One of the finest men I have ever met in politics is Bill Jones, former Secretary of State and Assembly Minority Leader in the early 1990’s. Aside from being part of one of more prominent westside farming families in the Central San Joaquin Valley for decades, Bill served and was easily the best Secretary of State in the history of California, and left a legacy in the legislature including the 3 Strikes law, among other accomplishments.
On his way out of active politics in 2004 he ran for Senate against Barbara Boxer, a half hearted effort doomed from the start. But he went out a true gentlemen, and his family, including wife Maureen and daughters Andrea and Wendy were simply one of the model political families anyone can remember anywhere. An incredible group. Always friendly, and always the same.
Bill’s current business pursuit is Pacific Ethanol, a relatively new company looking to put ethanol on the map, finally, as an alternative to oil and gasoline. His timing has been spectacular here. As chairman and founder of the company, he has led the effort plan/construct five ethanol producing facilities and has received major investments from firms such as Cascade Investments, one of many investment vehicles funded by Microsoft Founder Bill Gates.
From its initial IPO price of around $10 per share it closed at just over $32 a share Friday on strong speculative investment. And given current supplies of gasoline, this speculation appears to be highly warranted. President Bush even cited its development in a major energy speech last week, and the markets loved it.
Jones’ son in law, Ryan Turner, served as Chief Operating Officer of the company until about 10 days ago, when public filings indicated he sold over $20 million worth of the stock over a few days time. While I don’t know what holdings Jones has as Chairman, suffice it to say that Pacific Ethanol is a home run for he and his family. Beyond that, I would hope that this new company is a home run for America. As long as Democrats won’t let us develop our own domestic supplies of oil, we are going to continue to need people like Bill Jones pressing on for other solutions.
I would have loved to see Bill Jones as Governor or Senator, but frankly, he’s making a much larger contribution to society now. In the Central Valley, we couldn’t be more proud.
April 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Whether you win or lose a campaign, there is always a lot to be learned. Bill’s US Senate campaign was one of the first statewide campaigns that I engaged in almost full time after college. Aside from no TV spots in the general, I don’t think most people know how much effort was put forth “behind the scenes” in day-to-day ops to make that campaign work. I learned more about campaigns working for Bill than any other candidate for which I have worked. Bill Jones is the most decent man I have ever met in politics. I too would have loved to see him in the US Senate. Hats off to Bill for building what is turning out to be an incredibly successful business for his family and for our country.
April 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Ideologically, I would have liked to have seen Bill Jones or Howard Kaloogian face and beat Barbara Boxer in 2004. But, there was never any indication either one had a snowball’s chance in Clovis, as was borne out in the Boxer trouncing of Jones. Bill is a great guy…as are Duke, Pete and Arnold. The three aforementioned GOP governors endorsed Bill Jones. I don’t know if they were sending a message, believed their friend could win or it was just political payback. But, the fact is, they should have back Rosario Marin: a moderate, yes…but someone who had a chance to beat Boxer…and, if not win, show the electorate of California that the GOP doesn’t always support red-tie-sporting, White, middle-aged men, in blue suits. Would it have killed the GOP to have a moderate Latina taking on Boxer? No.
April 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Well said Mike. Bill and Maureen Jones and family were one of the most gracious political families in California. Bill was always generous, thoughtful and appreciative of the volunteers. It was always a pleasure working on his campaigns. Bill’s contribution to California and our Country continues just in the private sector.
Lois Godfrey
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Peter,
The truth is that Republican voters want candidates with a substantive message. Rosario’s campaign was about being a “hispanic” and a “woman” which are just tactics. Republican voters want to know what a candidate is going to do for them once elected, not just how they can win. The truth is that voters trusted and respected Bill Jones because of his flawless record as SOS. Further, he proved by co-authoring and passing the historic 3-Strikes Law that he would go to Washington and do something. As cheesy as it may sound, Bill Jones was “The Name You Know & Trust” amongst Republican voters.
I think Rosario Marin has the potential to be a decent candidate in the appropriate region or setting. The next time she runs for something, if she wants to succeed amongst Republicans, she needs to have a campaign with substantive ideas backed by highlighting her professional and leadership experiences.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Jeff,
Thanks for filling me in on what Republican voters want. I’ve been one since I was an 18-year-old Torrance boy voting for Ronald Reagan for President. I also, you might be interested in knowing, voted for Bill Jones in the GOP Primary, when he ran for Governor. Yes, he’s a great guy with a great family and served the people of California very well…yada, yada, yada. In 2004, the expectation for Bill Jones was a clock-cleaning by Barbara Boxer…and he received one. Rosario Marin, by most unbiased accounts, would have done better and would have been a better face for the GOP. Thinking outside the country-club-box every once in a while, isn’t a retreat from principles. By the way, your patronizing political advice on how Ms. Marin she should run her next “regional” campaign should be directed at Ken Kachigian, who ran Rosario’s 2004 bid for U.S. Senate. Ken has done more for GOP candidates and honing coherent and effective messages than most of us can only dream of doing.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
I remember Marin’s campaign messages – I was still getting mail and email updates. Basically those messages amounted to, “Rosario’s a nice Latina lady who’s been a good appointee for the President.” BFD.
