Reader Poll
I was thinking about the recent MoveOn poll about Democratic candidates and realized that I didn’t have a good feel for what the Say No to Pombo readership thinks about the candidates. Sure, there have been some vocal commenters, but there are a lot more of you who keep quite and lurk. I’m hoping you lurkers might break you silence and post (you can do so anonymously if you wish) on this thread. Alternatively, you can e-mail me your response and I promise to keep your personal info confidential.
So here are the questions:
1) Do you live in the district? If so, which county? If not, which state?
2) How excited are you about the following declared candidates? (Rate them 1-10, with 10 being very excited, and a 1 being not excited at all. Put an X by any candidate you know too little about to rate.)
Steve Filson
Jerry McNerney
Steve Thomas
3) Using the same directions as above, how excited would you be if the following candidates entered the race?
Mike Machado
Pete McCloskey
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race?
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically.
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo?
8) Feel free to append any additional comments.
Tags:
posted by Matt @ 10:24 PM
32 Comments:
1. No.
2. Filson 4
McNerny 6
Thomas 3
3. Machado x
McCloskey 7
4. Ensign 5
5. pragmatic progressive democrat
6. 2-3x week
7. 8
SNTP is a great blog. Great citizen journalism.
Which means: my only caveat, that the more "journalism" you all do here...the more important it is to temper the out and out personal stuff which could...as things heat up...pose the danger of adding a "gossip" factor here that you might not want.
Like many loyal readers...I, too, REALLY want to defeat Pombo.
K/O
Thanks for the response. I'm not sure if you did this on purpose, but I want to make sure people know that it's okay to give multiple candidates the same rating if you feel equally enthusiastic about their candidacies. There is no need to rate the candidates sequentially unless that's how you feel about them.
1)
No, California.
2)
Steve Filson 3
Jerry McNerney 7
Steve Thomas X
3)
Mike Machado 8
Pete McCloskey 8
4)
Margee Ensign 7
5) pragmatic progressive democrat
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
3-4x week
7) 9
SNTP is a very useful and engaging blog that is consistently original and worthwhile to read.
1) Do you live in the district? If so, which county? If not, which state?
-Yes, San Joaquin
2) How excited are you about the following declared candidates? (Rate them 1-10, with 10 being very excited, and a 1 being not excited at all. Put an X by any candidate you know too little about to rate.)
1 - Steve Filson
8 - Jerry McNerney
4 - Steve Thomas
3) Using the same directions as above, how excited would you be if the following candidates entered the race?
6 - Mike Machado
6 - Pete McCloskey
-And I point out excited yes, but I don't necessarily equate excitment with support.
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race?
6
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically.
Progressive Democrat.
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
Every Day.
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo?
8
8) Feel free to append any additional comments.
I consider your blog to be a center piece of the anti-pombo/11th cd blogosphere. I consider the content and analysis to be objective and honest and I certainly appreciate it.
I hope you keep up the good work.
1. Yes
2. Filson 4, McNerney 8, Thomas 2
3. Machado 0, McCloskey 9
4. Ensign 6
5. Green
6. 3 or 4 times / week
7. 7 A great place to keep up on campaign events, not so great at really following issues. There is some validity to a comment from the Righty SanJoaquinBlog that it is all complaint and no ideas about what the candidates would do better.
1. No - Alameda County
2. Filson 7
McNeerny 7
Thomas ?
3. Machado 5
McClsoky 7
4. Ensign ?
5. Pragmatic Progressive
6. I'm new - so I visit daily
7. 10
Extremely helpful for someone new to the Pombo fight
1) Do you live in the district? If so, which county? If not, which state?
No...I live in Alameda County tho, in Castro Valley.
2) How excited are you about the following declared candidates? (Rate them 1-10, with 10 being very excited, and a 1 being not excited at all. Put an X by any candidate you know too little about to rate.)
Steve Filson 0
Jerry McNerney 10
Steve Thomas 0
3) Using the same directions as above, how excited would you be if the following candidates entered the race?
Mike Machado 0
Pete McCloskey 3
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race?
Ensign 4
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically.
Pragmatic progressive Democrat with a streak of idealism. I know that's more than 5 words...so shoot me.
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
4 x a week
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo?
9
8) Feel free to append any additional comments.
I should also disclose that I work very closely with the McNerney campaign as a volunteer staff person.
1)
Yes, Contra Costa
2)
Filson: 1 - He seems arrogant.
