A Good Overview
Of the various recall blogs.
Friday, September 19, 2003
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Yelling at the Chicanos in Buena Park
This was a fun, but strange weekend (Sept. 13 - 14). I don't think I garnered a single vote from all the activity, but I did participate in some interesting events.
Saturday morning, I flew from Sacramento down to John Wayne Airport, Orange County. Fellow candidate Cheryl Bly-Chester was also riding the same flight, so we talked all the way down. Discovered she has travelled the world (e.g., South Africa) on various kayak adventures. Interesting!
At the airport, we rented separate cars, and made the long journey on the freeways into downtown LA. We parked the cars and entered the Standard Hotel, a jewel of Standard Oil's real estate empire. We went to a roof terrace where photo-taking is prohibited because of the upscale clientele (didn't see anyone famous, though). We gathered with the other Candidate Forum candidates (James Vandeventer, Jr., Jon Zellhoefer, D.E. Kessenger, Jonathan Miller, Lawrence Strauss, Sara Ann Hanlon, plus a smattering of friends and two of the documentary crews that have been following us around this campaign). Sadly, our organizing host, the colorful Thunder Trek Kelley, had another committment and couldn't attend.
We discussed various Forum activities, such as approaching the major candidates to join with us in a unified appeal to the electorate. But we soon had to break for the afternoon activities. Cheryl and one documentary crew headed off to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, where a pro-recall rally was going to be held. Afterwards, they were going to go over to the Republican Endorsement convention. Jonathan left a bit early to go to the Democratic Endorsement convention, in the LA Convention Center adjacent to Staples Center, and I followed a short time later.
The Democratic Endorsement convention was in full swing when I arrived. I was pleased I got the last candidate ID badge, which was supposed to go Cruz Bustamante, but he hadn't appeared yet. Art Torres (state Democratic chairman, retired) regaled the audience, and he had things well in hand. Candidate Jonathan Miller was there, as was Dick Lane. I saw Kirsten Zadekia Xanthippe (who did 'Evita' with us at DMTC in 2000) hard at work, doing press operations.
Governor Gray Davis arrived with great fanfare, and made a speech. Then suddenly, as if by magic, Cruz Bustamante appeared at his side. Davis said, "People wanted to see when we were going to stand together. Well, here we are."
Gray Davis takes the podium at the Democratic Party Special Endorsement Convention, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA, September 13, 2003. Photo taken by candidate Jonathan Miller (with Marc Valdez's camera).
The endorsement election featured 11 candidates, of which I was one (although I recommended 'No Endorsement' in my written statement presented for the delegate's consideration). Cruz Bustamante won, of course, but 14.2% of the delegates voted for No Endorsement. For a few minutes, I thought I might have had something to do with that, but then I saw a flyer on which the African-American caucus also (for different reasons) recommended No Endorsement (as did a few labor leaders, according to the Sacramento Bee), so I had less influence than I thought (basically zero, really).
As candidates, we had the privilege of watching the counting of the ballots, which was fun. They would bring over spoiled ballots every now and then, and we would ponder the voter's intent. I met three other candidates: Eric Korevaar from San Diego, and Ed Kennedy and Georgy Russell (looking waifish) from the Bay Area. I introduced myself to Bob Mulholland, California's Dark Prince of smashmouth politics. Afterwards, Bustamante spoke, but his address was from a prepared text, and thus lacked sparkle.
After the convention, I went to the pro-recall rally at the Queen Mary, but arrived about an hour after the rally ended. Candidate Diane Templin was still there, however, meticulously interviewing everyone remaining behind with her camera crew. The seaside views were gorgeous in the late afternoon sun, and the ship looked stunning, of course. Afterwards, I ate at a friendly Long Beach cafe (I think it was called the Long Beach Cafe), drove to Buena Park for the next day's activities, got a motel room across the street from the Union Hall across the street where the convention was being held, and tried to catch up on paperwork and sleep.
Long Beach
Sept. 14th
The next day, I prepared for the Special Endorsement Convention of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). As I left the motel, Cheryl Bly-Chester drove up, and we approached the Union Hall together. We encountered candidates Gino Martorana and Leonard Padilla, who were both annoyed that MAPA wanted a $100 entrance fee - no one had been informed in advance about the fee, although a few of us had heard such rumors. In addition, campaigning was forbidden, as was leafletting, and we weren't being allowed to speak (apparently our invitation was merely to make MAPA look powerful, and wasn't a real invitation at all - we were fooled by MAPA's lies). Gino suggested that we enter free as members of the press instead, so most of us entered disguised as the press.
