McCann the Man in the 78th?… On Friday, the Union-Trib focused on the efforts by GOP leadership to clear the termed-out Shirley Horton seat for David Bejarano (the article was hi-lited on the FR main page as well). On Red County/San Diego, "Hiram Johnson" also provides some amusing insights as to the ongoings, or not.
Since Bejarano has decided not to enter the race, some criticism has followed by those saying, in effect, "You know, you may want to check to make sure a candidate actually wants to run before selling them as the next best thing since sliced bread." By some accounts, Bejarano was absolutely planning a run, but an illness in his family changed things. To those who have raised his lack of commitment to a hard fight as the real reason behind the change-of-heart, my response is simple…
Perhaps so-called family-values conservatives should give the benefit of the doubt to those who choose family considerations over politics and personal gain, and just leave it to the fact that only one person knows what’s best in their particular situation.
That aside, as the U-T indicated, all of this leaves Chula Vista Councilman John McCann as the potential leading Republican candidate in the race, perhaps for now the only one, although some operatives are said to be "looking." Looking.
To quote from my own December 2006 post, AD 78 "was drawn a relatively safe Dem seat, with Vince Hall being that Party’s standard-bearer in 2002. When the smoke cleared, Republican Shirley Horton had won due to her service as mayor in the area’s largest city (Chula Vista), the able guidance of Coronado Communications, a great ground campaign, and a Democrat nominee effectively tied as a recent employee to a floundering and ridiculous-looking Gray Davis."
Let’s not underestimate the fact that all of those things worked together to win it for Horton, not the least of which — she had an elected title in Chula Vista. For those doing the "looking," it doesn’t take long to see that among electeds, the choices are slim or have indicated "no interest" (such as Supervisor Greg Cox).
If someone can explain why the previous winning scenario should now be tossed out the window in favor of a non-elected Republican nominee…please do tell. In the meantime, Councilman McCann is in for the long haul. For any "lookers" still on the sidelines, perhaps John deserves some honest, straight talk as to the credible alternatives to his candidacy, if there are any.
Door 1 or Door 2 for the Real Mayor… Every day in San Diego shines light on increased divisiveness between Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Attorney Mike Aguirre.
Earlier in the week, before the Soledad landslide, Aguirre held a community "Water Forum," bringing in experts to discuss the future of water delivery — or the lack thereof. Nothing particular "legal" to this forum or discussion, unless the City Attorney plans on suing the City of SD over allowing development without appropriate infrastructure or something.
On Wednesday, watching the news one might have thought that Big Mike was the councilmember representing the La Jolla area, the first on scene at the landslide, the first with the sound bite, the one ensuring that all city departments were on top of the mess. With Mayor Sanders on his way back from DC, Aguirre pretty clearly positioned himself as the "Al Haig for a day." Or, maybe it’s every day. For a guy who doesn’t want to me Mayor, he sure likes to dabble in policy and constituent issues.
Perhaps Jerry needs to go the route of President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) in "The American President"…
"My name is Jerry Sanders, and I am the Mayor."
Happy Columbus Day… It wasn’t until I went to work full time in government that I realized some folks get this as a State holiday (it’s tomorrow, in case you didn’t know). Just to be clear, I have meetings to attend anyway, so — holiday or not — I will be working. It also wasn’t lost on me that as much as the liberals in the legislature may hold disdain for Chris Columbus as the ultimate racist among racists, the unions still weren’t about to give up a paid day off just to make some kind of politically-correct statement.
So, have a great Columbus day and have a great week!
October 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Barry:
I worked on Shirley Horton’s 2002 race. It was one of the hardest-working
campaigns in my experience, and also one of the most-rewarding victories
when she took the lead for good about 1:00 a.m. election night.
The 78th AD was the closest legislative contest in California that year.
Your narrative is right on target about why she won. John McCann has
a lengthy winning election record in Chula Vista, and he would be a fine
GOP nominee to succeed Ms. Horton.