Marta Jorgensen seems like a real nice person.
What work experience does she have that makes her qualified to be in Congress? It's one thing not to be a politician. It's another to have the skill set to properly represent the people. Quite frankly I don't see any. Can anybody tell me if I am missing something?

California 24th Congressional District trivia:
The 24th district has a larger population than the state of Vermont.

RE:What work experience does she have that makes her qualified to be in Congress?

We have "qualified" people in congress, now, who are destroying the middle class.....

What experience did Gallegly have that made him the representative he turned out to be? Maybe its time to dump "qualified" reps like Gallegly and let a novice give it a try. Can't do any worse than the 24 years of BS he's been dumping on this District.

Nobody:
Last time, a clear majority of Democratic Primary voters in 24th CD who chose to vote, selected Ms. Jorgensen as the victor. After all, we live in a representative democracy, and those voters are the ultimate arbiters of which Democratic candidate best represents their collective aspirations for representation in Congress. And, by a clear margin, they decided that Ms. Jorgensen was sufficiently experienced to represent them. What part of their expression of Democratic majoritarian “vox populi” didn't you understand or agree with?

GS:
As usual, you ask the 64-thousand dollar political question of the 2010 election. Have the frustrated, disgruntled, and increasingly independent voters of the 24th CD had enough of experienced representation, regardless of party, and will they choose a novice?? Only time and the tides will tell.

Democratic Candidates Allison, Jorgenson, Panec and Stern:
Finally, I would like to put three basic political equity questions to the putative 24th CD Democratic Congressional Candidates Allison, Jorgenson, Panec and Stern (as well as any others that may be contemplating throwing their hats into this race)..

So far, it appears that within the 24th CD, under Obama’s program, the largest per-capita amount (i.e. $436) of Federal Stimulus dollars spent has gone to Santa Barbara County in this Congressional District, vs. $352 for Ventura County. By way of comparison, the unemployment rate in Santa Barbara County (i.e. 8.50%) was the LOWEST among the three counties in the 24th CD, with Ventura County being almost 3 percentage points HIGHER (i.e. 11.20%) and Los Angeles County more than 4.5 percentage points HIGHER (i.e. 12.6%) than Santa Barbara County. (See above URL for details)

1. Do you think that is fair?
2. If you don't, how would you change it?
3. Finally, if elected to Congress, how would you propose to advocate for equitable spending of stimulus dollars for all communities in the 24th CD, as opposed to supporting egregious earmarks, designed to dissproportinately benefit special interest contributors at the expense of the general Federal taxpayers?

Inquiring Democratic Primary voters in the 24th CD, like me who've yet to make up their minds in this race would like to know??

Got answers candidates???

NostraDemus

Nostrademus,

Who did you vote for in the primary?

RR:

That's between me, my conscience and God.

It's not called a "Secret Ballot," for nothing.

NostraDemus

Nobody, the House of Representatives is supposed to be comprised of the "common" folk, so the fact that Jorgensen has a normal background shouldn't disqualify her from the race.

What people should focus on is her ideas, especially when they are bad, like this:

"Government plays a vital role in fueling the engine of our economy." - Marta Jorgensen

Um, it does?

There was also a nugget about "what's good for labor is good for business". Try telling that to Wal-Mart, the most successful company in history.

I understand there are some votes we are proud of and some we would rather not share. I asked because you were critical of "Nobody" for not respecting the will of the voters but you won't say you voted for in the primary.

When the voters are well-informed it is wise to respect their opinions. But that wasn't the case when Jorgensen won the nomination of her party.

RR:

The assertion you state in your first sentence is both false and perjorative..

I chose to not share my vote with you for the simple reason that I chose to not to share my vote with you. period. Pride has nothing whatsoever to do with it.. Nothing more, nor less.

Furthermore, the rhetorical question which I posed to Nobody wasn't critical, though it was pointed..

Since a majority of Democratic voters in last year's Congressional Primary in the 24th CD chose Ms. Jorgensen, I simply wondered, rhetorically speaking, what Nobody knew about those Democratic voters that I did not.

This is especially so since Nobody opined that he or she could not see their wisdom, since he/she felt that Ms. Jorgensen lacked "..the skill set to properly represent the people." (his or her words, not mine.).

You on the other hand suggest that you believe that the wisdom of the majority of Democratic voters who selected Ms. Jorgensen as the Democratic nominee for the 24th CD last year was somehow suspect because they were not well informed..

Be careful RR, you are on a very slippery slope here. How do you know that a majority of Democratic voters who chose to vote for Ms. Jorgensen in the 24th CD Democratic Primary last year were not well informed??