By now, I was feeling pretty mad. Here I was, one of the few Latino Gubernatorial Candidates, having to sneak into MAPA's convention like a mojado (wetback), in order to avoid the $100 fee and thus not bust over the $1000 legal spending limit many of us candidates had promised to uphold (I had a $100 bill in my pocket, so money per se wasn't the problem). Plus, I was also worried about my coyote ethnic status (half Hispanic, half Anglo, can't speak Spanish, quite anglified) and also whether we had all stumbled into a Cruz Bustamante rally of some sort. So, when MAPA's head, Nativo Lopez, said 'today the only female candidate in the race is going to be here, but she hasn't arrived yet', and yet here I was seated right next to Cheryl Bly-Chester, who was very much present, I spoke up: 'She's here! Right here!' A few people looked over, and Lopez repeated his statement, and I repeated myself, only louder. It seemed as if Lopez was not only treating Bly-Chester poorly, but going so far as to deny her existence as a human being at all!
For a third time, Lopez stated 'the only female candidate hasn't arrived yet', and then I blew up. I started shouting at the top of my lungs, to 400 or so of the most organized (and hence prominent) Mexican-Americans in the United States, that she was indeed here, as were several of us California gubernatorial candidates, and that we were being treated poorly by MAPA. Lopez shouted 'order! order!' and stated that if I didn't quiet down immediately, they would throw me out. I then shouted "then I will be the ONLY Latino candidate today thrown out of MAPA's convention!" Big beefy guys converged on me, waited for the order to evict, and then I abruptly threw my hands up in the air, quieted myself, and sat down.
My outburst provided enough time for the only MAJOR female candidate, Arianna Huffington, to arrive at the Union hall. When I realized that was what Lopez was up to, trying to spring Huffington on the audience as a surprise, I began to feel a bit embarrassed. Well, that's what happens when people lie to their guests - friction! About a half-hour later MAPA's Mr. Romero sat down with us and apologized for the hastily-organized nature of the convention (everything is hasty in this campaign). By this time I was in a pretty amiable mood. Mr. Romero chided me not to yell - after all, most of the folks in the hall had skipped church to attend, and indeed, they looked pretty doleful, and maybe a bit frightened of us. I'm sure they had heard there were some real maniacs running for governor, and from what they had just witnessed, what they heard was apparently correct (maybe I should be less quick to yell). Mr. Romero worked out an arrangement with us, by which Mr. Lopez would read a statement, prepared by Cheryl Bly-Chester on our behalf, promoting the gathering of the Candidate's Forum on Monday, Sept. 22nd, in Johnny Carson Park in Burbank across from the NBC studios (when we go for Jay Leno's Tonight Show appearance).
I sat in a distracted mood and listened to Arianna Huffington. She seemed a bit spacy, or maybe that was her accent combined with my distraction. Later that day, I chased her down in the parking lot outside, shook her hand, and praised her anti-Proposition 13 stance. "It's a terrible thing, isn't it?" she said vaguely as she struggled to figure out who the hell I was.
After Arianna, Peter Camejo spoke. What a guy! I remember my misery last year, when I voted for him for governor over Davis. I knew nothing about Camejo at all in November, 2002. Now I realize I made the correct decision. Camejo looks and sounds very similar to my Uncle Ramon, now deceased, who was a schoolteacher by trade, except that Camejo has a very impassioned manner. He spoke almost entirely in Spanish, and easily won over the audience. I don't speak Spanish well, but Camejo's intelligent manner shone through. If the universe was fair, Camejo would be governor. Maybe he can still make it!
Near noon, youth awards were presented. Mingling in the lobby, I realized the bans on campaigning and leafletting were mere formalities, and so we began talking to various people. Most people remained quite distant, but nevertheless a few teenagers approached to collect campaign leaflet souvenirs. I was impressed talking with candidate Thunder Trek Kelley and friend - they both seemed like pretty engaged people, and even candidate Georgy Russell finally deigned to engage in conversation.
In the bathroom, one Hispanic gentleman approached and said how happy he was that there were a few extra Latino candidates for governor on the ballot - he hadn't expected that, and it helped serve as an example for youth. One prominent woman wished me well (Margarita Calderon of the Congress of U.S. Mexican Women Voters), but I sensed pity from her (come on, it's not so bad!) The most interesting conversation was with Carlos Pelayo from La Raza Unida party in San Diego County.
Mr. Pelayo said that I was just one in a long line of people who have found one reason or another to get mad at MAPA (indeed, even last year, MAPA had problems). He suspected that most MAPA veterans found my outburst earlier that morning to be rather amusing. He said that I was going about politics all wrong, that I should be starting at the grass roots rather than just trying to jump to governor (he himself spends his time trying to elect school board candidates in San Diego County). I asked him what he thought of illegal immigration, and his answer was interesting. He said that Mexico and the U.S. have had an understanding for years, by which the U.S. permits illegal immigration in order for Mexico to remain politically stable. The people who would otherwise be available for making much-needed changes in Mexico instead run off to the United States. Thus, Mexico pays a huge price for the supposed virtue of 'stability'.
Candidate Lingel Winters from San Francisco arrived after lunch, and we talked about how pointless the day was turning out from our campaigning perspectives. Gray Davis arrived with entourage, including State Senator Gil Sedillo and Assemblywoman Solis, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and current U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Many speeches were given and I took numerous pictures. Gray Davis answered the stock set of questions the other candidates had answered that morning, and strangely enough stumbled a lot - you would think he'd be used to that by now. One of the angry folks who nearly tossed me out of the building earlier that morning was gracious enough to approach and thank me for staying.