McNerney: 4 - I hope this number goes up.
Thomas: X - I have trouble taking his campaign seriously.
3)
Machado: X - but 4 based on things I hear.
McCloskey: 7 - Probably best bet to oust Pombo at this point. Wish he was a "D".
4)
Ensign: 8 - Not so much because of her politics as for her grasp of and long-standing concern about the issues.
5)
Centrist "D"
6)
Daily
7)
9 - A great way to keep tabs on the race.
So here are the questions:
1) Do you live in the district? If so, which county? If not, which state? Alameda County
2) How excited are you about the following declared candidates? (Rate them 1-10, with 10 being very excited, and a 1 being not excited at all. Put an X by any candidate you know too little about to rate.)
Steve Filson-0
Jerry McNerney-10
Steve Thomas-x
3) Using the same directions as above, how excited would you be if the following candidates entered the race?
Mike Machado-3
Pete McCloskey-3
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race?-0
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically.Liberal/progressive
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo? Occasionally
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo?-8
8) Feel free to append any additional comments I am a strong McNerney supporter.
1. No - San Francisco.
2. - 4. Not all that familiar with anyone but McCloskey, whom I admire a lot. Truth be told, I haven't paid all that much attention to the primary because just about anybody would be infinitely better than Pombo. Sounds like Filson is well-financed but lukewarm; McNerney has guts but maybe electability questions. Sorry if this is less than helpful.
5. Pragmatic moderate-to-progressive democrat
6. 3-4 times per week.
7. 9
What Kid Oakland said: y'all are doing great work here.
1)
Yes. Tracy.
2)
Steve Filson 9
Jerry McNerney 0
Steve Thomas 0
3)
Mike Machado 1
Pete McCloskey 6
4)
Margee Ensign 5
5) Socially Progressive, Fiscally Conservative Democrat
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
4 or 5 times weekly
7) 6
It kind of disappoints me to see that someone called Filson arrogant. I don't where that impression comes from. Everyone I know who has spent a few minutes talking to him knows that isn't true. And he appears to be taking the high ground in this race. I don't see a lot of people logging on to SNTP or Kos to bash McNerny. Filson's not running that kind of campaign. It would be nice if the McNerny people who are so hostile would keep in mind that this race isn't about McNerny or Filson (or Thomas, I guess). It's about beating Richard Pombo. We're all going to have to join forces eventually--it would be nice if everyone could remember that.
Also, I think someone should point out that McNerny is not a moderate. He is a progressive democrat--which is fine, don't get me wrong--but he specifically hired his campaign manager "to help polish his moderate Democratic image." That's an exact quote from the Tri-Valley Herald on Dec. 14. McNerny is either progressive or moderate--he can't have it both ways.
In reference to the last comment:
1) Nobody said Filson WAS arrogant. The commenter said he "seemed arrogant." You may disagree, and I allow you to do so on my blog because I think it's good to air our points of agreement and our points of disagreement frankly and openly. But you cannot invalidate someone's perception by saying they should not have perceived what they did. I can attest to the fact that I have heard a number of people say Filson comes off as arrogant. If you will notice, the person who said Filson SEEMED arrogant is not a big McNerney fan and described himself/herself as a "Centrist D." Since it is unlikely they have an ideological bone to pick with Filson, I think anyone who supports Filson should discuss how he comes across. You can ignore these perceptions at the candidates own peril.
2) I don't see a bunch of McNerney people bashing Filson, but I have seen a bunch of Filson people bashing McNerney.
Furthermore, I know a lot of criticism of Filson, such as it is, has been prompted by a lot of tripe from Filson supporters on the blogs. Even people who don't support McNerney know that has broad grassroots support among the base of party activists. Now an honest, non-inflammatory, pro-Filson position might be: I like Filson because I don't think McNerney's grassroots support will matter because the district is so gerrymandered that it will be hard to have a good ground game in a such disparate areas. I might not agree, but the point is fair enough. But the pro-Filson bloggers have been saying things like "McNerney is over-represented online but he really has only a small number of actual supporters." Small is a relative term, so it's hard to declare this out and out false. But the impression it gives, that somehow Filson has more supporters than McNerney, is contradicted by all of the evidence available. McNerney has many more donors than Filson (although they have given less money total), he has the endorsement of at least one Democratic club (made up of any number of members, but definitely not less than twenty), has the endorsement of multiple unions and the San Joaquin Central Labor Council, has strong support in every Democratic club I've ever been to, has one hundred volunteers already walking precincts for him, etc. Steve Filson only has the demonstrated support of his donors and a number of political figures like Tauscher et al. I know he has some other people who support him, but there has never been one public manifestation of his support that even comes close to rivalling McNerney's. Just tonight the one person I knew in the grassroots who liked Filson told me she was endorsing McNerney. Every day I see more people coming around to supporting McNerney but none coming to support Filson. And saying this, you might think I'm bashing him. But I'm not. I'm telling you what my honest perception is about the race.
