HE MISSED THE BASE Here
HE MISSED THE BASE
Here at the Democratic National Convention this week, the most oft-heard statement was that the presidential election of 2004 is "the most important election of our lifetime." Nearly all the Democrats in Boston accepted that as an article of faith, and they also nodded in knowing agreement whenever someone asserted — and it was often — that President Bush had united the Democratic Party as never before.
John Kerry is so confident that Democrats believe both those things that he nearly ignored them in, of all things, his speech to the party convention tonight. He barely mentioned Medicare and Social Security, the Democrats' bread-and-butter issues of the last several campaigns. He mentioned taxing the rich in order to pay for domestic programs, but only briefly. He pointed out that the number of Americans without health insurance had grown by 4 million under Bush's watch — but then told listeners that they could go to his Web site if they wanted to find out the details of his own plan to deal with that. He brought up gay rights only by nuanced implication — that he wouldn't "misuse for political purposes" the Constitution, a back-door reference to Bush's support for a constitutional amendment to bar gay marriages.
Instead he talked about the flag, faith and patriotism. He spoke of optimism and public service. He saluted. To the extent that he talked about economic issues, he talked about balancing the budget.
In short, Kerry gave his speech not to the Democratic Party but to independents, middle-of-the-road'ers and moderate Republicans. No presidential nominee of his party in modern times could have gotten away with that. But the fear and loathing of Bush by the core Democratic constituencies — labor, environmentalists, civil rights activists and liberals of other stripes — is so great that Kerry could afford to simply ignore them without risk. He's betting that those groups will be so motivated to oust Bush that they will still campaign hard and turn out to vote. And judging from the temperature of Democrats in Boston this week, it doesn't seem much of a gamble. Kerry is free to run to the center without having to look over his left shoulder.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 9:25 PM
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE... Democratic
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...
Democratic convention commentators are making much of the relative lack of "red meat" — biting political rhetoric, served raw — coming from the party's big-name speakers. Of particular note was vice presidential nominee John Edwards last night. It is a traditional role of v.p. nominees to serve as the ticket's attack dog, doing the dirty work for the man at the top of the ticket. Instead, Edwards gave delegates this of negative campaigning: "Aren't you sick of it?"
Those on the sidelines, however, have taken an entirely different tact. Talk to Democrats privately, and you'll find a resolve to play hardball that was missing before the 2000 election debacle. There's nothing like losing an election you feel you won to bring out the fight.
Consider a new TV ad released yesterday by the center-left group the New Democrat Network, targeted at Latino immigrants. It takes a tact once used most effectively by Republicans: Take a goofball suggestion made by a fringe member of the other party, and present it as official view of the other side.
Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo in May, briefly proposed — and then backtracked from — placing a 5 percent tax on all money transfers sent abroad by immigrants to their families in their home country. The amount is conservatively estimated at $30 billion a year, mostly wired back to parents in Mexico by sons and daughters who emigrated to the United States to escape poverty at home.
To Latino immigrants, especially, it is a matter of pride that they share their income, however slight, to uplift their families. That anyone would propose to tax these transactions is an idea sure to light a fire in immigrant communities.
Beginning this week, the New Democrat Network started pouring on the fuel. The ad on Spanish-language television goes like this: "The Hispanic immigrants are the ones that work the hardest in the United States. And every month they wire money in the amount of two to three hundred dollars to their families in Latin America. But a Republican leader in Washington has proposed a new tax. In addition to the normal charges, immigrants would have to pay 10 to 15 dollars more for each remittance. Incredible but true."
As Republicans seek to gain a greater share of the Latino vote — and hope to use an emphasis on traditional moral values to do so — the last thing they need is one of their own to suggest a special tax on people who financially support their families.
Maybe in past years, Democrats might have dismissed the proposal as an crazy idea from a Republican maverick. Not this year. As the campaign unfolds, expect to hear this proposal presented again and again as an idea sanctioned by the Republican Party establishment.
If their candidates aren't, the rest of the Democrats intend to play very tough.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 6:15 AM
A NEW APPROACH TO BIRTH
A NEW APPROACH TO BIRTH CONTROL?
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, like TV host David Letterman, has done it so often that his listeners would rebel if he gave a speech and didn't include a Top Ten list.
Accordingly, when Lockyer spoke to California delegates today, he rattled off a list of reasons why voters should send the Bush administration packing in the fall. Here are some samples:
* The nation needs a president who doesn't think that "EPA means 'emit pollutants anywhere.'"
