Prop 83 in San Diego

On Sunday, The Union-Tribune reported on the simmering issue in San Diego of sex offenders concentrating in the downtown area. Now that Jessica's Law (Proposition 83) has been overwhelmingly approved by Californians, local officials have been given the greenlight to run sex offenders out of downtown. But has anyone given any thought to where they're supposed to go?

To recap, Proposition 83 prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of parks and schools (among other things). It also happens to be the pet issue of Republican Assemblywoman Shirley Horton who represents many of my neighbors and who just rode it to a very expensive reelection to the State Assembly. The constitutional applicability of Jessica's Law is already being considered in U.S. District Court, but in the meantime, that would restrict all but a few blocks of the entire San Diego downtown area. The reasoning from City Councilman Kevin Faulconer is that "downtown is a neighborhood now" which leads me to wonder what residential non-neighborhoods he's imagining sex offenders moving into. The NIMBYism that goes on in debates like this is perfectly understandable of course, but regardless of what ruling eventually comes from the courts, shouldn't we be focusing on the bigger issues? Like, for starters, how to prevent sex offenders who are potentially dangerous from being released in the first place?

Southern Californians for Jessica's Law, right on the front page, presumably as the crux of their argument since they went to all the trouble of bolding it, announces the horrible reality that "many [sex offenders] are living in our communities and neighborhoods, near our schools and parks..." Well geez, prisoners are being released and trying to integrate themselves back into communities and neighborhoods? It would be much better if we could keep them all together somewhere, isolated from the rest of us. Maybe we could call it jail or something.

Obviously, this is a complex issue with a lot of wrinkles that's too much for any politician to take on with one bite. It involves reconsidering penalties for non-violent and drug offenders, it involves the rate of prison construction, it involves reviewing and probably reforming the parole evaluation and tracking system. And probably it involves treading a very careful course that many will see as soft on child predators. You can't get everything into a soundbite though, so we get crap laws like this that are wildly popular in San Diego and elsewhere because they glamorously treat symptoms but never dive into the root causes of the problems we face.

Which steers us to the essence of the issue. In San Diego, in California, in DC, we've spent the past several (or more than several) years suffering through reactive legislation dressed up as proactive and visionary. Sex offenders are being let out of prison while still potentially a threat? Don't keep them in jail or innovate treatment procedures, just don't let them live anywhere except prison. Corporations are outsourcing jobs overseas? Don't make American workers more desirable via advanced training and education, create tax penalties. There are people who so hate the way in which the United States has conducted itself internationally that they'll kill themselves and murder innocent people? Don't consider treating people who hold different beliefs with respect or consider dialing back the hegemonic drum-beating, just do your best to kill them. While the stated goals of these policies will always be presented as exceedingly admirable, problems just don't get solved. At the local, state and federal level, we've spent years watching the whack-a-mole school of policy in action.

The application of Proposition 83 is in the hands of the courts now, and we'll see what happens in the next couple of months. In the meantime, is there such a thing as comprehensive politics anymore? Are there politicians willing to take a swing at legitimate, large-scale reform? And if they're out there, is it even possible to accomplish something like this in the age of soundbites?

If there's hope for comprehensive reform, it won't come from the top down. While it's a bit much to expect actual legislation to be written and pushed from the grassroots, it's increasingly clear that a comprehensive platform that reflects the rank and file of the Democratic Party at the local, state, and national level would be best driven by the grassroots, in particular a progressive version thereof.

So when you get a DFA invitation to participate in party elections, or when people talk about Taking Back The CA Democratic Party, it's exactly this issue. It's giving the grassroots an opportunity to ensure that the party's platform and the laws pursued and enacted make more sense from a functional level. Ultimately, that our party and our government is working on sustainable progress with the minimum of wasted effort.

So if your district needs a good progressive to run, do it. If your district already has one, vote for them. It doesn't save the world, but it's a start.

Ellen Tauscher's Endorsements - 2006

Identifying existing bases of support and changing their minds.  That's how any campaign manages to defeat an incumbent.  In a Democratic Primary, perhaps it's a bit more difficult, or perhaps it's just that the tactics have to be reinvented.  Many institutional groups (NARAL, Sierra Club, etc.) are just blindly endorsing Democratic incumbents whenever and wherever they can.  It requires changing the fundamental mindsets of people and groups who want a united Democratic front and are opposed to a system of regular primary challenges.  It requires taking on the conventional wisdom of every single Democrat in this country that's terrified of risking a single inch and, particularly in California, it requires cracking the California Democratic Party's iron insistence on picking the nominee before the primary (except of course, for governor, or for cases in which we beat them).  So who endorsed Ellen Tauscher in 2006?  This is the list we're starting from.  These are the minds we'll need to change, or at least be able to contend with.  What can we gather and how can we attack this?