In addition, I have personally witnessed Steve Filson take jabs at McNerney, so don't give me this holier than thou crap. When McNerney posted on Kos he did not mention Filson by name, nor did he attack Filson in any way. All he critique the conceptualization of Democratic veteran as Fighting Dem. McNerney has made it clear to his staffers that he will not go negative. I know you don't believe McNerney has any special integrity, but I believe with every fiber of my body that Jerry McNerney would rather lose the race than do something he thought was wrong. I am very cynical about people with political ambitions, but I truly believe McNerney has a sterling character. And as much as I respect him for it, I think he would be a more successful politician if he were less of a honorable guy. Make of that what you will.
3) I checked your quote and it's bogus. It's a quote from the article not from anyone connected to McNerney's campaign. The real issue is that AJ Carrillo, McNerney's Campaign Manager, led the DCCC's coordinated campaign in a really red district and brings expertise in winning such a race. But moderates won't be wooed by who McNerney's Campaign Manager is. It's not like he is well known. The point is "Vote for me for Congress because my Campaign Manager is X" is not a winning political argument.
4) I'm not sure McNerney would call himself a Moderate Dem, but these labels are very tricky. Filson has labelled himself a "Moderate/Centrist" but he hasn't shown how he is more Moderate than McNerney on any issue besides the war. So if Filson is appropriately labelled a Moderate, than perhaps McNerney ought to be too. I don't know that the labels matter so much. I do know, as Mike Bird pointed out above, that McNerney has considerable support from Moderate Dems as well as some support from Republicans (like Dan Spomer, McCloskey, Mrs. Bird, etc). I also know that McNerney has a lot of support from Progressive Dems. The fact that MoveOn members can like the same guy as Wesley Clark supporters says something.
The quote is 100% accurate and it is outrageous that you would lie on your website in order to protect Jerry McNerny. He has no moderate credentials whatsoever. In fact, he had to hire someone to teach him how to portray himself as a moderate--as someone he is not. So what we have here is Jerry McNerny changing his look at the last minute for political gain. Moral courage, indeed.
So just to be clear: Say No To Pombo is Jerry McNerny's other blog.
If you want me to send you a copy of the Dec. 14 Herald, I will. As long as you agree to post a pdf of the article on this website. I'm reluctant to post my email address here, though. Tell me how to get it to you...
1. San Joaquin
2. Filson 8, McNerney 4, Thomas 0
3. Machado 10
McCloskey 1
4. Ensign 2
5. moderate lifelong Democrat
6. daily
7. 5
Anon.
I see your IP address is not anywhere near Tracy, so I am considering the possibility that you're a pro-Pombo troll trying to stir the shit on this site. But I'll still engage what you said substantively.
First, fuck you for what you said about Say No to Pombo. If you want to insult me, at least refrain from insulting my co-authors. They've all put in time on this blog and since we are not of one mind about this race you cannot implicate them for something I said. Second, you can't accuse me of shilling for McNerney just because I don't buy something I know to be untrue.
This phenomenon you're talking about (i.e. McNerney trying to change his image/reinvent himself) just isn't happening. You think that one sentence from one news article, a sentence that is the reporter's interpretation and not a quote from anyone in the campaign, is more meaningful than all the other evidence that counterbalance your interpretation. Fine. Live in your fantasy land. But don't suggest that Jerry McNerney is engaged in something unethical based on such flimsy evidence.
I admit I was unclear in my response. I should have edited the first relevant sentence and changed it to "Your use of the quote is bogus." My point was that it did not come from the McNerney team, it came from the reporters exegesis, but in retrospect that point is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that your theory, based on a single sentence, has no basis in observable fact. Jerry McNerney has not, in fact, changed anything about his message or his ideology. Carrillo has not pushed the campaign in a moderate direction and McNerney for his part has not become noticeably more moderate.
Now for those following this debate, and for you if you are open to it, let me suggest how the the confusion occurred.
