Category: Election

The County of San Diego has just released a video to warn all of us of the “Eight Signs of Terrorism”, in preparation for the tenth anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks, as part of their “See something, say something” campaign. We would like to add to this watch our additional Eight Signs of Republican Extremism.

To report suspicious activity, email the OB Rag at obragblog@gmail.com.

People who do the following might be plotting Republican extremist acts:

* Under the guise and rhetoric of “small government”, order all welfare and other poor people who receive public assistance to submit to monthly drug tests, as clearly the poor use illegal drugs much more than the rest of us….

Please join Empower San Diego for a community conversation about California’s ballot initiative system. We want to know about your thoughts and experiences as a voter to help us learn how we can help improve the system for all Californians. The format of this meeting will be similar to a focus group, emphasizing community conversation and input.

by Lucas O’Connor / Two Cathedrals / August 16, 2011

We recently touched on mayor candidate Nathan Fletcher’s transparently unethical hiring practices, paying for campaign staff with taxpayer dollars. Today we turn the spotlight to another mayoral candidate, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

The Ocean Beach Town Council is holding its annual election to its Board on Wednesday, August 24th. And there are a whole bunch of openings. Four of the 8 seats up for election have been vacant for a while – which means there are no incumbents for those seats.

If you are interested in running for the Board, which meets twice monthly, you need to submit a “Letter of Intent” and have it delivered by midnight, August 15th.

Dishonest Use of Gas Prices and Gay Marriage As Advertisement Should Spur An Investigation

SAN DIEGO – The Fair Political Practices Commission was notified of potentially fraudulent activity by the Comprehensive Pension Reform for San Diego campaign committee on August 3rd, including the video documentation of paid-signature gatherers using a phony petition to supposedly “lower gas prices” as a bait-and-switch that resulted in voters signing petitions for ballot measures that eliminate a retirement safety net for city employees.

By Jason Everitt / Two Cathedrals / July 19, 2011

Without much time to produce a side-by-side comparison of the major redistricting proposals and the newly minted “July 19th Plan,” here is my first take on the obvious shortcomings of this map.

It’s clear that the so-called “Coast and Canyon” district, the historic African-American empowerment district, and Border-Barrio Latino empowerment district are locked. Expectedly, there has been little variation in the borders of these districts in any major proposal, including the “July 19th Plan.”

With all the precincts counted, L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn has defeated Republican Craig Huey by 9 points in the special election to replace Rep. Jane Harman. Despite the Tea Party energy — and all the lawn signs — in support of Huey, he was unable to overcome the huge Democratic advantage in the 36th Congressional District.

Editor: New boundaries for the County Board of Supervisors’ districts are being drawn. Most of the new plans would have Ocean Beach and most of the beaches shift to Ron Robert’s district – areas currently in Greg Cox’s district.

By Christopher Cadelago / SignOnSanDiego

Proposals to redraw the county’s political boundaries — a process that has long been fraught with power plays and legal challenges — would require supervisors to represent unfamiliar areas.

By Helen Villines / June 27, 2011

“Why run for a political office, when you don’t even intend to vote for yourself,” Rocky Neptun asked a recent gathering of the San Diego Renters Union. In announcing his withdrawal from the race for mayor of San Diego next year, he told the tenant group that “we have the first opportunity in many decades to elect a progressive candidate in Congressman Bob Filner, who will take back our city from the special interests and their wealth based politics.”

Editor: As San Diego’s mayoral race “heats up”, we’re starting to see ruminations on the left and right about why Democrats support Republicans (like DA Bonnie Dumanis) and about the historic dilemma of San Diego Democrats. Here are acouple of contributions from our friends at Two Cathedrals.

The Democrats’ Dilemma By Jared Quient
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The Democrats’ Embarrassment

by Lucas O’Connor / Two Cathedrals / June 23, 2011

Several political reporters wondered yesterday on Twitter, why would Kevin Faulconer’s office release and push a poll showing Donna Frye polling stronger than other Democratic candidates?

By Lucas O’Connor/Two Cathedrals

“I’ve always felt that, if you think something should be changed, it’s your responsibility to actively pursue that change.” – Bob Filner

Bob Filner’s accidental announcement in March that he was running for mayor didn’t shock too many local insiders. That it took place at an airing of a recent 50th anniversary Freedom Riders documentary was perhaps more provocative, mostly along the lines of ‘I had no idea he was a Freedom Rider.’ Most people still have no idea, though that’s likely to change in the next year. Usually though, it comes with a vague idea of what the Freedom Riders did, but not a deep understanding. So what’s the full breadth of what it meant to be a Freedom Rider?

Imagine my surprise when I found out earlier this week on the Rachel Maddow show that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney registered his domicile for voting purposes as the unfinished basement of his son’s Massachusetts home, a few blocks from the home that the Romney’s sold earlier. She went on to say that Romney also has a home in La Jolla, which is a community of San Diego, and a cabin in New Hampshire. Her guest Fred Karger, who didn’t make the Republican cut for the New Hampshire debate last week, maintains that Romney hasn’t really been living in his son’s basement but rather in La Jolla for the past couple of years and may have committed voter fraud in the Massachusetts election of 2010.