My longtime friend (going back to college days), Assemblyman Joel Anderson, pulled off an event that San Diego hasn’t witnessed in over a decade. Last, Saturday night he packed a ballroom at the Town and Country (the site of CRP conventions of olde) with an eclectic collection of San Diego ‘s most influential business leaders and grassroots activists — and raised a boatload of political donations. I’ve been wanting to tell FR readers about it all week, but trying to cover the state budget gyrations has been time-consuming…
The event attracted a capacity crowd of 350 for dinner and another 110 to the "Host reception" beforehand.
Scattered about the room were the event’s sponsors, representatives from Northrop Grumman, RA Capital Advisers, Barona Band of Mission Indians, Intuit, CH2MHill, Sycuan, Geico, Hamann Companies, Associated Builders & Contractors, and many others. The event also drew a star-studded cast of East County ‘s most influential grassroots activists, a revealing glimpse of Anderson ‘s deep connections inside his district.
The program began with Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines proudly reporting that Assembly Republicans stand united against new taxes. Then, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, (making a special trip) rallied the enthusiastic attendees to elect more Republicans to fight Sacramento ‘s liberal status quo. Later, I overheard the comment "Poizner rocked!" Anderson implored attendees to encourage Poizner to seriously explore a gubernatorial bid.
After dinner, various Republican Assembly candidates in attendance addressed the crowd (Abram Wilson-AD 15, Brian Nestande AD-61, Curt Hagman AD-60, Nathan Fletcher AD-75, John McCann AD-78, Gary Jeandron AD-80). Anderson also introduced his Assembly colleagues in attendance including Assemblyman Chuck Devore, Assemblyman Anthony Adams, Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, Assemblyman Martin Garrick and Assemblyman Jim Silva.
As always with events of this magnitude, there were a few minor glitches. The late arrival of the guests’ nametags caused a lot of irony laced humor referring to Anderson ‘s recent nametag gambit.
On Tuesday, Anderson ‘s staff made nametags for the Assembly Republican Caucus for the budget showdown with Governor Schwarzenegger. The move showcased the fact that the Governor hadn’t met with the Assembly Republican Caucus in two years – and, didn’t know their names! This maneuver may have been the tipping point in the budget negotiations- dashing the Democrats’ false hopes of the Governor delivering Republican votes on his new taxes.
In closing, Anderson thanked everyone for their support in his 2006 race, but made clear that his campaign did not end there, "when I ran for office I promised you that I wasn’t going to be a potted plant. I ran to make a difference."
And, there was something very different about Saturday night, and it wasn’t the size or the enthusiasm of the crowd.
It’s rare to see the heavy-hitting downtown business establishment breaking bread with East County ‘s conservative leaders – especially at a fundraiser for the re-election of a freshman Assemblyman.
Anderson certainly seems to be bringing people together in San Diego. This event raised Anderson enough money (well into-six figures) to continue to help Assembly Republicans with their fall efforts, and to certainly give him “pole position” for a presumed State Senate run in 2010…
Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?
Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.