The full endorsement page for Ellen Tauscher's 2006 congressional campaign is still up and running on her website here. Looking through it quickly, several things jump out. One, that certainly is an impressive looking list, both in volume and content, to a casual eye. Lots of Democrats, lots of organizations representing good sorts of people and ideas, lots of well-meaning folks.

A more careful look reveals a few other things. For one, they're ALL institutional. No community leaders, no local party officials, no organizers, nobody without clout related to fundraising and ballot boxes. Who cares what goes on in the community. Also, some notable names missing. Senator Barbara Boxer doesn't make the list. Nancy Pelosi or the 32 other Congressional California Democrats aren't mentioned either. For that matter, not a single member of the House of Representatives or national figure outside of Senator Dianne Feinstein. Then there are other nice little maneuvers, like listing the Vice Mayor of Fairfield ahead of the Mayor of Fairfield. Not sure how that one played in Fairfield City Hall, but I'd imagine better in some parts than others. So here's the full list, I would venture that it probably isn't too early to think about how to come at this, whether in any primary that CA-10 may see or anywhere else.

Elected Officials

Dianne Feinstein,Senator, United States Senate
Phil Angelides, State Treasurer, State of California
Cruz Bustamante, Lt. Governor, State of California
John Garamendi, State Insurance Commissioner, CA Department of Insurance
Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, California Department of Justice
Steve Westley, State Controller, State of California
Tom Torlakson, Senator- 7th District, California State Senate
Loni Hancock, Assembly Member- 14th District, California State Assembly
Lois Wolk, Assembly Member- 8th District, California State Assembly
Federal Glover, Supervisor, District 5, Cotra Costa County Board of Supervisors
John Vasquez, County Supervisor, Solano County
Gary Stanton, Sheriff/Coroner, Solano County
Jim Davis, City Council Member, City of Antioch
Donald Freitas, Mayor, City of Antioch
Michael Smith, Councilmember, City of Dixon
Janet Abelson, Mayor, City of El Cerrito
Jan Bridges, Councilmember, City of El Cerrito
Jack Batson, Vice Mayor, City of Fairfield
Harry Price, Mayor, City of Fairfield
Christopher Stokes, Mayor, City of Isleton
Carl Anduri, Councilmember, City of Lagayette
Lorraine Dietrich, Councilmember, City of Livermore
Marjorie Leider, Vice Mayor, City of Livermore
Laura Abrams, Councilmember, City of Orinda
Bill Judge, Mayor, City of Orinda
Victoria Smith, City Council Member, City of Orinda
Amy Worth, Councilmember, City of Orinda
John Hanecak, City Council Member, City of Pleasant Hill
Michael Harris, Councilmember, City of Pleasant Hill
Pete Sanchez, Vice Mayor, City of Suisun
Kathy Hicks, Mayor, City of Walnut Creek

Vanessa Crews, President, Acalanes Union High School District Governing Board
Dennis Goetsch, Superintedent of Schools, Antioch Unified School District
Joyce Seelinger, School Board Member, Antioch Unified School District
Shana Levine, School Board Member, Dixon Unified School District
Kim Poole, School Board Member, Dixon Unified School District
Amy Swanson, School Board Member, Dixon Unified School District
Anne Griffin, Vice President, Fairfield Suisun Unified School District
Kathy Marianno, School Board Member, Fairfield Suisun Unified School District
Gary Ebrhart, School Board Member, Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Dennis Fay, School Board Member, Orinda Unified School District
Pat Rudebusch, School Board Member, Orinda Unified School District
Paul Gardner, Governing Board Member, San Ramon Valley Unified School District
Rob Kessler, Superintedent of Schools, San Ramon Valley Unified School District
Ray Silva, School Board Member, Solano County Office of Education
Dave Brown, School Board Member, West Contra Costa Unified School District

Beverly Lane, Director, East Bay Regional Park District
Ted Radke, Director, East Bay Regional Park District
Christine Monsen, Executive Director, ACTIA

Organizations

AFSCME California
Alliance For Retired Americans
California Federation of Teachers
California Labor Federation
California Organization of Police and Sheriffs
California School Employees Association
California State Employees Association
California Teachers Association
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Citizens for Global Solutions
Contra Costa Central Labor Council
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 302
National Association of Social Workers
National Organization for Women Political Action Committee
National Women’s Political Caucus
NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Public Employees Union, Local One
Service Employees International Union
Sierra Club
The Vacaville Reporter

2006 California Turnout Settles at the Bottom of the Barrel

The AP reported Monday that 2006 turnout in California was the second lowest in state history, just falling short of the record low of 2002.  This is especially distressing since it comes in a year that saw some states match or exceed presidential-year turnout and since 2006 should have been a year which provided California Democrats a great reason to show up- knocking off Arnold Schwarzenegger.  So I have several problems with this state of affairs on the flip, and I'm sure everyone else has their favorite gripes as well.

