Author Archives: gdewar

Political Parlor Tricks: Fundraising Reporting Fun!

Posted on June 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Right about now, just about anyone running for office, from Mosquito Abatement District Commissioner to Governor is sending out pleas on Twitter, Facebook, email, smoke signal, etc. begging for money. You see, we’re hitting up against a “reporting deadline” whereby after today, most candidates will have to account for money raised and spent up to this point. Hence the e-begging and so on.
The Press, as usual, will peruse these, and based on how much money is reported, will declare who is a “viable” candidate. Predictable, yes. Accurate? Not necessarily.
That’s because virtually every campaign (with the exception of those run by vain plutocrats) plays a little game with the reports. What they’ll do is often ask staff to hold off being paid, or find vendors willing to wait a day past the deadline to get their bills paid. Why, you ask? Simple. By not showing that money as being spent they can show it as “cash on hand.” Then, when The Press reports how much “money” they have, it looks like they have more than they really do. Trust me when I say this goes on way more than you might think.
It’s a cheap trick, kinda like using wide ruled paper to make your report in school look longer than it is, or bumping up a font on that term paper. However, it is a tried and true way to make you look good, and The Press always falls for it. They can’t help it – the next reports won’t be filed for months.
Quarterly reports and the like are so 20th century. Instead, if people want to do public disclosure of money raised and spent, they should be filed electronically every week, and put online within days, and that way this kind of nonsense ends. More importantly, if you wanna drill down and see who is getting money from who, and whom they might be spending it on (vendors, consultants, pollsters, ad agencies, etc.) you’d find out a lot sooner.
As it stands, “disclosure” just means more money for the specialty lawyers and accountants who can deal with this bureaucracy legally, while the voter remains uninformed.
San Francisco has some unique twists on this, especially regarding spending limits, public financing, and so on, but that gets its own blog post.

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Posted in California Politics, Campaign Tactics & Analysis

“Meatless Monday” Resolution Doesn’t Go Far Enough – We Need “Do the Hustle” Tuesdays Too!

Posted on June 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

IMG_0965.JPGSo, in old news recycled, we’re being reminding in various web-spaces that the City of San Francisco did indeed pass a non-binding resolution declaring a weekly “Meatless Monday” in order to “encourage” (love that word) people to be more holy or something. The people for it think they’ve really made a difference or something. Plenty of outsiders have seized upon this as another billy club to beat on Our Fair City with, and out-of-state Gate commenters are literally so angry and screaming mad they’re going to need their blood pressure meds re-upped early.
Calm down, people and take a nice deep breath before you blow a blood vessel, let’s review for a moment, shall we?
-Like any emotion inducing non-binding resolution, the key word here is non-binding. That means it’s nothing more than a majority of supervisors expressing an opinion, albeit under the aegis of the City of San Francisco. Still, if a majority of Supervisors were sitting in a bar, and all agreed they liked Guinness, that would have about as much legal impact as a “non binding resolution.”
The twist is, however when these things are doing at City Hall, emotional proponents and their feisty opposition scream and yell, cry and moan about this like it means something. IT DOES NOT! I can go to McDonalds, buy a big bag of burgers, and stand out on the street giving them out to anyone I so choose and the Man can’t crack down on me.
Hell, I can even SIT DOWN ON THE SIDEWALK and hand out burgers and (for now) no one can stop me. If I want to eat NOTHING, not even VEGETABLES but simply go breatharian, I can do that too!! The point is, nothing is going to change, aside from some dead trees to print this thing up. Ooh, how “revolutionary!”
-I have no problem with Supervisors expressing their views on current events, by the way. I can respect other people’s points of view, and I’m sure this had good intentions. There is an irony here, however – the resolution’s main supporter, Sup. Sophie Maxwell, currently lives in a district with no real grocery stores. Try finding vegan anything or just some fresh produce on a regular basis, and you’d be hard pressed to do so. During a recent trip on the T Line I took the time to walk the neighborhood, and news flash, one has to get in a car or take a train to get any decent food. I certainly didn’t see anyone thinking “Gosh we should stop selling meat on Mondays to save the planet” – because of course wealthy liberal types aren’t going to go take the T Line to dialogue on these – they’re too busy parking a Prius or something.