McNerney clearly said that Carrillo would help him the San Joaquin Valley. I could image it would be easy to misunderstand the point "Carrillo has the relevant experience in a red district" as "Carrillo will help me in the red areas" which might itself be understood as "Carrillo will burnish my moderate image."
Here is the press release from the McNerney Campaign on AJ Carrillo being hired:
McNerney for U.S. Congress Announces
Hiring of Campaign Manager
Pleasanton, CA -- McNerney for Congress formally announced today the hiring of a Campaign Manager and a National Democratic Fundraiser.
The Campaign Manager A.J. Carrillo, is a Sacramento native who has worked on high profile campaigns nationwide, most recently helping a vulnerable Midwest Democratic Congressman achieve a precedent setting margin of victory in 2004.
“I am glad to be able to recruit someone with A.J.’s ability to run the campaign. Being from Sacramento, he brings a depth of knowledge and understanding about the district and a proven ability to win races under challenging electoral circumstances,” said candidate Jerry McNerney.
“A.J. shares my belief in running an aggressive campaign, and he has the strategic vision to bring it to a level that this district has not seen before,” concluded McNerney.
Additionally McNerney for Congress has hired National Democratic Fundraiser Kenneth S. Christensen of Christensen & Associates Inc. Mr. Christensen has helped to elect 8 new members to the U.S. Congress.
About Jerry McNerney: Jerry, a resident of Pleasanton is a recognized expert in wind energy engineering and works as an energy consultant. He is also the CEO of an energy startup. In his first race for U.S. in 2004 against Richard Pombo, Jerry McNerney ran a strong campaign and received over 104,000 votes.
Notice nowhere does it say anything about polishing his moderate image. In fact, I don't believe the word moderate comes up at all. For another take, check out what Nick Juliano said:
McNerney hires campaign director
Jerry McNerney hired as his campaign manager a young face with experience working on campaigns in conservative congressional districts, the candidate said in an interview Sunday.
McNerney’s new campaign manager is A.J. Carillo, who last year oversaw voter outreach and volunteer mobilization for Kansas Rep. Dennis Moore, a four-term Democrat whose district is around Kansas City, Kan. Though it is more urban that the 11th District here, that district is about as conservative, an attribute McNerney said contributed to Carillo’s hiring.
“He comes with the right kind of experience,” McNerney said. “That area's not too different from San Joaquin … so he's got a real good feel for what we have to do.”
Notice, the emphasis is on Carrillo's relevant experience. Nowhere is there a discussion about image. Furthermore, I have never heard McNerney, nor anyone in his campaign be they volunteer or staffer, say anything to imply that McNerney needs to make over his image.
What you seem to miss is that the McNerney campaign feels very comfortable with McNerney's moderate credentials as you put it (although I'm unclear who would issue such credentials or what form they would take). Reread Mike Bird's comment in this thread. McNerney's first major supporters were in the main Wesley Clark supporters, hardly a bunch of liberal Democrats. McNerney has gotten the support of one of the railroaders unions, hardly a bunch of wild-eyed lefties. McNerney has gotten the support of the San Joaquin and Calaveras Central Labor Council, whose members are typical of those counties, meaning fairly moderate.
All the Filson supporters I've seen online have repeated this mantra that Filson is a moderate and McNerney is a liberal Dem. I can just tell you that this sounds nuts to me and it sounds nuts to a lot of McNerney partisans. If Mike Machado is the baseline, then neither McNerney nor Filson are relevantly moderate. However, if Filson is the baseline for what it means to be moderate (which I assume means more than simple association with Ellen Tauscher who is herself doubtlessly a moderate) then McNerney has just as much right to be labelled a moderate too.
But if you dig past the labels and look at whether McNerney really needs to burnish his moderate image, I think you'll find that he has no need to do so. The only discourse about McNerney's ideological image has come from Filson and his supporters who are trying to pigeonhole McNerney as too liberal for the district, and therefore a bad choice in the primary. I can accept that you buy into Filson's frame, but you should know that the McNerney campaign does not seem to be worried about it.
And I hope you understand how convoluted and repugnant to me it seems that first Filson somewhat baselessly labels McNerney as too liberal and then a Filson supporter comes in and has the nerve to take one sentence from a reporter and use that as the basis to suggest McNerney is somehow unethical/immoral for doing something only Filson supporters think is a problem.
