As much as I hate to lose DiFiās seniority, experience and ovaries, I think we (Americans, not just Californians) need deLeonās youth, liberal values and fighting spirit. And heās not a novice. I think his experience in the California legislature goes back to before Dems got their super majority. He knows how to fight the repug motherfuckers.
So envious of Californians having a win-win Senate race! Ours in Kentucky are always die horribly vs die slightly less horribly.
āItās like hitting your head against a concrete wall ā you can march, you can filibuster, you can talk all night, it doesnāt change anything,ā she said. āWhat changes things are elections.ā
Yep.
If he thinks that a minority party can āfight the repug motherfuckersā in any meaningful way then he is not ready to take her place.
So you and senator both believe we should have waited until the election to address the family separation policy?
Hm.
āItās like hitting your head against a concrete wall ā you can march, you can filibuster, you can talk all night, it doesnāt change anything,ā she said. āWhat changes things are elections.ā
What a load of horseshit! The Election of 2008 changed very little. We still got war in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus war in Libya and Syria. We got betrayed on Card Check and instead of real healthcare reform we got a giant taxpayer subsidy for vampire insurance corporations and a 2010 shellacking for our trouble. We still got that giant sucking sound from āfreeā trade agreements that put corporate profits about American jobs. It wasnāt until people marched and got out into the streets that things like Black Lives Matter, the FIght for 15, The Water Protectors and Occupy Wall Street not only changed the narrative but accomplished real change. So now the much maligned California jungle primary system has served up to the voters of California the opportunity to no longer be the victims of TINA. Will they take advantage or it?
Gonna have to echo @ebg2465 here. deLeonās full of sound and fury signifying very little. And barely mentioned anywhere is his record of aiding and abetting a colleague in the CA legislature who was accused of assaulting women. But letās not go there. My Senator Feinstein has served CA honorably for a long time, will be re-elected and life will go on.
This is the intra- party fight between āweāre fed up and weāll fight like hellā and the āweāre fed up and we have to out think them, oh and we donāt want to blow up the building weāll need to work in when we win.ā
California Democrats are far more focused on winning U.S. House seats than they are on a safe Senate seat
I was interested in giving de Leon a chance and had his campaign emails or presentation not been the same old thing I mightāve carved out some space to promote him. But he started attacking Feinstein early on rather than telling me why I should divert some of my precious time away from more vital races, it was a turn off.
SF Chronicle endorsement ends with this
Indeed, if moderation is now a relic, as de LeĆ³n and other Feinstein critics are suggesting, the country has bigger problems than electing Californiaās next senator. Feinsteinās pragmatic, centrist approach may not be in fashion, but it is still better for the state and the country than separating into mutually hostile tribes with no interest in common ground or facts.
Chron also reminds us about the origin of her persistent position of moderation. Iāve said something similar here many times. It changed her life and she choose not to be a firebreather which in SF led to two murders but chose another path.
It dates to the tumultuous beginning of her political career in City Hall, where she became mayor in the wake of the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk
This take doesnāt sit well with me.
Milk was assasinated by a bigoted right winger. This is like saying we shouldnāt upset violent abusers with progress because they might turn to violence. I donāt think itās your intention to say this but I do think itās the intention of the Chronicle to do so.
Milk was also reflective of values that made SF unique and a place where the creative, the socially rejected and out-of-box thinkers could go and forge a better future. Itās people like Milk, the bleeding-heart liberals, the left wing activists, that ended up making SF so appealing to the monied people that now fill the place driving out the creative class due to lack of affordability.
Also, I like Feinstein but she is a part of the problem. āModerateā today is center right. Sure, āmoderatesā pay lip service to and even vote for socially liberal positions but when it comes to everything else the country has been dragged to the right.
I have no problem āseparating into mutually hostile tribes with no interest in common ground or factsā when the other ātribeā is fact-less, anti-democratic, fascist friendly etc.
Milk was collateral damage. George Moscone was the target and White killed him without hesitation. White saw Milk whom he thought was smirking at him and killed him. Itās Mosconeās policies as well as the man himself I miss the most.
Since you think DF is part of the problem I hope youāll vote for deLeon. But my vote will cancel yours out.
Like I said, I like Feinstein and de Leonās campaign has been a turn off. Iāll probably vote for Feinstein only because I donāt do āprotest votesā and my reasoning for voting de Leon would be about sending a message I prefer more progressive candidates, not really for de Leon.
Where I think sheās part of the problem is that I believe there should be term limits. She also represents only a portion of Democratic voters political views which is part of a larger problem with the Dem Party leadership (tho 2018 has shown much promise on this front).
Ok but this isnāt an argument against what I wrote considering his politics. Moscone ārocked the boatā, he threatened the status quo, the powerful, the GOP by promoting progress through diversity equality/fairness. Dan White hated Milk. White killed Moscone because he was granted the power, by the voters, to choose Whiteās replacement and Moscone chose to listen to people like Milk and pick a liberal replacement.
Moscone was the originally intended target but I think itās a bit more complicated when he was the target because he was willing to give Milk and others previously excluded from power a voice/input into the decision.
I can see why you like Feinstein but if youāre a fan of Moscone it brings me back to my original issue with the argument you put forth from the Chronicle ā¦
I donāt see the logic unless youāre saying we should yield to right wing threats of violence in response to progress.
Yes, there should be term limits on members of Congress but since the members make the rules there never will be. We have them here and weāre still debating the usefulness.
However, I donāt want to extend this discussion of Feinstein vs. de Leon or Moscone and Milk and what was the meaning of their lives too much longer, and Iām def not saying we should yield to RW threats of any kind. I have one vote, and I use it as I see fit.
Also, I like Feinstein but she is a part of the problem. āModerateā today is center right. Sure, āmoderatesā pay lip service to and even vote for socially liberal positions but when it comes to everything else the country has been dragged to the right.
But Feinstein isnāt a problem to āmoderateā Democrats and Republicans, all part of the Ruling Class. WiFi and husband have bleeded CA out of tens of millions of revenue dollars over the past decades. How she gets away with it, directly money and contracts to his company, is of no matter to her Democrat and Republican donors. Sheās a member of the Pig Rich ruling class. And itās all documented.
I didnāt think you were but I do think thatās what the editorial board had in mind, a sort of both siderism. I donāt think youāre a proponent of both siderism either.
My impression is that you feel strongly positive about Feinstein and I fully respect that.
My support for Feinstein is softer. I can see myself supporting someone else but de Leon isnāt looking like that someone. On paper he looks good but his campaign and weak response to bad acting colleagues (not just sexual harassment but he appears to have been involved in helping a colleagueās kid get out of legal trouble back in LA).
Funny thing about our back & forth here is that Iām feeling more solid about voting Feinstein. I havenāt had the time to think much about the senate race but the more I consider pro/cons, despite criticisms, Feinstein looks like the vote for me.
Are you a CA voter?
If so, what do you think of de Leon?
Feinstein and why sheās valuable:
And thatās not the only reason.
If Feinstein is replaced, whoever that replacement is wonāt have the seniority she has and wonāt be able to do things like start an investigation of Kavanaugh.
Iām not going to get into an argument over this but itās never just cut and dried.
Full disclosure: I have never met her, but Feinstein is my 2nd cousin 1x removed.
That being said, her time has passed.