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Posted in Debunking Politicos Pundits + Spin, San Francisco Politics

Why I Didn’t Do My Usual Scan and Critique of Mail…

Posted on June 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

For years I’ve often picked up pieces of political direct mail and scanned them in, with critiques, much like the way mainstream media does with political TV ads. I’d collected some for this season, but two things got in the way of doing so in advance of the election – technical difficulties (both with the blog software and my scanner) that took forever to fix, and a lack of material.
Normally I tend to get a lot of mail because I’m a mail ballot voter. But this year most of my mail was concerned with things like this zany Democratic Central Committee stuff (I mean really, do you even care who’s on this, much less remember ever hearing about it before this year?) which is lovely for those who produce it and for the people running. As I sat here trying to come up with something to write about the actual mail, it was hard write it in a way that people would actually read. I mean, it’s one thing if you’re writing about advertising for a big campaign for Governor or Mayor, but Central Committee? Really?
I suppose what surprised me the most, with all this money being spent, is how not one slate of candidates, or any of the various local organizations promoting their favored candidates, used any online advertising. When you consider that the typical mail piece costs $600 per 1000* voters mailed to, versus online advertising where you’re paying less than 10% of that**, you’d have thought that maybe allied candidates or whatever would have mixed in a little online advertising to reach voters, instead of relying exclusively on dead tree which end up in the recycle bin. And it’s not like their consultants wouldn’t have made money either – they just wouldn’t have had the overhead of paying designers, printers, mailhouses, postage and shipping, but would have still made their 15%.
Ah well. I’m kinda glad this boring primary is over. I’m really hoping the next few months we see something better out of our candidates for state office, and for city office. I know it’s asking for too much, but would it kill some of these people to avoid devolving debate into small smart-ass soundbites and instead demonstrate that they know something besides what some smart guy told them to say?

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Posted in Campaign Tactics & Analysis, San Francisco Politics

The Disinfo Rehab Guide To the Worst Primary Election Ever

Posted on June 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

mckay1970s.jpgThis Democratic Primary hast to be the worst yet, because we have a lot of no-names running for office, super low turnout projected, some truly goofy candidates, and a lot of other things to vote on because people with a lot of money put ’em on the ballot. Meanwhile our state is literally falling apart. THIS is the best we can do?
It’s all a big mess, so I’ve put together a list of things I voted for which you can use or not use, your choice. In many cases I’m leaving my ballot blank or writing in candidates. This is especially true for “unopposed” candidates – hey, unopposed incumbents, you’re all wonderful people, but what’s the point of voting in a race with only one candidate?
So, here goes:

Governor: If AG Brown’s challenger had started up their efforts last year, instead of last month, this might have been an interesting race, especially after Gavin Newsom went down in flames like the Hindenburg on crack. But he didn’t, so former Governor, Mayor, Secretary of State, Community College Trustee and Attorney General Jerry Brown gets the vote. Still, it would have been nice to have a real race, to help strengthen the eventual nominee.
Lt. Governor: F*ck this Peter Principle crap. “Mayor” Gavin Newsom has been about as useful as a football bat and as honest as a BP oil executive. The last thing we need is to give him a promotion so he can act like more of an insufferable bigshot. Vote for Janice Hahn – she seems like a nice person (So nice she hasn’t really used the treasure trove of info against Newsom that much) and her dad was a cool Mayor in the 60s. More importantly, in a general election, you can bet the Republicans will use his record to engage in a political beating that in all likelihood will result in violations of the Geneva Convention. No one wins with that.
Attorney General: This has to be one of the worst primaries I’ve ever seen. You’d think that the California Democratic Party would have some top notch people running for this. Instead we have a DA that has an aversion to prosecuting crime (Kamala Harris), an Internet executive who’s well meaning, but never served in law enforcement (Chris Kelly), and a trio of term limited legislators (Nava, Torrico, and Lieu who I am sure are all good people). I don’t know that any of them are qualified in an era of high tech crime, violent crime, and so on to be our top cop in California. Given that only Harris and Kelly even have a shot, I’m voting for Kelly and hoping to GOD that if he wins, he hires some good people to ensure that the problems of crime are taken seriously in the next 4 years. Besides if Harris wins, her record is a killer outside the boundaries of Liberal San Francisco.
Insurance Commissioner: Having once worked for an Insurance Commissioner (in Washington State) I can safely say that this job seems like a yawner, but it can be often the most important job in the state. A good Insurance Commissioner can make sure that insurance companies are held accountable and fight them when they try to pull shenanigans like Prop. 17. The fact that our current one is a joke doesn’t negate that. Vote for Dave Jones, as he’s endorsed by all the Good People.
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson’s record on education in the Legislature was actually pretty good, and he used to be a science teacher so there’s that. I’ve met him a few times and he was always willing to listen to people worried about education, when others wouldn’t so I voted for him. Also, the ruler in my desk drawer somehow has his campaign logo on it – I think I got it at a convention or something, and it’s a good ruler.

All of the rest of the state offices are uncontested, so I’m not bothering with them. Congrats in advance, people.
There’s more, click on through for the rest!