One- Democrats had, at most, three big races that might turn people out in a big way.  Governor, CA-04, and CA-11.  Not much else got a ton of traction, despite efforts by many to make the sub-gubernatorial state races more exciting.  An LA Times editorial on Sunday touched briefly on this issue in the context of redistricting, noting that seats simply don't change hands in California at this point.  Since redistricting in 2001, there just haven't been very many compelling races.  If every district is predetermined, why do people bother showing up?

Two- The recently released Democratic Party Agenda for 2007 lists nine major points, three of which are directly focused on voter registration or mobilization.  Obviously an important issue if done properly.  But with inspiring and ambitious goals like "Expand the Party's new citizen voter registration programs", I'll have to be forgiven if I'm wary about the underlying detailed infrastructure and institutional commitment to this plan.  Particularly in a political climate in which Democrats are scared to death of the immigration issue thus don't want to court the Latino vote too hard, I'll wait for some concrete plans.  In the meantime- how about a full push for the Democratic Party in Spanish?  Anyways, that's another day.

Third- Perhaps most distressing, this turnout means that, for all the Democrats who tripped over each other trying to line up behind a supposed moderate, reformist winner in Schwarzenneger, he was elected with the votes of less than 19% of potentially eligible California voters.  19 percent!  Let's start rolling that into his "mandate" shall we?  This great force of political dynamism could only clock in just short of 19-friggin-percent.  The flipside of course, even more painful, is that it leaves Angelides with an even more sad 15.3% of Californians.

If we want to reform the state party, and we do, getting people to vote is going to be the biggest way to make a difference.  I haven't seen registration or turnout data that would serve as a targeting model, but I have no doubt that it's out there.  But if this state party is only good for 15% in a gubernatorial race, I'd say we have a pretty good case for its being entirely impotent.

Blogging has provided incredible innovation when it comes to how messages and issues are framed, packaged and delivered.  But getting people turned out hasn't seen much of the action.  We phone bank, we knock on doors, but we don't innovate.  MoveOn has made great strides towards nationalizing and simplifying phonebanking by allowing people to do it from home, but the fundamental methods of outreach have remained the same.  Maybe they need to be, but the netroots is packed with creativity and ingenuity, there should be more ways to shake up this process.

So consider this a first sounding board.  I've got a few ideas percolating already, but until I get those fully formed, what else is out there?

More Than Tauscher?

There are tons of things in this world that I'll never understand without studying, researching, and thinking hard about, like discrete mathematics and chemistry. There are tons more that I'll never understand period, like computer animation and astrophysics, because while I think of myself as pretty smart, there are plenty of people who are smarter. Then there are things that I just don't care about knowing, but mostly that covers things that pay the bills at Entertainment Tonight. But how much could I know if someone would just tell me?

Being a semi-pro rabble rouser and professional Californian, the sands through Ellen Tauscher's hourglass of late have been fascinating to watch. Through all the blogging that's begun to chip at the tip of the iceberg, the most striking issue for me has been the preexisting grassroots distaste for Tauscher. You can see from high school kids, you can see it among the commenters at DailyKos, and my guess will be that you'll be able to see it plenty of other places over the next two years. But this diary isn't about laying out the case against Tauscher- others are handling that already. This is a diary about just how unique Tauscher's situation probably isn't.

There are four congressional districts in this country that I feel as though I understand well enough to have insights that others might have a use for. The most recent addition to the list is CA-10, which joins CA-50 (Bilbray), CA-53 (Davis), and my dearly departed hometown district, VA-08 (Moran). In CA-10, there's clearly a vocal and motivated faction of voters interested in change. Back in Virginia, we're about a year away from gearing up again for the biennial primary challenge to Jim "Moron" Moran who made a career of being both crazy and crazy like a fox enough to keep the local machine firmly behind him. In CA-50, with a mountain of very much-due respect, I stand by my long standing belief that the district needed a stronger candidate than Busby, or at least a stronger, more progressive and more pugnacious candidate than we got for the special election. Susan Davis in my very own CA-53, well...she's a Democrat in San Diego and we don't take that lightly, though she's been making her fine career largely on a strategy of keeping her head down and voting for anything that gives money to the military. Which leads me to this- I know four districts well, and three of them are ripe for a kickass Democrat to step up and seize power.