By "only Filson supporters" I guess you mean Zoe Lofgren, Rahm Emanuel, Don Perata, Ellen Tauscher, Tom Torlakson, Newell Arnerichm, TWU, NATCA, the Sheet Metal Workers, AFCSME, IBEW, CWA, Transport Trades AFL-CIO, ALPA, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Those are concrete entities. "A group of Wesley Clark supporters" is about as nebulous as it gets. I mean, what is a "group?" Are we supposed to believe that these people are on the speed dial in Wes Clark's cell phone?
It's worth pointing out, too, that moderates tend not to post on blogs supported by either party. That is, you won't find a lot of middle of the road people on SNTP or DailyKos. So to suggest that there is no evidence anywhere of Filson supporters is to miss the point. The voters we will need to win are precisely those voters who don't have active DailyKos accounts.
As for the IP address: I am in southern California for the weekend helping my parents move.
And finally: We are on the same damn team!
First, if we're on the same damn team then you can understand why it pisses me off when you make allegations that McNerney is trying to crassly appear as something he is not.
This is especially the case when a) you cherry picked a quote from the article that was clearly not supported by the body of the article itself, and b) when the article you chose to hang your hat on is filled with errors.
You see, I went ahead and bought the damn article from the archives so that I could read it again myself.
Here's the relevant part:
Carrillo is a Sacramento native who most recently helped Rep. Dennis Moore, the only Democrat in Kansas' delegation, win a fourth term. Carrillo said the race was contested in a conservative district, and he will face a similar situation in California's 11th Congressional District, which is predominately Republican.
The district spans most of San Joaquin County and parts of Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties. More than 45 percent of the district's residents are registered Republican compared with 37 percent as Democrats.
Danville attorney Elaine Shaw lost by about 10 percentage points to Pombo in2002 [sic. First the formatting error is in the original and second Shaw lost to Pombo 39.6% to 60.4%], and McNerney, who was originally a write-in candidate, lost by more than 20 percentage points in 2004.
For a Democratic candidate to have success in the 11th District, he or she will need to garner support from moderate Republican voters, Carrillo said.
"Jerry's policies are pretty much in middle of spectrum," [sic. Do you really think a native English speaker like Carrillo really omited the two "the"s or do you think that this is another error?] Carrillo said, and pointed to the candidate's views on energy policies as an area where he can appeal to moderate Republican voters.
In a statement, McNerney said, "I am glad to be able to recruit someone with A.J.'s ability to run the campaign. Being from Sacramento, he brings a depth of knowledge and understanding about the district and a proven ability to win races under challenging electoral circumstances."
So you tell me, what about the article besides the staff writer's brute assertion in the lead, makes you believe that there is anything to support the notion that McNerney hired Carrillo to polish his "moderate image"? Tell me.
Carrillo himself asserts that McNerney's politics are middle of the road, which does not suggest he is trying to change McNerney's politics, but rather the opposite: that there is no need to change McNerney's politics.
Furthermore, once you see that McNerney's campaign does not view itself to be terribly far on the left, you might understand that even if McNerney was trying to make himself appear moderate (something I don't grant), you still have no single reason to think he is doing so disingenuously. If people think he's not as moderate as he is, then he can with complete integrity "polish his moderate image."
So what you've done is create a tempest in a teapot and managed to take one quote from a reporter that is not supported at all in the article by evidence and use it to besmirch the character of someone in the Democratic primary. Good job teammate. Because you know, sending out signals that Jerry McNerney is a flaming lefty who is just lying when he says he's a moderate is bound to help McNerney if he wins the primary. 'Cause you know, McNerney supporters have been kneecapping Filson by demanding that he actually (gasp) tell us where he is on the issues before he is declared the great electable candidate of CA-11. But instead of telling us something we don't already know about Filson (which is precious little) his supporters have been finding all sorts of screwy ways of attacking Jerry McNerney.
If I spoke to Zoe Lofgren I'm sure she'd give me a reasonable argument for Filson. God, I wish I got one from one of his supporters. Instead I get arguments that do not cohere logically, that depend on facts that there is no evidence for, or otherwise prove insufficient.
Lastly, what you said about blogs and blog readers seems to be hopelessly circular. Despite the fact that a lot of the responses have come from people who are in the middle of the political spectrum, including a Republican and a man married to a Republican, we are supposed to believe that moderates don't exist on the blogs. You know what, what you said is a nice theory, but it is wholly unsupported by any evidence and common sense argues against it. There are plenty of partisan moderates (Democrat and Republican). Furthermore, this blog is not controlled by the Democratic Party (hardly) or even by Democrats. Half of the co-authors are not even Democrats.