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Posted in California Politics, Democratic Party Chatter, San Francisco Politics

Is Critical Mass Getting Special Treatment at Ocean Beach? UPDATED

Posted on May 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

UPDATE: Our friends at SF Appeal did the responsible thing and picked up a phone, and here’s their report. Thanks for the link, SFA!
hankmoody.jpgSince it’s the last Friday of the month, that means your commute home, be it by bus, car or bike, will be interrupted by “Critical Mass,” San Francisco’s taxpayer-subsidized, police-escorted party time for the cool kids with their fixies and assorted cool looking bikes. What’s interesting is that unlike in the past, they’ve published their entire route on flyers at a website. This is strange because the claim has been that “no one” organized Critical Mass, that’s a spontaneous thing, blah blah blah.
Strangely enough, on their own website and flyers, they not only give out the route (which is nice in that you can avoid this temper tantrum in advance), but they also tell people that “wood and beer (are) welcome.” Wait, what?
A quick review of the rules at Ocean Beach clearly state that alcohol is forbidden, and that permits are required in advance for a group of 50 or more (and it’s clear there’s going to be more than 50 people participating in the ride.) So the question is this – will the sheer mass of people participating allow them to break the rules everyone else has to follow?

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Posted in San Francisco Politics

One of the Weirdest Political Ads Yet – Nava for Attorney General

Posted on May 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

pedronavaad.jpgThis year’s primary is one of the worst ever. There is very little interest in the election, a lot of boring candidates, and none of them have much money (well aside from Him, Her, and that Other Guy). This inevitably leads to some crazy-ass stuff put out there in an effort to be “daring” but usually ends up being “lame.”
Case study: Pedro Nava for Attorney General. Now, I’m sure he’s a good guy, and he served 3 terms in the Assembly and passed some bills. Yay. How that qualifies him to to be Attorney General? I have no idea. I actually met him once ages ago at a fundraiser for John Kerry that I attended in Montecito, CA and he seemed like a nice enough guy, but this video just has all kinds of WTF all over it
I mean, what’s up with the weird cartoony background? The dogs? The dog with bunny ears? The dog with glasses flying a plane? And he’s not even looking at the camera? And the clapping dog? OMG.
Ok I thought the clapping dog was kinda funny. But you know what? I really don’t give a sh!t about his record on “animal rights” if he’s running for ATTORNEY GENERAL. I’d be much more interested in seeing something about crime and that kind of thing.
Plus, it’s been my experience, having worked with candidates in the past who’ve been Big Friends of the animal rights movement that it’s a kiss of death for a campaign. In 1994 I worked for a Senate candidate that made as big a deal about his record as Pedro does, and he got his ass kicked. Every time someone starts touting such a record, they very rarely win in a competitive election.
I’m scanning in mail pieces. There’s just so much weird out there this year. Oh and those ads for Prop. 17 are easily the most full of sh!t ads I’ve ever seen. Mercury Insurance Sucks!

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Posted in Debunking Politicos Pundits + Spin, Democratic Party Chatter

Why I Like Watching “Treme” But It Also Scares the Hell Out of Me

Posted on May 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

treme.pngIf you’ve not had a chance to see HBO’s latest show, “Treme”, by author/ex-journalist/blogger hater David Simon (he of “The Wire” fame), I strongly urge you to do so, by any means necessary. If you have HBO and OnDemand, it should be there, if not, well wait for the DVDs or explore (ahem) alternate means of content delivery or whatever, but you really need to see this.
The Short Recap: it’s a story about people from various parts of New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Hurrcaine Katrina in 2005-2006. We all know what a supreme f*ck up FEMA and the feds were after this disaster, and we’ve all seen the pictures on TV. What Treme manages to do is to personalize those stories and do that expertly woven tapestry of lives and events that Simon pioneered in The Wire.
It’s both fascinating, and horrifying to see what can happen to an American city in the 21st century, and how “shock doctrine” ideologues, good old fashioned corruption and racism, and the economic realities of a debt-ridden nation of do-nothings can collide and create the mess that we still have to this day.
Now, while I enjoy the drama and a well written TV series, and so on, Treme still scares the Hell out of me every week I watch the show. That’s because I truly fear what is going to happen to San Francisco when the inevitable Big F*cking Earthquake hits us.
We are not prepared for what people will do to our city after the quake, and after years of rule by Prince Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors, I genuinely believe that the only line of defense we have against a horrifying immediate aftermath is going to be the citizens of SF, and them alone, helping each other out. What’s scarier though, is how this corrupt city will no doubt use the disaster as a way to destroy neighborhoods and create “Suburbia By the Sea,” and historical anything be damned.

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Posted in California Politics, Debunking Politicos Pundits + Spin, Democratic Party Chatter, San Francisco Politics

What Is A DCCC? Why Are You Voting For it in the June Primary? And Why Am I Writing In Myself?