It was time for several of us to go to the airport. Cruz Bustamante was expected, but he never arrived - plane problems in Denver. Thus MAPA apparently never endorsed him, but who they did endorse, if anyone, I still don't know. In the end, some of us paid the $100 MAPA fee (one candidate paid $250!!!) and some of us (e.g., me) didn't.
I drove off in my rent-a-car, and Cheryl and Lingel followed (lost them near the airport, but they appeared again eventually at the terminal gate). I had a pleasant conversation with a fellow named Keith from Tustin on the flight back to Sacramento. Then off (late) to musical theater rehearsal. One busy weekend! No votes to speak of, but hey, it's an education!
Various notables at MAPA special endorsement convention, including MAPA President Nativo Lopez, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and State Senator Gil Sedillo. Just off-camera right, Governor Gray Davis.
This was a fun, but strange weekend (Sept. 13 - 14). I don't think I garnered a single vote from all the activity, but I did participate in some interesting events.
Saturday morning, I flew from Sacramento down to John Wayne Airport, Orange County. Fellow candidate Cheryl Bly-Chester was also riding the same flight, so we talked all the way down. Discovered she has travelled the world (e.g., South Africa) on various kayak adventures. Interesting!
At the airport, we rented separate cars, and made the long journey on the freeways into downtown LA. We parked the cars and entered the Standard Hotel, a jewel of Standard Oil's real estate empire. We went to a roof terrace where photo-taking is prohibited because of the upscale clientele (didn't see anyone famous, though). We gathered with the other Candidate Forum candidates (James Vandeventer, Jr., Jon Zellhoefer, D.E. Kessenger, Jonathan Miller, Lawrence Strauss, Sara Ann Hanlon, plus a smattering of friends and two of the documentary crews that have been following us around this campaign). Sadly, our organizing host, the colorful Thunder Trek Kelley, had another committment and couldn't attend.
We discussed various Forum activities, such as approaching the major candidates to join with us in a unified appeal to the electorate. But we soon had to break for the afternoon activities. Cheryl and one documentary crew headed off to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, where a pro-recall rally was going to be held. Afterwards, they were going to go over to the Republican Endorsement convention. Jonathan left a bit early to go to the Democratic Endorsement convention, in the LA Convention Center adjacent to Staples Center, and I followed a short time later.
The Democratic Endorsement convention was in full swing when I arrived. I was pleased I got the last candidate ID badge, which was supposed to go Cruz Bustamante, but he hadn't appeared yet. Art Torres (state Democratic chairman, retired) regaled the audience, and he had things well in hand. Candidate Jonathan Miller was there, as was Dick Lane. I saw Kirsten Zadekia Xanthippe (who did 'Evita' with us at DMTC in 2000) hard at work, doing press operations.
Governor Gray Davis arrived with great fanfare, and made a speech. Then suddenly, as if by magic, Cruz Bustamante appeared at his side. Davis said, "People wanted to see when we were going to stand together. Well, here we are."
Gray Davis takes the podium at the Democratic Party Special Endorsement Convention, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA, September 13, 2003. Photo taken by candidate Jonathan Miller (with Marc Valdez's camera).
The endorsement election featured 11 candidates, of which I was one (although I recommended 'No Endorsement' in my written statement presented for the delegate's consideration). Cruz Bustamante won, of course, but 14.2% of the delegates voted for No Endorsement. For a few minutes, I thought I might have had something to do with that, but then I saw a flyer on which the African-American caucus also (for different reasons) recommended No Endorsement (as did a few labor leaders, according to the Sacramento Bee), so I had less influence than I thought (basically zero, really).
As candidates, we had the privilege of watching the counting of the ballots, which was fun. They would bring over spoiled ballots every now and then, and we would ponder the voter's intent. I met three other candidates: Eric Korevaar from San Diego, and Ed Kennedy and Georgy Russell (looking waifish) from the Bay Area. I introduced myself to Bob Mulholland, California's Dark Prince of smashmouth politics. Afterwards, Bustamante spoke, but his address was from a prepared text, and thus lacked sparkle.
After the convention, I went to the pro-recall rally at the Queen Mary, but arrived about an hour after the rally ended. Candidate Diane Templin was still there, however, meticulously interviewing everyone remaining behind with her camera crew. The seaside views were gorgeous in the late afternoon sun, and the ship looked stunning, of course. Afterwards, I ate at a friendly Long Beach cafe (I think it was called the Long Beach Cafe), drove to Buena Park for the next day's activities, got a motel room across the street from the Union Hall across the street where the convention was being held, and tried to catch up on paperwork and sleep.