* Voters should reject Vice President Dick Cheney's new "say No to pregnancy program -- go f-yourself."
* The president should understand that NAACP doesn't stand for "no African-American votes Counted at the Polls."
As with Letterman, maybe Lockyer has reached the point where coming up with list after list requires a bit of a stretch...
Posted by Timm Herdt at 10:17 PM
POLITICS AND TESTOSTERONE, PART II
POLITICS AND TESTOSTERONE, PART II
Last week, it was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who created a stir by calling his Democratic critics "girlie men." Monday in Boston, it was Democratic consultant and commentator James Carville who decided to weigh in on the issue of manliness.
Speaking to a roomful of veterans, Carville -- a former Marine -- said he was going to tell "everyone in the room" his opinion on something, although with a phalanx of television cameras in the back he acknowledged that "it'll probablyh get out of this room."
His opinion was a comparison between the major party candidates for president.
"John Kerry is a better man than George Bush," Carville said. "Man-to-man, it ain't close."
Before the campaign season is over, we may need a double dose of Viagra just to prop up all this talk about manhood.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 3:08 PM
A BREAKFAST EYE-OPENER When the
A BREAKFAST EYE-OPENER
When the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention gathered for breakfast this morning in Boston, there were some obvious signs of partying the night before. It was a somewhat lethargic group -- until former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean took the stage. Reminiscent of his 2002 speech to the state party convention -- the one where he electrified the crowd by introducing himself as "I'm Howard Dean and I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" — the Californians were drawn to Dean's populist rhetoric.
"This country doesn't belong to George Bush and the 2 percent of the people who finance his campaign," Dean bellowed, albeit in something shy of his post-Iowa caucus decibel level. He said his campaign proved that "if you can get 500,000 people to give $10, $15 or $20, you can raise more money than anybody else." That broad-based, Internet fund-raising has spilled over to the Kerry campaign, and Dean said it represents modern democracy's best hope of breaking away from corporate-dominated campaign financing. "We are our own campaign finance reform," he said.
Dean also urged Californians to pack their bags in the fall and help out in neighboring battleground states — Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. "You can send people to other states to help," he said. "You have the power. Now use it."
*****
A surprise addition to the California delegation was Assembly Democratic candidate Ferial Masry of Newbury Park, who said she received an invitation from state party leaders about 10 days ago to come.
At Sunday night's delegation party, Masry was being introduced around by Elena Ong,, state party treasurer. Ong said Masry will have time later in the campaign to work the district for votes, but that she could use her time at the convention to meet people who can help her raise money for her uphill campaign against Republican Audra Strickland.
Well known among Arab-Americans because the novelty of her being a Saudi Arabian-born woman now running for political office in the United States, Masry continues to draw intense interest from those in the Arab world, where the idea of a woman running for office is nearly unimaginable. Today, she was scheduled to give interviews to the two Arab television networks covering the convention.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 8:24 AM
THE BEAR AT COPLEY SQUARE
THE BEAR AT COPLEY SQUARE
As delegates began to arrive here in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, the welcoming signs of a host city were everywhere. To be sure, there were banners at the Fleet Center, balloons at the airport and, everywhere, the usual tourist and convention bureau fare. But the California delegation — by far the largest — also got a hometown touch from the Westin Copley Hotel, which for the coming week will be occupied exclusively by Californians.
On the flag pole at the entrance to the hotel, two flags are flying: the Stars and Stripes and the California Bear.
At the security checkpoints at the elevator banks -- set up especially for the security-heavy convention -- guards check room keys and IDs. On Day One, at least, it seemed to satisfy some guards just to see that the identification provided by the guest was a California driver's license.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 2:36 PM
THE MAID JUST QUIT In
THE MAID JUST QUIT
In the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's comments over the weekend in which he described Democratic lawmakers as "girlie-men" for opposing him on a couple of issues that Republicans have tied to budget negotiations, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton held a news conference today and announced that his cappuccino machine was closed "until further notice."
Since Schwarzenegger arrived in Sacramento, he and Burton have become odd-couple pals. During negotiations in the the governor's office, Burton has served the cappuccino. "That's probably where he got the 'girlie-man,'" Burton said.
The Senate leader said Schwarzenegger's harsh attacks against Democrats over the weekend may have set back budget negotiations by two weeks. Asked if he had talked with the governor since the weekend remarks, Burton responded: "Why would I possibly call him? What am I going to say? 'Hi, this is the scumbag girlie-man. How are the kids?'"
