The Ventura county Democratic Central Committee has elected a new Executive Board and Endorsements Committee. Click on continue reading for the full press release.

I respected Richard Carter. He is a good family man and a decent person. Good luck to the new Chair David Atkins. He has experience with netroots politics. It will be great if he can implement many of those techniques and ideas locally. He created a minor controversy for ridiculing Republicans from Simi Valley as racists. If he learned a lesson somewhere from that it would be helpful.

I will request David Atkins to do an interview soon. Besides the Twitter controversy what questions should I ask him? You don't need to register to comment but keep it classy.

The Ventura County Democratic Central Committee has their annual Kennedy Legacy Dinner coming up.

Click on continue reading for the details.

The keynote speaker for the night is Rep. Maxine Waters. I am not sure what i think of her record. I think I'll investigate it more before I comment.

Are you going? I haven't decided if I am going to ask to attend as a blogger and cover the event.

The funds raised from the event cover many expenses including sending out slate cards to registered party members. Candidates that earn the endorsement of the party are able to get their names listed on the slates. This includes candidates for nonpartisan offices. A candidate for school board or city council could greatly benefit from being included on these slates.

I have conflicting thoughts on if candidates for nonpartisan offices should seek the support of a political party. What do you think?

Now that Linda Parks is running as a no preference candidate more Democrats are worrying that that a divided field could cause the November election to be a choice between Tony Strickland and Linda Parks.

I am wondering if all of the candidates will end up running.

Democratic activists across the nation are paying attention to CA26 because it could help Democrats take control over the House of Representatives.

What party will she caucus with? If she won't join a caucus for either party she won't get committee assignments. Who will she vote for to be the next Speaker?

Linda Parks has limited her campaign so far mostly to calls for bipartisanship and moderation.

What are her positions on SOPA, NDAA, NCLB, DADT, and Afghanistan? What about Citizens United? The payroll tax cut? Healthcare Reform?

She hasn't been talking about these issues. She isn't appearing at the forums Democrats are organizing. Are there going to be forums for all of the candidates before June?

Democrats worried about Linda Parks and Tony Strickland making the top two seem to want to convince someone to drop out. But who would be open to dropping out?

This post on DailyKos.com seems to be representative of the views of many establishment liberals who are supporting Julia Brownley.

Should one or more of the candidates drop out for the good of their party? If so, which candidate?

David Cruz Thayne had a childhood friend talk in this video to introduce him to voters. From my personal experiences meeting the candidate I would agree his friend accurately describes his personality.

It is hard for candidates to share who they are with voters, especially in CA26 where there isn't a local television station dedicated to Ventura County. I know they may run shorter ads on cable, but it will be very interesting to see how campaigns get their message out using new media methods.

Related: David Pollock's Bad News Bears video goes viral.

( Steve Bennett, David Pollock, and David Cruz Thayne.)

The field isn't officially set for the Ventura County based CA-26 Congressional District but the campaigns have been busy.

On Saturday I was honored to be the host of a program put on by Conejo Valley Democrats called Eye on the issues. They asked me to introduce these three candidates and ask them questions from club members. Democrat Jess Herrera was invited but did not attend. I am not sure why.

The program will play on local cable access and then it will be posted on YouTube.

When the video is posted I will post that and include more of my thoughts.

Some quick thoughts:

1. Reading from a Teleprompter for the first time was interesting. Made much more interesting because I took some strong cold medicine before the show.

2. I am honestly not sure why I would vote for yet. The top two primary system makes strategic voting complicated.

3. I'll ask each for an interview in the future so I can ask them more specifics. If you are running for office and would like to be interviewed online let me know. I like asking specific questions that give candidates the time to think.

David Pollock's campaign strategy has been focusing on attracting the attention of netroots activists. He released an ad designed to spread to activists outside the district and now he is doing an interview on the popular website Reddit.

Many netroots activists know Reddit was very involved in the protests against SOPA. Rep. Elton Gallegly is a co-sponsor of SOPA, the bill that united Google, Reddit, and Wikpedia to oppose.