Long Beach
Sept. 14th
The next day, I prepared for the Special Endorsement Convention of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). As I left the motel, Cheryl Bly-Chester drove up, and we approached the Union Hall together. We encountered candidates Gino Martorana and Leonard Padilla, who were both annoyed that MAPA wanted a $100 entrance fee - no one had been informed in advance about the fee, although a few of us had heard such rumors. In addition, campaigning was forbidden, as was leafletting, and we weren't being allowed to speak (apparently our invitation was merely to make MAPA look powerful, and wasn't a real invitation at all - we were fooled by MAPA's lies). Gino suggested that we enter free as members of the press instead, so most of us entered disguised as the press.
By now, I was feeling pretty mad. Here I was, one of the few Latino Gubernatorial Candidates, having to sneak into MAPA's convention like a mojado (wetback), in order to avoid the $100 fee and thus not bust over the $1000 legal spending limit many of us candidates had promised to uphold (I had a $100 bill in my pocket, so money per se wasn't the problem). Plus, I was also worried about my coyote ethnic status (half Hispanic, half Anglo, can't speak Spanish, quite anglified) and also whether we had all stumbled into a Cruz Bustamante rally of some sort. So, when MAPA's head, Nativo Lopez, said 'today the only female candidate in the race is going to be here, but she hasn't arrived yet', and yet here I was seated right next to Cheryl Bly-Chester, who was very much present, I spoke up: 'She's here! Right here!' A few people looked over, and Lopez repeated his statement, and I repeated myself, only louder. It seemed as if Lopez was not only treating Bly-Chester poorly, but going so far as to deny her existence as a human being at all!
For a third time, Lopez stated 'the only female candidate hasn't arrived yet', and then I blew up. I started shouting at the top of my lungs, to 400 or so of the most organized (and hence prominent) Mexican-Americans in the United States, that she was indeed here, as were several of us California gubernatorial candidates, and that we were being treated poorly by MAPA. Lopez shouted 'order! order!' and stated that if I didn't quiet down immediately, they would throw me out. I then shouted "then I will be the ONLY Latino candidate today thrown out of MAPA's convention!" Big beefy guys converged on me, waited for the order to evict, and then I abruptly threw my hands up in the air, quieted myself, and sat down.
My outburst provided enough time for the only MAJOR female candidate, Arianna Huffington, to arrive at the Union hall. When I realized that was what Lopez was up to, trying to spring Huffington on the audience as a surprise, I began to feel a bit embarrassed. Well, that's what happens when people lie to their guests - friction! About a half-hour later MAPA's Mr. Romero sat down with us and apologized for the hastily-organized nature of the convention (everything is hasty in this campaign). By this time I was in a pretty amiable mood. Mr. Romero chided me not to yell - after all, most of the folks in the hall had skipped church to attend, and indeed, they looked pretty doleful, and maybe a bit frightened of us. I'm sure they had heard there were some real maniacs running for governor, and from what they had just witnessed, what they heard was apparently correct (maybe I should be less quick to yell). Mr. Romero worked out an arrangement with us, by which Mr. Lopez would read a statement, prepared by Cheryl Bly-Chester on our behalf, promoting the gathering of the Candidate's Forum on Monday, Sept. 22nd, in Johnny Carson Park in Burbank across from the NBC studios (when we go for Jay Leno's Tonight Show appearance).
I sat in a distracted mood and listened to Arianna Huffington. She seemed a bit spacy, or maybe that was her accent combined with my distraction. Later that day, I chased her down in the parking lot outside, shook her hand, and praised her anti-Proposition 13 stance. "It's a terrible thing, isn't it?" she said vaguely as she struggled to figure out who the hell I was.
After Arianna, Peter Camejo spoke. What a guy! I remember my misery last year, when I voted for him for governor over Davis. I knew nothing about Camejo at all in November, 2002. Now I realize I made the correct decision. Camejo looks and sounds very similar to my Uncle Ramon, now deceased, who was a schoolteacher by trade, except that Camejo has a very impassioned manner. He spoke almost entirely in Spanish, and easily won over the audience. I don't speak Spanish well, but Camejo's intelligent manner shone through. If the universe was fair, Camejo would be governor. Maybe he can still make it!
Near noon, youth awards were presented. Mingling in the lobby, I realized the bans on campaigning and leafletting were mere formalities, and so we began talking to various people. Most people remained quite distant, but nevertheless a few teenagers approached to collect campaign leaflet souvenirs. I was impressed talking with candidate Thunder Trek Kelley and friend - they both seemed like pretty engaged people, and even candidate Georgy Russell finally deigned to engage in conversation.
In the bathroom, one Hispanic gentleman approached and said how happy he was that there were a few extra Latino candidates for governor on the ballot - he hadn't expected that, and it helped serve as an example for youth. One prominent woman wished me well (Margarita Calderon of the Congress of U.S. Mexican Women Voters), but I sensed pity from her (come on, it's not so bad!) The most interesting conversation was with Carlos Pelayo from La Raza Unida party in San Diego County.