Burton said he was "more than disappointed than upset" over Schwarzenegger's combative tone. The bottom line, he said, is that the attacks do not serve any purpose toward breaking the budget stalemate. "There is a legislative season and a campaign season," he said. "This is the legislative season."
Posted by Timm Herdt at 12:30 PM
WHAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF 'HOT
WHAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF 'HOT SEAT'?
Sports fans who watch ESPN are familiar with what's called "The Budweiser Hot Seat," into which a sports figure is placed and then must field a rapid-fire series of questions — often tough ones — from a network sportscaster.
This afternoon, as he began to mount a public relations campaign to pressure legislators to settle their budget differences, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put himself into what might be called the opposite of a hot seat. A nice, comfy sofa is what it was.
Schwarzenegger returned to his favorite medium, talk radio, to deliver his message of support for two measures that have become central to budget negotiations: repeal of a law that prohibits school districts from contracting with private companies for certain services and another that allows private parties to sue employers over violations of labor law violations.
Up first Friday afternoon was Tom Sullivan, afternoon host on Sacramento's KFBK. After Schwarzenegger delivered his brief scripted remarks, Sullivan gushed: "Governor Schwarzenegger, the people love what you're doing... Let's support him... I'll certainly do my part."
On the hot seat, someone might have asked a question instead. For instance, what do those two issues have to do with the state budget?
Posted by Timm Herdt at 4:12 PM
WE'RE OUTTA HERE In one
WE'RE OUTTA HERE
In one of those moments of high drama that only members of the Assembly and their staffers find even remotely dramatic, there was a whole lotta huffin' and puffin' going on late Friday afternoon when the body abruptly adjourned. The action sent members home without a vote on the budget but in time to make all the parades and pancake breakfasts in their districts over the Fourth of July weekend.
It happened quickly, about 4 p.m. The Assembly had been in recess as everyone waited for Speaker Fabian Nunez to finalize negotiations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over a local government financing deal that would seal a final budget agreement. Thanks largely to the fact that local government lobbyists -- the biggest single lobbying group in the Capitol -- were in a twitter and had mobilized scores of local mayors and supervisors to call and complain, a deal that Schwarzenegger had apparently agree to the previous night had come unglued.
The tactic now was to try to bring the original Schwarzenegger deal -- the one he had negotiated with local governments in May -- to a direct vote on the floor -- even though that proposal had never been embodied in a bill of any sort. The governor and Republicans wanted to force a show vote on that proposal, with the intent of forcing Democrats to cast a public vote against it that would be fodder for criticism from their local mayors, police chiefs, supervisors and sheriffs. The Democrats were in no mood to engage in such self-destructive theatrics.
So when Speaker Pro Tempore Leland Yee stood at the dais, ready to gavel the session back in session, members were scurrying down hallways to get back to the chambers. After lowering the gavel, the first person Yee recognized was Democratic floor leader Dario Frommer,, who immediately moved to adjourn.
Under parliamentiary rules, a motion to adjourn is always in order, is not debatable and takes precedence over any other action. Republicans screamed foul, but the vote quickly went up and, just as quickly, the house was shut down for the weekend.
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy fumed that "the Democrats do not want to have a budget" and that the maneuver put the Capitol right back where it had been "before the recall." GOP member Doug LaMalfa complained that he had received such short notice to return to the floor that he "didn't even have time to put my boots on."
Whatever the merits of the Republicans' complaint that they were not allowed to try to force a vote on a proposal that didn't exist in bill form, the complaint that they were victimized by a sneak attack to adjourn rang hollow, however.
For the record, it should be noted that minutes before Yee brought the house back in session. Moorpark Republican Tony Strickland was standing straight and tall at his microphone, eager to be recoginzed as soon as the session restarted. He stood with the anticipation of a high school student who knows the answer to a teacher's question even before it is posed to the class. Strategically, the Republicans were just as ready to try to pull off their maneuver as were the Democrats. The only difference: Democrats have a 48-32 majority in the body, so they get to elect the leadership, and their leadership gets to pick who gets called in first.
Because of that, Frommer came before Strickland.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 9:32 AM
Over the last 22 presidential elections, Ventura County voters have backed the winner 21 times, or 95 percent of the time. It is one of only a handful of counties in the nation that has been such a predictable bellwether.
The Ventura County Star's Sacramento Bureau Chief Timm Herdt on state issues and politics from Sacramento to Ventura County. He can be contacted at 