He is now doing an IAmA interview with users of Reddit.

Here is his introduction:

IAmA former Bad News Bear running for Congressional Office. I oppose NDAA's suspension of due process, believe that Citizen's United threatens our Democracy, and will fight for universal health care. I am David Pollock. AMA

Read the rest of the interview or ask your own questions by going to Reddit:

David Pollock is going to need netroots support if he is going to be among the top two candidates in a crowded primary of well funded challengers that includes Tony Strickland, Linda Parks, and Steve Bennett.

David Pollock has been a school board member, city council member, and an employee working at Rocketdyne. He was also an actor. To get attention he has been bringing up his experience as a Bad News Bear.

In the video above he brings up his support for the bank reforms promoted by activists by labeling the teams 99% versus 1%. He supports breaking up the largest banks that he labels as "too big to fail". His references to the Occupy Movement combined with an ad with his fellow Bad News Bears actors will help spread his message. I am not sure of the idea of breaking up those banks but I know that type of message is popular among activists.

I am predicting this strategy will help him get attention from blogs outside of Ventura County and netroots activists.

It has only been being sent around for a week or so and it is one of the top videos on Youtube for a Ventura County political candidate.

He also has the advantage of being the first candidate up with a campaign ad for this seat.

Learn more at his website:

http://pollockforcongress.com/

There are currently seven declared candidates.

Read Timm Herdt's thoughts on the video at his blog.

Oxnard Harbor Commissioner Jess Herrera will be announcing he is running for Congress in the new Ventura County based congressional district. I don't know when it will be official but he did request the paperwork to start a campaign.

There will now be five declared Democratic candidates and no declared Republicans.

Calitics has an interesting analysis of the district that shows it could be a swing district. Their analysis shows that Democrats have a registration advantage. I appreciate their work in collecting the data.

I am not sure how this changes the dynamics of the campaign. The most obvious impact is that David Cruz Thayne's plan to appeal to Latino voters just became harder. Steve Bennett also has another West County based elected official to compete with. The advantage might be to David Pollock of Moorpark.

Democrats should be excited to have so many top tier candidates with experience in politics.

I will post the official campaign announcement after it is made.

If Elton Gallegly does not run in this district he has made it harder for some Republicans to organize a campaign. Last time he made so many people wonder what he might do he declared his final intentions after it was too late for Tony Strickland to run because he had already filed for another office. The rumors I keep hearing is that Greg Totten might be a candidate if Gallegly is not.

The Star had a news article that wondered if Gallegly might run against fellow Republican Buck McKeon in another district that includes Simi Valley. McKeon hasn't been in Congress as long as Gallegly but he does have a more influential position as he is the Chair of a Committee.

A big question I have is which of the candidates is willing or able to put the most personal resources into the campaign. I don't know the relative wealth of each of the candidates.

For first time readers: You don't have to register or use your real name to comment but please keep it classy.

Democratic Congressional candidate David Cruz Thayne has been open that a part of his campaign strategy is to appeal to latino voters. He believes the heritage of his family, speaking Spanish, and understanding being an immigrant will appeal to many voters.

He is a professional tennis coach and has been involved in the creation of a few documentaries. In many of his past professional involvements online he is listed as David Thayne, but in his campaign materials he goes by David Cruz Thayne. Should it matter?

Apparently it does matter to the David Pollock campaign as their latest news release includes two references to David Thayne but not to David Cruz Thayne.

It could be an oversight. In a past blog entry I accidentally didn't use his full name and the campaign sent me a message asking for a correction, which I quickly did.

People go by different names during their lives for many reasons. David Cruz Thayne might have reverted to including Cruz in his name for political reasons.

In a low information crowded primary ballot designations and names might be enough to differentiate the candidates. I wonder what titles each will choose. David Pollock has a claim to being an educator because of his past experience being on a school board. Steve Bennett was a classroom teacher so he could claim educator also. What will David Cruz Thayne choose?