Mr. Pelayo said that I was just one in a long line of people who have found one reason or another to get mad at MAPA (indeed, even last year, MAPA had problems). He suspected that most MAPA veterans found my outburst earlier that morning to be rather amusing. He said that I was going about politics all wrong, that I should be starting at the grass roots rather than just trying to jump to governor (he himself spends his time trying to elect school board candidates in San Diego County). I asked him what he thought of illegal immigration, and his answer was interesting. He said that Mexico and the U.S. have had an understanding for years, by which the U.S. permits illegal immigration in order for Mexico to remain politically stable. The people who would otherwise be available for making much-needed changes in Mexico instead run off to the United States. Thus, Mexico pays a huge price for the supposed virtue of 'stability'.
Candidate Lingel Winters from San Francisco arrived after lunch, and we talked about how pointless the day was turning out from our campaigning perspectives. Gray Davis arrived with entourage, including State Senator Gil Sedillo and Assemblywoman Solis, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and current U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Many speeches were given and I took numerous pictures. Gray Davis answered the stock set of questions the other candidates had answered that morning, and strangely enough stumbled a lot - you would think he'd be used to that by now. One of the angry folks who nearly tossed me out of the building earlier that morning was gracious enough to approach and thank me for staying.
It was time for several of us to go to the airport. Cruz Bustamante was expected, but he never arrived - plane problems in Denver. Thus MAPA apparently never endorsed him, but who they did endorse, if anyone, I still don't know. In the end, some of us paid the $100 MAPA fee (one candidate paid $250!!!) and some of us (e.g., me) didn't.
I drove off in my rent-a-car, and Cheryl and Lingel followed (lost them near the airport, but they appeared again eventually at the terminal gate). I had a pleasant conversation with a fellow named Keith from Tustin on the flight back to Sacramento. Then off (late) to musical theater rehearsal. One busy weekend! No votes to speak of, but hey, it's an education!
Various notables at MAPA special endorsement convention, including MAPA President Nativo Lopez, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and State Senator Gil Sedillo. Just off-camera right, Governor Gray Davis.
Friday, September 12, 2003
Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show'
OK folks, here it is! Check under Crazy-fornia at this link for my brief shining moment (although I'm identified as an Environmental Activist rather than as a Gubernatorial Candidate)!
OK folks, here it is! Check under Crazy-fornia at this link for my brief shining moment (although I'm identified as an Environmental Activist rather than as a Gubernatorial Candidate)!
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Big Weekend Meetings Coming Up!
A two minute campaign video, which is being sent to California Connected, LA Cable 36, and Purple Cow in San Francisco.
A two minute campaign video, which is being sent to California Connected, LA Cable 36, and Purple Cow in San Francisco.
Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show'
My bit aired last night, September 10th, on Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show'! Aarghhh! I was apoplectic when I came into work late and saw an E-Mail message from my friend John in Oklahoma that the show had aired, because the folks in New York had told me they would warn me beforehand, so I could alert others. I raced home, but it was too late. The New York folks HAD called and left a message on the answering machine, but I hadn't checked messages before heading out to musical theater rehearsal. The show aired again at 1 a.m., however, so I finally did get to see it. Steve was going to use his TIVO system to tape it at 7 a.m. here, so maybe we'll have something to post later on, or maybe The Daily Show will post it themselves in a few days, as they often do with Corddry's interviews (see Corrdry - On the Road, at the bottom of the page called up by the link above).
I was surprised how little footage they used. They were at the house for nearly two hours. Life in the fast lane, I guess! At least they used the Arnold impression, probably the funniest bit.
Anyway, no 15 minutes of national fame, more like 15 seconds. Still, it's a start!
My bit aired last night, September 10th, on Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show'! Aarghhh! I was apoplectic when I came into work late and saw an E-Mail message from my friend John in Oklahoma that the show had aired, because the folks in New York had told me they would warn me beforehand, so I could alert others. I raced home, but it was too late. The New York folks HAD called and left a message on the answering machine, but I hadn't checked messages before heading out to musical theater rehearsal. The show aired again at 1 a.m., however, so I finally did get to see it. Steve was going to use his TIVO system to tape it at 7 a.m. here, so maybe we'll have something to post later on, or maybe The Daily Show will post it themselves in a few days, as they often do with Corddry's interviews (see Corrdry - On the Road, at the bottom of the page called up by the link above).
I was surprised how little footage they used. They were at the house for nearly two hours. Life in the fast lane, I guess! At least they used the Arnold impression, probably the funniest bit.
Anyway, no 15 minutes of national fame, more like 15 seconds. Still, it's a start!
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Last Weekend in Beverly Hills
On Sunday, the Candidate's Forum met at RJ's Restaurant in downtown Beverly Hills. At first I was going to fly down on Southwest Airlines, but then Jim Weir from Grass Valley, one of the other gubernatorial candidates, offered up to three other Sacramento-area candidates a ride on his company's Cessna airplane. I was the only one who took him up on his offer. So there I was, after an excitable, completely sleepless night, at Sacramento Executive Airport, a few miles south of where I live, at 6 a.m. on September 7th, watching the sky turn from black to blue, and watching for a little bitty blue Cessna coming from the northeast.