1. I'm over on the peninsula, but well within volunteering range.
2. Filson 5, McNerney 6, Thomas 1
3. Machado 10, McCloskey 6
4. Ensign 5
5. Moderate Democrat, and a hawk
6. I check the site weekly.
7. 9 -- keep up the great work.
1) Do you live in the district? If so, which county? If not, which state?
Yes, San Joaquin County.
2) How excited are you about the following declared candidates? (Rate them 1-10, with 10 being very excited, and a 1 being not excited at all. Put an X by any candidate you know too little about to rate.)
Steve Filson 2
Jerry McNerney 7
Steve Thomas who?
3) Using the same directions as above, how excited would you be if the following candidates entered the race?
Mike Machado 3
Pete McCloskey 3
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race?
2
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically.
ex-republican
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
Once a week or so.
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo?
8
8) Feel free to append any additional comments.
I have some questions for the poster
who was disappointed by the statement
I made that Filson "seems arrogant".
Are you connected to Mr. Filson in
any way other than as a supporter of
his campaign? Did you know him before
the campaign started? Are you close to
the campaign?
Just Curious.
(Here's one I got via e-mail. I figure instead of posting anonymously, the people who have responded can claim their political self-description from Question 5 as a handle on Say No to Pombo. This one's too long, but you get the idea. -Matt)
1) Do you live in the district? If so, which county? If not, which state?
Contra Costa County, CA in George Miller's district
2) How excited are you about the following declared candidates? (Rate them 1-10, with 10 being very excited, and a 1 being not excited at all. Put an X by any candidate you know too little about to rate.)
Steve Filson 4
Jerry McNerney 6
Steve Thomas x
3) Using the same directions as above, how excited would you be if the following candidates entered the race?
Mike Machado 8
Pete McCloskey 9
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race? x
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically. radical democrat pragmatically aligned with the Democratic Party
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo? I discovered it about a month ago and have looked at it about weekly since.
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo? 10
I really want Pombo out and your website does a great job of covering the news around the campaign to get rid of him.
1) Yes, San Joaquin County.
2)Steve Filson: 1
Jerry McNerney: 10
Steve Thomas: x
3) Mike Machado: 5
Pete McCloskey: 5
4) Using the same directions as above, how excited you were about Margee Ensign before she left the race?
5
5) In five words or less, describe yourself politically.
progressive democrat.
6) How often do you come to Say No to Pombo?
every once in a while.
7) How useful, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being down right useless and 10 being incredibly useful, do you find Say No to Pombo?
8
1. no, CA though
2-4. People of district will sort that out.
5. raving progressive who works with all to win
6. 1x week usually
7. 8
Keep it up!
anon said:
[quote]
By "only Filson supporters" I guess you mean Zoe Lofgren, Rahm Emanuel, Don Perata, Ellen Tauscher, Tom Torlakson, Newell Arnerichm, TWU, NATCA, the Sheet Metal Workers, AFCSME, IBEW, CWA, Transport Trades AFL-CIO, ALPA, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.[/quote]
does the filson team have documented endorsements (on their letterhead) from these groups? cause they keep popping up....and are also listed on the website and it might look mighty odd on filson's part if this isnt the case. cha know what i mean?
just to clarify my above post..im curious to know who has officially endorsed filson. we keep hearing that pelosi is "supporting", that DCCC is supporting or that IBEW has contributed money but was else are these entities doing beyond donating money. is pelosi introducing Filson to the NAACP. Is IBEW inviting Filson to meet their rank & file? is the DCCC making phone banking calls on behalf of Filson?
Filson deserves all the credit in the world for the initial money he raised for his campaign..but are they actually endorsing Filson, the candidate-the man? because im starting to feel like im listening to a broken record,
"i did raise money, i did raise money, i did raise money, i did raise money".
well, what else do you have to show us filson/filson supporters? i cant wait for this campaign to turn into an actual debate. one that goes beyond...empty accusations and MONEY!!!!
with all that being said and done Jerry & are spending our weekend honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at various activities throughout the central valley. the civil rights fight is a perfect example of people uniting and fighting for a cause...without money.
