Political Consultant Larry Remer Makes the Union-Tribune’s Enemies List

Political consultant Larry Remer is to be congratulated for making the Union-Trib’s enemies list. It’s an honor that has been years in the making, one that Remer has worked hard to get.

On the very same day that Attorney General Michael Mukasey, told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, “Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime”, (referring to the illegal hiring practices of the Justice Department) the San Diego daily paper ran a lead editorial, complete with photograph, stating that Remer was a bad choice as a consultant for proponents of a San Diego Unified School District bond proposal that will be appearing the the November ballot.

Education and Children First, a private organization formed to promote the $2.1 billion bond, hired Remer to manage the ballot campaign and that’s bad because he once faced felony prosecution on federal charges of mishandling public funds in an earlier bond campaign. Never mind that there was no conviction-Remer pled guilty to a misdemeanor count after a jury failed to return a verdict. Never mind that the charges against him fit rather neatly into a nationwide pattern of Justice Department political prosecutions. And never mind that Remer has a long track record of successful management of bond issue campaigns throughout the region.

If the Union-Trib held Mayor Jerry Saunders (and a host of other Right-thinking elected officials) to the same standards that it has chosen to apply to the latest school bond proposal, they would have had their panties in a bunch over the role that Tom Shepard (consultant with a misdemeanor plea involving fifty times more money) has played in local politics. But they weren’t concerned then. And they really don’t care now.

The newspaper, beset with declining circulation, ad revenues and stuck with a rapidly aging readership, does care about its historic role as defender of the status quo. Besides, all those potentially better educated youth aren’t customers and probably never will be. The Union-Trib knows that it is on its way to oblivion and, like a wounded beast, is lashing out at all perceived threats, since they cannot comprehend the reality of their situation.

Meanwhile, Remer, who started out at the muckraking San Diego Door and has remained a thorn in the side of the aforementioned status quo, should be basking in the glory of the moment.