I don't have a preferred candidate at this time. I have spoken to to three of them and they all seem like good people. Time will tell who will be a good Member of Congress.

( David Pollock in a commercial)

I don't normally post entire fundraiser emails from candidates but I enjoyed the Pollock campaign bringing up the fact that Rep. Elton Gallegly doesn't hold town hall meetings. Their campaign claims he has never held a townhall meeting since he was elected to Congress. I don't know if that is true but I doubt the Gallegly campaign wants to discuss why he doesn't hold townhall meetings.

Here is the email:

Dear Brian,
26.
In 2012, Congressman Elton Gallegly will have inadequately served Ventura County, California and the United States for 26 years. Elton has committed his time in Congress toward an unusual cause: making a career out of unresponsive and indifferent behavior toward his constituents. But don't bother registering a complaint - Elton hasn't held a town hall meeting since 1986.
Voters across our country are fed up with politicians like Gallegly, because they can't even work together when they agree on something. This time it was the payroll tax cut - something most Americans supported.
At first, Gallegly pretended like he would vote for it:
Representative Elton Gallegly, a California Republican, said the package could win his support because of additional savings that would be found by cutting tax benefits...1
And then he voted against it - playing politics with our paychecks in the process.
Republicans like Gallegly are so obsessed with defeating President Obama that they work against him even when they agree with him. This time, we shamed them into consenting with the American people. But we literally can't afford to keep doing it.
Independent redistricting has turned Gallegly into a vulnerable incumbent. But judging by his comments and choices, he still doesn't get it.
Fortunately, there's a better way forward. My husband is a practical progressive with a proven history of working across the aisle. And he has been repeatedly elected from one of Ventura County's more conservative communities - because the voters trust him to do what's right.
David's also been called many things in his life. California School Board Association President. Mayor Pro Tem. Aerospace expert. Flight instructor. Bad News Bear. Husband. Dad.
He got into public life for the right reasons - his concern for his children's schools led him to successfully doing something about it. It's not enough to just elect a Democrat - we need to elect the best candidate, someone who genuinely represents our interests.
A new year means a fresh start. Let's make this upcoming 26th year Gallegly's last. Inject some common sense into Congress with David through your contribution of $26, $52, $260 or more. And with the Dec. 31st deadline coming up, you can help us start 2012 strong.
Ventura County can do its part to clean up Washington. Let's just elect the right person the first time.

Warm Regards,
Diana Campos
Nurse and proud wife of David Pollock

1Steven Sloan and Richard Rubin. Boehner Says He's 'Confident' Payroll Tax Cut Can Pass House. Thursday, December 8, 2011. SF Chronicle with Bloomberg News

Join Rep. Elton Gallegly should hold a town hall meeting on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/rep.eltongallegly

The only three announced candidates for the new Ventura County based district met for a debate. Steve Bennett, David Cruz Thayne, and David Pollock debated in front of the Ventura City Democratic Club with KADY TV filming it.

You can watch the whole debate by going to KADY TV and searching for it. Their video player doesn't allow embedding on other sites.

Debates like these aren't widely seen by voters and often not even by party activists. But after watching the video I think you will see why David Pollock would like more people to watch it. To do that I was impressed that his campaign sent out a Youtube video with highlights of his performance.

After watching the debate what moments or answers stand out for you?

As a service to local campaigns trying to connect with local voters I will post a Facebook like box on entries I write about a campaign if the campaign sends me the HTML for the box. My readers can click on that box to connect with the campaign on Facebook. Consider it a free advertisement.

The like box has a few options including a newsfeed. That allows you to have your newsfeed on each entry on your campaign that I write.

Which candidate for Congress has the quickest technology team? David Pollock, Steve Bennett, or David Cruz Thayne? Send me the HTML.

UPDATE: David Cruz Thayne is the first Congressional candidate to submit his HTML.

David Cruz Thayne had the HTML submitted. He currently has 116 likes on his page and has a goal of 2,000. If you would like to follow his campaign click like below.