I didn't realize how small Cessnas are. And noisy too. I was able to talk to Jim through a headset. Jim teaches at Sierra College in Rocklin and runs his own electrical engineering firm. Jim is a former Nevada County Supervisor, and thus has political experience. It was a beautiful day to fly, and we settled in for the 3 hour flight down the Central Valley, to Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley.
Except my bladder didn't settle in. I had had quite a bit of fluid, including a soda, before getting on the plane, and thus I found myself in considerable discomfort. Somewhere south of Lemoore NAS, more than a mile above the ground, I learned the art of peeing on a Cessna, using an empty plastic water bottle I had, and praying for no turbulence. Surprisingly, everything passed without incident, and I settled in for a more comfortable flight (although I'm sure Jim had doubts about my judgement, especially regarding the soda).
Approaching Van Nuys, much to Jim's annoyance, a Comanche aircraft crossed our path (airspace is a bit crowded in the LA area). After landing, Jim parked the aircraft, and after losing him in an abortive and embarrassing effort to locate fellow candidate Lawrence Strauss, an effort that put me behind various security cordons, we finally all got reunited for a lift from Lawrence down to RJ's.
Various press clustered around the door of RJ's. I said hello to Cheryl Bly-Chester and Frank Macaluso, and changed my shirt. We moved tables around to form an approximate circle of furniture in the back of the restaurant, and the meeting started.
What a boisterous crowd! Many opinions, some of them clashing, filled the air, stoked by the presence of the cameras we decided to permit to attend. Fortunately, there's a film crew capturing the craziness for a documentary (working title: 'Katie, Bar the Door!'), so maybe in a few months everyone will get a flavor of it.
My main goal was to air my plan to poll the candidates as to the feasibility of the Candidate's Forum endorsing or recommending one or several of us as being best suited to becoming governor of California. Indeed, my polling has already started.
We candidates hold a unique place in California - because of the Candidate's Forum, and other venues where candidates actually meet face-to-face, better than most Californians, we can judge who might make the best governor of the state - because we've met them, or know who they are! Through the media, our collective judgment may perhaps affect the course of the race, by elevating new names, and knocking aside the Top 5 the media seem to prefer to focus on.
In any event, it was a fun day. Met a lot of candidates I haven't seen before. Didn't get any press attention, but c'est la vie. Jon Zellhoefer spent time talking to the press and looking appropriately gubernatorial.
After the meeting, candidate John Beard drove Jim Weir and myself back to Van Nuys Airport. I made a crass comment that probably sounded anti-Semitic: as we passed the impressive Los Angeles Temple, and John rattled off a few names of people who go there, I said something like "and I suppose that isn't a MORMON temple, is it?" John said nothing. But he was nice enough to give Jim and I bright pink hollow plastic piggy banks that say "$ave California - Elect John Beard Governor 10/7/03". John owns a company that produces campaign paraphernalia, so he had a bevy of buttons and bumper stickers as well.
The flight back was quiet. The views were beautiful. The day was one of public meetings and private embarrassments. Then afterwards, 'Music Man' rehearsal at DMTC in Davis (opens Sept. 19th).
Candidate Jon Zellhoeffer speaks excitedly at the Candidate’s Forum, RJ’s Restaurant, Beverly Hills, CA, September 7, 2003. Also pictured on left are candidates D.E. Kessenger (right), Jim Weir, and Sara Ann Hanlon.
On Sunday, the Candidate's Forum met at RJ's Restaurant in downtown Beverly Hills. At first I was going to fly down on Southwest Airlines, but then Jim Weir from Grass Valley, one of the other gubernatorial candidates, offered up to three other Sacramento-area candidates a ride on his company's Cessna airplane. I was the only one who took him up on his offer. So there I was, after an excitable, completely sleepless night, at Sacramento Executive Airport, a few miles south of where I live, at 6 a.m. on September 7th, watching the sky turn from black to blue, and watching for a little bitty blue Cessna coming from the northeast.
I didn't realize how small Cessnas are. And noisy too. I was able to talk to Jim through a headset. Jim teaches at Sierra College in Rocklin and runs his own electrical engineering firm. Jim is a former Nevada County Supervisor, and thus has political experience. It was a beautiful day to fly, and we settled in for the 3 hour flight down the Central Valley, to Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley.
Except my bladder didn't settle in. I had had quite a bit of fluid, including a soda, before getting on the plane, and thus I found myself in considerable discomfort. Somewhere south of Lemoore NAS, more than a mile above the ground, I learned the art of peeing on a Cessna, using an empty plastic water bottle I had, and praying for no turbulence. Surprisingly, everything passed without incident, and I settled in for a more comfortable flight (although I'm sure Jim had doubts about my judgement, especially regarding the soda).
Approaching Van Nuys, much to Jim's annoyance, a Comanche aircraft crossed our path (airspace is a bit crowded in the LA area). After landing, Jim parked the aircraft, and after losing him in an abortive and embarrassing effort to locate fellow candidate Lawrence Strauss, an effort that put me behind various security cordons, we finally all got reunited for a lift from Lawrence down to RJ's.
