By Bill Reedhead
Greetings from Ocean Beach!
I really hate like hell doing this — contacting those fortunate enough to be included in my personal Rolodex file [Ed.: Bill gave us permission to repost his email.] This, in order to deliver a tawdry pre-Election Day pitch for a political candidate I haven’t actually met. Or especially care to meet.
But, if the current polls are correct, those of us residing in the 52nd Congressional District could, for the next two years, find ourselves having to answer an awkward question:
How could the voters in a relatively prosperous, highly educated, seemingly rational district end up electing a Tea Party-endorsed candidate sporting a paper-thin resume on the basis of a barrage of false and grossly-misleading advertising funded from God-knows-where?
Personally, I’d prefer not to have to explain that to any of my peers, anywhere.
Let’s be realistic, neither of the two major party candidates in our 52nd District is likely to spend his term as anyone but an obscure back-bencher who we’ll probably not hear from till the next election cycle begins. (All too soon, if you ask me.)
One of the candidates, if elected, will be an embarrassment to progressives, independents and most everyone else from Day One.
The Democrat, Scott Peters, will not.
In fact, he’s got plenty of street cred left over from his days on the City Council and his years of civic involvement. He won’t Make the World Safe For Democracy, promote Change We Can Believe In, or be seen making the rounds of D. C. talk shows.
But he’s done a good job for us these past couple of years and he, or his staff, return constituents’ phone calls within 24 hours. And, best of all, he won’t be required to answer to Grover Norquist, the Koch Brothers, the NRA, Wall Street or John Boehner.
So whatever else may be in your plans for November 4th, try to take ten minutes out of your busy schedule to vote for Scott Peters. We’re not asking for too much here are we? Just a Congressman who won’t embarrass us.
Bill Reedhead is a practicing attorney with offices in Ocean Beach.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I do know Scott Peters and really like and respect him. He is everything that Carl DeMaio claims to be in terms of being a consensus-builder who works across party lines.
Although I am personally more liberal, Scott is a great match for this centrist district, which is evenly split amongst Democrats, Republicans and Independents. He also has a strong record of helping San Diegans during his years in office and can be proud of running on that record.
DeMaio, however, is not what he says he is. Until this campaign he has prided himself on destroying government so he can enact his rightwing anti-government agenda. He is far from the moderate he’s now claiming he is.
DeMaio is also a pathological liar who will say anything to get elected. Until gay marriage started becoming accepted, he ran as fast as he could from his gay identity, taking enormous sums from supporters of Prop 8, and opposing most policies that the LGBT community supports. There’s a good reason the bulk of the gay community is supporting Scott Peters and not DeMaio.
I agree Carl DeMaio is a perennial embarrassment, not just by his support for far-right policies. He also can’t seem to escape all kinds of allegations of inappropriate behavior, whether it’s sexual harassment or personal misconduct.
Please do take Bill Reedhead’s advice and make sure you do vote this year and do vote for Scott Peters for Congress.
Your vote really does matter!
amen