Perhaps you have an uncanny gift of divining the wisdom of the thousands of Democratic voters in last year's Congressional Primary through some sort of mystical virtual incantations through the Internet..

Absent that, I fail to see how you can determine definitively whether a majority of Democratic voters in last year's Primary elections were well, ill, or uninformed. Care to enlighten me, and other Dennert-bloggers regarding this question??

Elections by definition reflect the choices of those who choose to vote. And those choices have important consequences.

Whether or not you or I agree with those choices are immaterial.. The bottom line is that winning candidates get more votes than losing candidates.. And the facts are indisputable. Last year, Ms. Jorgensen won the Primary, and lost the General..

NostraDemus

Go ask your friends, neighbors, and coworkers who they voted for in that primary. Many won't even remember but you expect me to believe they were well-informed?

None of the candidates had an effective campaign that communicated with voters. That's a fact and not an assumption.

The questions just get tougher from here so save your panic for later.

What experience does Marta Jorgensen have (in or out of politics) that makes her qualified for this job? I suggest somebody think of a answer that makes sense as soon as possible.

In any case,
Now we have new leadership in the VCDCC whoever the candidate is they will get proper support. That hasn't been the case in the past. It will be different this time.

Nobody:

The Democrats will have a Herculean task in gaining electoral victory in the 24th Congressional District during the 2010 Mid-Term election, whomever their candidate is, based on the current electoral demographics of this District.

First of all, recall that Obama's majority victory margin in this District last year was a scant 2.5% points (i.e. 50.5% Obama to 47.7% for McCain). Essentially, in this Congressional District Obama UNDERPERFORMED and McCain OVERPERFORMED their statewide numbers by 10% last November.

Second, at this point in time, Republican registration outnumbers Democratic registration in the 24th CD by +6% points, the Cook Partisan Value Index (PVI) rates the 24th CD a Republican Hold by +4, and the latest Rassmussen Poll reports a +4% advantage for Republican candidates in the Generic Congressional ballot match-up.

More ominously for the Democratic nominee, whomever that may be, the Rasmussen poll reports that DTS and Independent Voters who flocked to the Democrats during the 2006 Mid-Term Congressional and 2008 General, support Generic Republican candidates for Congress in 2010 by a WHOPPING 20% points (41% Republican to 21% Democrats). This is particularly bad news for Democrats in the 24th CD, since almost 18% of the registered voters in that Congressional District self-identify and are registered as DTS and Independent voters...

With ambient electoral demographics and performance stats like these, at this point in time, the putative Democratic Congressional candidates in this District may feel like Sisyphus moving that victory bolder up an electoral hill with an infinite slope, only to see it keep rolling down again to electoral defeat. And this electoral result may be the case, regardless of whomever the Democrats nominate, and regardless of whomever is in charge of the SBDCC or VCDCC.

That is until Congressional redistricting takes place in 2011. And on that count, there may be bad news. Based on very preliminary projections of population migration and potential under-counting in the 2010 Census released by several demographic researchers, there is better than a 50-50 chance that California will lose one of its 54 Congressional districts to another state with greater relative population growth during the last decade.

However, in American politics, two-weeks is an eternity, and anything may happen between now and November of 2010.

Hopefully, putative 24th CD Democratic candidates Allison, Jorgensen, Panec and Stern (and perhaps others) will begin to engage in a spirited campaign amongst themselves between now and next June. Ultimately, one of them (or perhaps some other as yet unnamed Democratic candidate) will emerge from the Primary as the Democratic nominee, to battle Congressman Gallegly in the fall of 2010.

As always, elections are about choices, and their outcomes have serious consequences. May the best Democrat win, and hopefully he or she will be worthy of the confidence and trust placed in them by a majority of Democratic voters who choose to cast their votes the June 2010 Primary for the 24th Congressional District seat.

Only time and the tides will tell whether this seat remains safely in Republican hands, or historically changes parties during the 2010 Mid-Term election which as of this point in time, is not shaping up that well for Democratic Congressional representatives, nationally..

NostraDemus

Of course President Obama UNDERPERFORMED in the 24th district. He couldn't drive through town without getting pulled over a few years ago. Just the fact he won is huge.

Elton Gallegly is a Bush/Cheney groupie and the world tour is over. He needs to brush the dirt off his knees and go home. The tax-payers are tired of paying for Elton Gallegly's Republican Congressional lifestyle. Whatever lead the Republicans have in voter registration you can count on not being there by November 2010. It's almost dropping as fast as Elton Gallegly's campaign donations.

The DCCC is looking at the 24th district for the first time in years. They used to just come here for money. Now they are looking here in regards to taking seats away from Republicans. Times and Congressman are a changing.