. His campaign staff and supporters have been terrific to work with, and as far as the man himself - he's fierce, outspoken, calls a spade a spade, and yep, his language can be colorful. So what? This is politics, not patty cake. I'd rather have Burton kicking some ass, leading the Democrats to victory, than the alternative of being marginalized at the ballot box.
Laura:
You couldn't be more right on target.
At a time when foreclosure, unemployment, and outsourcing rates are the highest they ever have been in CA, there couldn't be a more forceful, passionate, and effective fighter for working class Democrats and their families than John Burton as Party Leader.
His colorful language and rough and tumble personality may make all those Daily Kos types and Montecito limo-liberals uncomfortable, but then again, working-class Democrats can't afford to live in Montecito.
Perhaps under John Burton's leadership, one day they will..
NostraDemus
What exactly is a Dailykos type liberal is to you? The founder is an immigrant who served in the military. I guess that isn't "working class" enough for you.
Did you read either of his books?
How about instead of cultural wedge politics you explain why you support John Burton's ideas on the budget? Do you agree with his economic ideas?
NostraDemus,
It's obviously haven't the least freaking clue what a "DailyKos type" is. You'll rarely find a more colorful, rough and tumble place on the web. We love rough and tumble, outspoken politicians.
The issue and concern with Burton is instead an insiderism vs. outsiderism issue. It's the same issue that led many of us to support Dean over Kerry. It's the same issue that led us to support Obama or Edwards over Clinton.
It's an inside baseball, institutional power, go with the money strategy versus a grassroots, decentralized, fight everywhere strategy.
I truly wish well for Burton, and hope he pleasantly surprises me. For all I know, he'll be a great CDP chair. His emailed statement did hit all the right notes.
We'll just have to wait and see.
NostraDemus is right on one thing. The Daily Kos is one of those elitist Santa Barbara/Montecito-based blogs where most of the people who post there have their noses so far up in the air (and other places) they can't see the real world in front of them.
I don't agree with his assessment of Burton though. He's an old school, unrepentant, roll-in-the-mud liberal. Built for a different era. You'd have thought California Democrats would have learned something from the Obama revolution.
Lmao. Any idiot who thinks dkos is "elitist" has obviously never read anything on it, and is a republican hack. Of course, anyone who thinks dkos has any relation whatsoever to montecito knows so little about the blogosphere it's laughable.
David,
Have you ever thought of running for the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee? Please.
No kidding, Nobody. They could use all the help they can get.