proud to be the furthest reader. Greetings from Brooklyn, NY. I won't speak to the specifics of how I feel about the race, as I just don't know enough about the background. I actually started reading as I hope to move to the Bay area soon and had been searching for a race to get involved with within striking range - I'm a political professional. The blog is pretty cool, I must say. Even if i don't work on the race, I will continue to read. Being very unkowledgeable about CA politics, I would love to hear how arnold plays in the area and if he wil drive turnout for Pombo. Anyone know?
this is hilarious! easy to see who they are pimping for! love it. They use farmer Machado's web site as a source to back him up. dissing Pombo with his enemies sites. Makes for great politics when trying to convice liberal sheep. good luck, or, Baaaaahhhhh
Help recruit a candidate for Congress
We want to ensure that each congressional district has a strong candidate who will stand up for our values. This informal survey of MoveOn members in your congressional district asks whether we should encourage an existing candidate, urge a new candidate to enter the race, or take no action. This is not an endorsement—we'll decide later which candidates for Congress to endorse. The public rarely has an opportunity to affect who is on the ballot, but today you can send a message about which candidates you'd like a chance to vote for next November.
You can express your preference for as many candidates as you want (or for not recruiting any candidates), just by giving each candidate a score for how enthusiastic you are about them. Each member's response will only be counted once.
Your Contact Information
*Your Name (*=Required)
*E-mail
Your Street Address
City
State or Province
*ZIP or Postal Code
Phone
The Race
As chairman of the House Natural Resources committee, the incumbent, Representative Richard Pombo has fought to undermine the Endangered Species Act, to allow drilling in Alaska and off the coast of California, and to sell off national parks in the west. He is a close associate of Tom DeLay with a record of placing the interests of his family, corporate donors, and friends ahead of those of his constituents.1 Pombo, who was elected in 1992 with just 48 percent of the vote, has won with significant margins since then. However, this once reliably conservative district has become increasingly moderate since the 2001 redistricting, which added the more suburban areas of several Bay Area Counties. Pombo's extreme views on the environment and abortion and charges of corruption make him vulnerable, but it will take a strong challenger to beat him—Pombo has already raised $713,000 as of September 30th.2
Potential Candidates
These profiles were assembled from publicly available sources. Each person below has entered the race or has been mentioned publicly as a potential candidate.
For each candidate, tell us how enthusiastic you are on a scale from 1-10, where 10 is very enthusiastic and 1 is not enthusiastic at all. You can also express a preference not to encourage anyone, at bottom.
Pref:
1-10
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Mike Machado is in his 2nd term as State Senator for California’s 5th District, which overlaps Pombo’s district. The Stockton/Tracy area is a significant part of both districts. Machado defeated the Republican Mayor of Stockton for his current seat.1 The Democratic Party leadership tried unsuccessfully earlier this year to convince him to enter the race against Pombo2, but he's said to be reconsidering now. As a San Joaquin local with good name recognition and a successful fundraising record—he raised nearly $5 million for his last election—he could compete even with developer-backed Pombo.3 He also owns and operates a family farm. From 1994 to 2000 he was a state assemblyman. Machado served in the Navy during Vietnam. He graduated from Stanford, earned a master’s in agricultural economics from UC Davis, and studied at the Harvard Agribusiness School in London, England. His policy priorities as a state legislator have included education reform, balanced environmental regulations and tax relief for all Californians. He authored Proposition 13 in 2000 and helped pass Proposition 50 in 2002, both of which provide billions in bonds for clean water and flood protection programs.4 Machado received a California League of Conservation Voters ratings of 80% in 2003 and 61% in 2004.5 Machado has been supported by Handgun Control, Sierra Club, California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (CARAL), California Nurses’ Association, and the California Teachers Association among others.6
Your message to Mike Machado:
If Machado ran, would you pledge to: Volunteer Donate money
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Steve Filson entered the race in August, but we'd still like to know your enthusiasm about him. Filson is a commercial airline pilot and former navy pilot.1 Filson defines himself as a centrist: a fiscal conservative and a social moderate.2 He has lived in Danville for 12 years and the Tri-Valley area since 1978—Bay area communities that were added to California’s 11 th District in 2001. But he claims ties to the Central Valley portion of the district as well—he has family in Stockton and was stationed near Fresno in the 1970s. Transportation improvements would be among his top legislative priorities, along with curbing federal spending and protecting the environment.3 A veteran with over 20 years in the Navy and Naval Reserve, Filson says Iraq "wasn't well thought out, particularly the after the invasion part...We are now just deploying up-armored Humvees ... things like that, we need to hold (Republicans) accountable for."4 He’s received the backing of some prominent Democrats, including Rep. Tauscher of Alamo, and financial support from several labor unions.5 But he’ll be hard-pressed to match Pombo’s fundraising. As of 9/30, Filson had raised $105,000 to Pombo’s $713,000.6