Various press clustered around the door of RJ's. I said hello to Cheryl Bly-Chester and Frank Macaluso, and changed my shirt. We moved tables around to form an approximate circle of furniture in the back of the restaurant, and the meeting started.
What a boisterous crowd! Many opinions, some of them clashing, filled the air, stoked by the presence of the cameras we decided to permit to attend. Fortunately, there's a film crew capturing the craziness for a documentary (working title: 'Katie, Bar the Door!'), so maybe in a few months everyone will get a flavor of it.
My main goal was to air my plan to poll the candidates as to the feasibility of the Candidate's Forum endorsing or recommending one or several of us as being best suited to becoming governor of California. Indeed, my polling has already started.
We candidates hold a unique place in California - because of the Candidate's Forum, and other venues where candidates actually meet face-to-face, better than most Californians, we can judge who might make the best governor of the state - because we've met them, or know who they are! Through the media, our collective judgment may perhaps affect the course of the race, by elevating new names, and knocking aside the Top 5 the media seem to prefer to focus on.
In any event, it was a fun day. Met a lot of candidates I haven't seen before. Didn't get any press attention, but c'est la vie. Jon Zellhoefer spent time talking to the press and looking appropriately gubernatorial.
After the meeting, candidate John Beard drove Jim Weir and myself back to Van Nuys Airport. I made a crass comment that probably sounded anti-Semitic: as we passed the impressive Los Angeles Temple, and John rattled off a few names of people who go there, I said something like "and I suppose that isn't a MORMON temple, is it?" John said nothing. But he was nice enough to give Jim and I bright pink hollow plastic piggy banks that say "$ave California - Elect John Beard Governor 10/7/03". John owns a company that produces campaign paraphernalia, so he had a bevy of buttons and bumper stickers as well.
The flight back was quiet. The views were beautiful. The day was one of public meetings and private embarrassments. Then afterwards, 'Music Man' rehearsal at DMTC in Davis (opens Sept. 19th).
Candidate Jon Zellhoeffer speaks excitedly at the Candidate’s Forum, RJ’s Restaurant, Beverly Hills, CA, September 7, 2003. Also pictured on left are candidates D.E. Kessenger (right), Jim Weir, and Sara Ann Hanlon.
Friday, September 05, 2003
Friday, August 29, 2003
Truth to Power
Marc Valdez delivers a letter of complaint (content on my gubernatorial web log) to a representative of Governor Gray Davis (according to Diana Foss, his name is Yanni), on the west steps of the California State Capitol, Sacramento, August 29, 2003. Also pictured, left to right, are recall candidates Lawrence Strauss (cut off), Leonard Padilla, and Chris Sproul. Photo by anti-recall candidate Diana Foss.
Marc Valdez delivers a letter of complaint (content on my gubernatorial web log) to a representative of Governor Gray Davis (according to Diana Foss, his name is Yanni), on the west steps of the California State Capitol, Sacramento, August 29, 2003. Also pictured, left to right, are recall candidates Lawrence Strauss (cut off), Leonard Padilla, and Chris Sproul. Photo by anti-recall candidate Diana Foss.
Meet and Greet
Today, roughly ten recall candidates met on the west steps of the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, to deliver letters of protest to Governor Gray Davis. This collaborative effort was spearheaded by recall candidate Lawrence Strauss, with help by recall candidates Cheryl Bly-Chester, Jon Zellhoefer, and Leonard Padilla. I'm a rather latecomer to these efforts to forge a common position on some issues amongst the recall candidates, since the efforts started while trying to come to a common agreement on how to approach the media, with respect to the Leno appearance on Sept. 22nd, and I had already decided not to attend that. But the idea of a common approach to matters we have in common still has appeal, and I'm glad to join - starting today, and tomorrow, with the USS Hornet meeting in Alameda.
These candidates are a fine group of people! Great, energetic people! Several other recall candidates were there too. I helped anti-recall candidate Chris Sproul arrange his interview with John Hancock over at the California Channel, across from the State Capitol. While there, I met recall candidate Chuck Pineda, who was just about to undergo John Hancock's grilling. Other candidates I met just briefly: Diana Foss and Patricia Tilley. And there may have been another candidate, but he was trying not to associate with us.
A great time, with more to come!
Today, roughly ten recall candidates met on the west steps of the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, to deliver letters of protest to Governor Gray Davis. This collaborative effort was spearheaded by recall candidate Lawrence Strauss, with help by recall candidates Cheryl Bly-Chester, Jon Zellhoefer, and Leonard Padilla. I'm a rather latecomer to these efforts to forge a common position on some issues amongst the recall candidates, since the efforts started while trying to come to a common agreement on how to approach the media, with respect to the Leno appearance on Sept. 22nd, and I had already decided not to attend that. But the idea of a common approach to matters we have in common still has appeal, and I'm glad to join - starting today, and tomorrow, with the USS Hornet meeting in Alameda.