One of my pet peeves are those Republicans who seem to feel that diversity – gender, race, etc. – in the party needs to be achieved at any cost – i.e., we need more Republican women in public office, so let’s endorse every female candidate who comes down the pike, no matter how terrible a nominee she’d make. I think that’s a terrible mindset and the wrong approach to solving the problem. Putting a female or Latino/a face on bad ideas – or none at all – hurts the party, not helps it, if that Latina woman stands for nothing – or worse, stands for nothing more than what her Democrat opponent stands for. Finding qualified, articulate, principled charismatic nominees with little to no personal baggage will give voters a real choice – and, IMHO, will do infinitely more for the party than fitting the wrong candidates, or unprepared ones, into some Beltway bandits and Sac hacks’ ideas about diversity.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
I probably should’ve added that I certainly didn’t mean to attack Ms. Marin, or suggest she was/is less than principled. I just don’t remember those principles being featured prominently in her campaign messages. At this point, I was (and am) pretty much an ordinary voter, and whatever message her campaign may have been trying to put out wasn’t resonating with anyone I knew.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Anthony,
You are much more than “an ordinary voter.” You are:
Anthony Finchum
Deputy Executive Director, Young Republican Fed.of CA (1997-98)
Chairman Emeritus, Young Republican Federation of San Diego (1995-96)
Deputy Director, San Diego County Republican Party (1997-98)
Central Committee Member, California Republican Party (94-97)
Central Committee, SDCRP (95-98)
You’ve worked hard for the GOP and are entitled to an opinion, as tainted and wrong as it may be.
And to think I thought George Wallace was dead.
Thanks for your past service.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Peter,
Like Anthony, in no way is my opinion a personal attack, rather its merely constructive criticism. I don’t profess to be an expert, but I don’t think you have to be one to have a formadable opinion.
I am sure Ken Kachigian, a very respectable strategist, did everything he could to advise Ms. Marin. She just didn’t communicate her ideas clear enough out in public to garner support. I would say that is on her, not Ken. She wasn’t ready for Prime Time. The best part of her campaign was run by Bryan Starr at CRP convention when they went head to head with our red shirts.
There are a lot of reasons why we didn’t win that Senate race in ’04 and I can tell you that Bill being a white guy in a suit wasn’t one of them. Call me for my full observation — 714-730-3900.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Pete,
My past service ended nearly 10 years ago. I can assure you I’ve pretty much regressed (or progressed?) to being Joe Voter – and not much of a partisan anymore. By 2004, when Marin ran, I was not only an “ordinary voter,” I was no longer voting in California.
Damned if I can understand your allusion to George Wallace. As you clearly got my political CV from somewhere, you must also know that I’m of Latino descent on my grandfather’s side, so I can’t imagine you’re accusing me of anti-Hispanic/Latino bigotry. How exactly did Wallace enter into this equation?
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
And Rosario finished a very respectable 2nd place to Bill Jones, which
is why she can still run again and win.
BTW, a pretty fair campaign guru named Ken Khachigian advised her, and it showed
in the way she came out of the 2nd-tier in the
final weeks and won 20% of the ballots (448,756 votes)
compared to Howard Kaloogian’s 248,443.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Peter,
Just as patriotism (and religious fundamentalism) are the last refuges of the scoundrel, straw-horse arguments are the last refuge of a debater with a thin argument. And, with all due respect, your hyperbolic straw horses are themselves wearing thin today.
No one here (or anywhere else, as far as I’m aware) suggests that Marin didn’t get the nomination because she was an immigrant, a Latina, or a woman. I HAVE suggested that those inherent qualities DO not and SHOULD not, in and of themselves, make a compelling case to vote for any candidate. Jeff and I have suggested that she didn’t win because she didn’t convey a coherent, compelling message about what she intended to do as a legislator and why she was the most qualified candidate in the race. Bill Jones DID make that case for himself. If his campaign had been a Bob Dole campaign – i.e., “I’ve been around the longest, it’s my ‘turn'” – then he’d have been less deserving of the nomination than Marin. But he made his case, she didn’t (IMHO, of course.)
If Marin is able to make a compelling case, relevant to the office she’s running for, in a future run for office, then God bless her. As Jim just pointed out, a second-place showing for a first-time candidate – especially for a high-profile statewide race – is very promising. It shows a lot of potential. That potential just wasn’t realized two years ago.
If you’ve got as much passion for her future candidacies as you’ve demonstrated in defending her first run, and if she can generate that level of passion in other supporters, she should be very well served the next time she runs.