San Diego Politics & Media Mashup
Republican Carl DeMaio has hired a Democrat and Democrat Bob Filner is on board with pension reform.
Who spiked the water in San Diego?
Relax. There’s no need to panic. The water is clean…I mean drinkable. So why are we seeing New Carl and New Bob popping up in stories?
Here’s the thing — election season is nearly in full swing and DeMaio and Filner, the two men running to become San Diego’s next mayor, have to figure out how to appeal to the middle in order to come out on top in November. In San Diego, 40 percent of registered voters are Democrats and 28 percent are registered Republican.
Math is leading both candidates to stray from their core philosophies and make decisions they never would have made leading up to the June primary.
DeMaio, for example, recently announced that Art Castañares, the former chair of the local Democratic Party, was joining his campaign as a strategist. And Filner, who campaigned against the pension reform initiative that San Diegans overwhelmingly approved in June, has had a change of heart. Filner also said this week he’s offered a job to Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who finished third behind DeMaio and Filner in June.
To recap, DeMaio is listening to at least one consultant who proudly calls himself a Democrat and Filner appears to be listening to someone from the right. Neither has to worry too much about alienating their base because they are the only candidates in the field. I like seeing them widen their tents even if it may just be a means to an end. It’s fun to watch. Stay tuned.