Posted on May 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

sampleballotwritein.jpgIf you are registered to vote in the Democratic Primary, by now you may have received your ballot, and after voting for things like nominees for Governor, Equalization Board, and State Senate, you find now you’ve got a section for “Democratic County Central Committee” with about 453,213 candidates listed. And, you have likely received more political junk mail for this office than you have in the past. All the while you wonder “why am I voting for this?”
Quick Review: the DCCC is the Democratic Party’s official party organization in this county*. As a registered Democratic voter, you can pick who serves on this committee, which decides local endorsements that will bear the “official” Democratic Party seal of approval on them. In addition to the people you vote for, Democratic members of the state legislature, the US House, and so on also have a vote (usually represented by proxy from someone in their office).
Big yawn, right? However, in San Francisco, it’s not a big yawn because whomever controls said DCCC becomes the one that’s in charge of the endorsements for local office. Since so many people simply read the Official Endorsements of the Democratic Party slate card (and any junk mail said organization issues) and votes that way, no matter what, you can see why this then becomes a Very Big Deal to political types who care about such things.
If you run for DCCC, you’re running for a thankless job. No pay, endless hours spent at meetings, meetings which are held in a concrete bunker downtown (really), and all sorts of political acrimony. Running also means trying to contact voters in 1/2 of the City, usually with little or no money. Having helped out on one of these ages ago, I can tell you it’s very very difficult for the average citizen to run for these things and be able to get anyone to know their name, much less win, because the cost is so high, especially if you use dead tree mail. So why do people run for this thing again?

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Posted in Democratic Party Chatter, San Francisco Politics

Why I’m Voting “NO” on Prop. 16 – No, Really!

Posted on May 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

13299_111631608866160_111598052202849_150204_7339158_n.jpgSometimes, I really, really, REALLY hate ballot initiatives.
Case in point? Proposition 16. Easily one of the most bullshit-named initiatives we’ve got – the “Taxpayers Right to Vote Act.” This is one of the most misleading titles ever because…taxpayers already have the right to vote on any socialization of the power system in their area right now! Go ask the hippies in San Francisco if you’re not sure (where public power has been voted on 8 times and lost, each time.)
This wasn’t easy, because I absolutely hate the self-appointed violent Stalinist “activists” who support so-called “public power.” They don’t really care about anything but their ideology, and aren’t afraid to use violence and death threats to enforce their political correctness on others.
So why, then would I ally myself on the same side as these clowns? Simple. “Two Thirds” vote requirements are bullshit, plain and simple. The idea that a ballot measure could get 65% of the vote and still lose??? That’s tyrannical. Our legislature wallows in dysfunction, and local governments have a Hell of a time getting things done because of similar laws and it’s all because a few radical ideologues in Sacramento hate local governments and want to hurt them as much as possible.
Hence, I’m voting Hell NO on this thing since I hate 2/3rds rules as a matter of general principle. Besides, the money PG&E spent to put this thing on the ballot could have gone to many better things.
I think it’s also time California re-think the idea of “Ballot Measures.” It has devolved from the people’s way to counter balance corporate influence into an ATM for companies willing to buy the signatures and write self-serving laws that benefit only them. Epic grassroots power FAIL.
(Oh also, vote no on 17, which is a bid by those plutocrats at Mercury Insurance to jack up your rates. They suck too!)

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Posted in California Politics, Debunking Politicos Pundits + Spin

How Many Trees Must Die For the Sierra Club’s Sins?

Posted on May 18, 2010 | Leave a comment

There’s a really boring primary coming up in June and by now you’ve likely received a voter guide, and some political junk mail. It’s rather amazing to see so many groups and campaigns (especially for DCCC) that have little money to begin with, who are spending big money on dead tree mail and doorhangers.

It’s especially baffling to see the Sierra Club, which is allegedly in the business of Saving The Earth or something, literally littering neighborhoods with thousands of dead-tree doorhangers. In fact on the day they hit my neighborhood, not only did they do a poor job of distribution (often just dumping them in a pile at the front door or in our case putting them on our gate), but because it was windy, 80% of them blew all over the place. Really effective and “green,” smart guys.

It was followed up by what is likely to be their one postcard sent to voters before the primary – one that cost a lot to mail because postage is now so high for bulk mail, and because they had to use a special blend of smug and soy to print the damned thing. Guess how much I (or any of my neighbors) looked at it? Well you can come by the recycle bin by our mailbox and see how effective all those dead trees were.

It never ceases to amaze me how lower budget campaigns insist on using dead trees as their exclusive campaign communications medium. It’s especially amazing given that San Francisco has the highest concentration of voters online anywhere in the United States, and by using targeted online advertising, they could reach more people for less money, and a big percentage of their budget wouldn’t be at the Post Office. And yes, their consultants could still make the same 15% they would off the junk mail.

San Francisco: Where talk is cheap – and so is “going green!”

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Posted in Campaign Tactics & Analysis, Debunking Politicos Pundits + Spin, San Francisco Politics