These candidates are a fine group of people! Great, energetic people! Several other recall candidates were there too. I helped anti-recall candidate Chris Sproul arrange his interview with John Hancock over at the California Channel, across from the State Capitol. While there, I met recall candidate Chuck Pineda, who was just about to undergo John Hancock's grilling. Other candidates I met just briefly: Diana Foss and Patricia Tilley. And there may have been another candidate, but he was trying not to associate with us.
A great time, with more to come!
Mindless Entertainment
On Thursday, I went on a hurried journey to Mindless Entertainment Inc., located across the street from Paramount Studios in Hollywood, to audition for the Game Show Network's (GSN's) 'Who Wants to be Governor of California?', a debate among five pre-selected candidates, in a game-show format, to be filmed in late September and aired on Cable TV across the U.S. on October 1st. The interview went well - I hope very much that I'm picked. Not just because I want to win the $21,000+ campaign cash prize, but because I believe that GSN's approach actually represents THE major innovation of the campaign, perhaps a revolutionary development that can break the stranglehold Big Money has on campaigns nationwide.
On Thursday, I went on a hurried journey to Mindless Entertainment Inc., located across the street from Paramount Studios in Hollywood, to audition for the Game Show Network's (GSN's) 'Who Wants to be Governor of California?', a debate among five pre-selected candidates, in a game-show format, to be filmed in late September and aired on Cable TV across the U.S. on October 1st. The interview went well - I hope very much that I'm picked. Not just because I want to win the $21,000+ campaign cash prize, but because I believe that GSN's approach actually represents THE major innovation of the campaign, perhaps a revolutionary development that can break the stranglehold Big Money has on campaigns nationwide.
What is it we miss most in American politics? Spirited political debate, the kind that thrived at saloons and debating clubs across America in the early 19th Century. Legendary debaters, like Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, the triumvirate that dominated the Great Compromise of 1850 Congressional debates, or Lincoln and Douglas, campaigning in the Illinois Congressional elections of 1858, were merely the tip of the iceberg of American rhetoricians.
After modern politics got its start, in the stump speeches of Bryan, and the Big Money approach of McKinley in 1896, the older art form steadily died. Throughout the 20th Century, newspapers, radio, and TV slowly strangled the art of political debate. Today, we have self-financed and pay-to-play campaigns, costing millions, run by people who couldn't argue their way out of a 19th Century saloon.
When you have an election with many candidates (like this recall campaign), however, it's possible to bring back the old art form, in a new guise. All you need is an ambitious media mogul and some money. First, you audition the candidates, and preselect the ones you want to compete. The competition can take any form. It can be a traditional debate, or it could be something else: a cookoff on a cooking channel, or a tournament on a golf channel, or perhaps a first date with a supermodel on a channel that focuses on relationships. The winner gets cash for their campaign, and then on to the next round of debates. The excellent free media exposure saves the candidates precious resources, the cash fuels the campaign, and the mogul exercises an indirect influence on politics. Cheaper than the current form of modern politics for the various candidates, the new approach strengthens candidates' rhetorical skills, and could well break the back of old-style campaigning. I want GSN's nod, just to see what I might be able to do with this new political toy. The future begins here, and it begins now! Farewell the old, stale, lesser-of-two-evils campaign (provided the old 2 candidate system can be dealt a death blow - that might be the hardest part).
After the interview, I had time to burn, so, following local custom, I energetically drove my rented car all around Hollywood. I visited a fabulous old bookstore on Melrose Ave., and wandered in-and-out of shops, up-and-down Melrose's wonderful youth-oriented shopping strip. What must it be like to go to high school at Fairfax or Hollywood High Schools, so close to all that glitters? If I was a teenage girl with shopaholic tendencies and a credit card, I'd probably go nuts. I drove past various interesting landmarks, like the Whiskey-a-Go-Go, the Will and Ariel Durant branch of the LA Public Library, the Valdez Guitar Shop, the CNN Tower, KNX Radio (I should have stopped in), and a zillion restaurants, travel agencies, and tattoo parlors. And, of course, despite the bustle, very few pedestrians. The sidewalks were eerily quiet, even by lazy Sacramento standards:
Artist : Persons Missing
Song : Walking In LA
Lyrics Available at Let's Sing It
Look ahead as we fast try to focus on it
I won't be fooled by a cheap cinematic trick
It must have been just a cardboard cut out of a man
Top forty cast off from the record stand
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
I don't know could have been a lame jogger maybe
or someone just about to do the freeway strangler baby
Shopping cart pusher or maybe someone groovy
One things for sure he isn't starrin in a movie coz he's
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
You won't see a cop walkin on the beat
You only see him drivin cars on the street
You won't see a kid walkin home from school
Their mothers pick them up in a car pool
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Could it be the smog's playing tricks on my eyes
Or it's a rollerskater in some kind of headphone disguise
Maybe somebody who just ran out of gas
Makin his way back to the pumps the best way he can
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Now Am I Just Confused?
I thought the 45-minute claim referred to Iraqi attacks on Britain, not in Iraq.
I thought the 45-minute claim referred to Iraqi attacks on Britain, not in Iraq.
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