Your message to Steve Filson:
To help Filson's campaign, would you pledge to: Volunteer Donate money
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Jerry McNerney, an energy consultant and the CEO of an energy startup, has also already entered the race. After earning his Ph.D in Mathematics from the University of New Mexico, McNerney worked for as a contractor to Sandia National Laboratories with their wind energy and national security programs. A recognized expert in wind energy, McNerney cites his Clean Energy Innovation Plan as one of the most important reasons hes running. The plan outlines steps for reducing our dependence on fossil fuels while promoting a more prosperous economy.1 McNerney supports a woman's right to choose, universal health care, stronger public schools, affordable higher education, balanced budgets, and a renewal of the assault weapons ban.2 In 2004, after learning that Pombo would run unopposed, McNerney entered the race as a write-in candidate weeks before the Democratic primary.3 Pombo easily defeated him in the general election with 61 percent of the vote. This year McNerney has received the endorsement of the San Joaquin County Central Labor Council, which has pledged to help raise money and generate support in the county that holds more than half the districts voters.4 He has strong grassroots support5, including from some local Democratic groups6, but as of 9/30 he had only raised $54,000.7
Your message to Jerry McNerney:
To help McNerney's campaign, would you pledge to: Volunteer Donate money
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Don't encourage any candates in this district. If you choose this option, enter a numerical rank as though it were a candidate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add any general comments here:
We may convey your comments, along with your name, city and state, to potential candidates, or use them in an email message or the media.
Pombo sources:
http://www.lcv.org/images/client/pdfs/Pombo_Report_102505.pdf
http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_racepg.exe?DoFn=CA112006H
Machado sources:
http://calraces.com/blogs/rogersalazar/archive/2005/01/17/1362.aspx
http://www.tracypress.com/local/2005-06-28-pombo-polls.html
http://saynotopombo.blogspot.com/2005/12/machado-factor.html
http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/templates/SDCTemplate.asp?pg=senbiography&cp=MemberPage&sln=Machado&sdn=05&zrn=Zone
http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=BS026790&type=category&category=Environmental%2BIssues&go.x=9&go.y=8
http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/templates/SDCTemplate.asp?pg=senbiography&cp=MemberPage&sln=Machado&sdn=05&zrn=Zone
Filson sources:
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005508300331
http://www.danvilleweekly.com/story.php?story_id=575
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/12552874.htm
http://www.dccc.org/stakeholder/archives/2005_08.html
http://www.filsonforcongress.com/endorsement.htm
http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_racepg.exe?DoFn=CA112006H
McNerney sources:
http://www.jerrymcnerney.org/about.asp
http://www.marindemocrats.org/JerryMcNerney.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/22/BAG9368TLN1.DTL
http://www.tracypress.com/2005-12-05-state-two.php
http://www.abettercongress.org/
http://www.dfasv.org/?q=endorse/adopt/mcnerney06
http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_racepg.exe?DoFn=CA112006H
Privacy Policy
We treat your contact information as private and confidential. We will not provide your contact information to any other organization except MoveOn.org Civic Action unless you specifically authorize us to do so.
For our complete privacy policy, click here.
Paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, http://political.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
MoveOn, MoveOn.org and MoveOn.org Civic Action are trademarks of MoveOn.org Civic Action. MoveOn.org Political Action is a trademark of MoveOn.org Political Action.
The MoveOn family of organizations consists of two entities. MoveOn.org Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) organization, primarily focuses on education and advocacy on important national issues. And MoveOn.org Political Action, a federal political committee, primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values.
Anon 33 --
"Preview" is your friend! ;-)
I'm sorry, were you under the impression that MoveOn was going to encourage Richard Pombo to run or something?
Hardly. I just find them lazy. rather than point out why Dems really want to beat Pombo, they always over play there hand. Whats really funny is the absolute firestorm that is about to play out.
MACHADO is getting in the race. its a done deal. Tauscher (oink) and the rest of the DC gang are going to leave FIlson in the middle of the night without even buying him breakfast.
Jerry is goig to scream, "but i have the volunteers" but there will be no one in the room.
You dont even see it coming.
Post a Comment
<< Home