How many other districts are there in this country who are similar or even more ripe? How many districts would be ready for a primary challenge or a strong challenge in the general if someone would just tell me? How many more districts are just waiting for a few intrepid organizers or bloggers to ignite a keg of gunpowder, if someone would just tell me?

We built our Netroots Actblue page this year almost entirely based on reports from the front who made the case that these longshot districts were for real this time around. As a result, we've made a lot of progress towards efficiently mobilizing the netroots for funds, volunteers and general chatter that spills over into offline venues. In spite of the impressive work done to this end, it was exceptionally piecemeal in nature. As the numbers, clout, and local connections continue to grow over the next several years, the netroots is going to be in a position to take on more and more. If we're going to do this in an organized manner, we need voices on the ground everywhere. I want to know a year ahead of time that Denny Rehberg's ass could be in the fire, or that something's simmering in South Carolina, or that people wherever you live are starting to wonder whether their representative is a little too chummy with Dubya (The Caress). Whatever it is, how many more places could we take on if, with a bit of notice, somebody just told us?

I wrote this week about the importance of the netroots becoming a place that fosters community organization and encourages people to report about their experiences locally. This is (surprise!) an extention of that same sentiment. The more we get into the community, and the more we share what people say and do, the more ready we are to lend our collective efforts to supporting preexisting anti-incumbent sentiment. I'm not presuming that there are dozens of districts ready for primary challenges by any means. I'd be shocked if we saw a half dozen legitimately fertile opportunities in a cycle. But how would I know?

Don't get me wrong, there's a vibrant network providing volumes of invaluable information already. But there are more dark corners than bright ones right now, and it needn't be that way. Collectively, the netroots should be able to produce a profile of every Congressional district every time out. The Democrats who know what we need to know are on the ground ready to tell us all about it, and we can do a lot once we know where to do it. We need to get these sentiments online and we need to find out what they need to make a serious go of it. I just need them, and you, to tell me.

San Diego vs. WalMart

On November 28th, the San Diego City Council voted in favor of banning Wal-Mart Superstores (spotted by Todd Beeton at Calitics as well) citing low-wage jobs, traffic congestion and the demise of mom-and-pop stores as reason to keep the biggest of the Big Boxes outside of San Diego. This was, perhaps sadly, one of the bigger political stories of my several years in San Diego, with friends and foes of discount superstores crowding into the public hearing to plead their cases. That Walmart would come out on the wrong end of this in San Diego of all places is pretty impressive, as we find our progressive moments to be few and far between. But as is generally the case when some combination of evil corporations, politics and California combine, it looks as though we're heading for an expensive legal campaign and an even more expensive disinformation campaign as Walmart fights back. This is a battle that we're going to have to fight and win eventually if a progressive agenda is going to have a prayer in this country, and since the fight in Chicago has come and gone, perhaps we can seize on this one to create and hone strategy.

First, to set the stage. The Council's vote was 5-3 in favor, sending it to Mayor Jerry Sanders who has no interest in slowing down development or corporations. Sanders has made clear that he'll veto the measure in January, but if the 5 votes hold, the veto would be overriden. This ban is very carefully designed to only ban the largest of Walmart stores, leaving untouched the "normal" sized stores and similar big-boxers such as Target, Lowes, Costco, etc. Walmart has a long history of taking fights with local governments to the courts and the ballot boxes, and while they're not saying anything one way or another, we can expect them to not go quietly here.

It's clear from many of the opinions expressed at the City Council meeting and from random conversations I've had around town that the economic ramifications of a Walmart economy. People are very much convinced that these low prices sustain them, and the problem of course is that in most tangible ways, that's true. There's no doubt in my mind that this will be the crux of Walmart's inevitable media blitz once the City Council reaffirms their vote. It's tough to combat an argument of "they want to raise prices," especially since it sounds so much like "they want to raise your taxes."

In a new article running down the future possibilities, it turns out

One well-known Republican political consultant, who requested anonymity, has already tried to contact the company about working on a referendum, but said the company has not responded to his request. Others in the political community expect the company to wait for the council vote on overriding the mayoral veto -- which would take just the same five votes that were needed to pass the ban -- before announcing its plans.

The article goes on to suggest that local labor organizations are likely to be major players in any potential referendum action, speculating that "you would see them organize like never before." If it comes to this, it's a great opportunity to roll out the growing netroots/labor ties and start building more and stronger bridges between online activism and grassroots activism. Most importantly though, it presents an opportunity for the netroots to expand its collective purview beyond straight electoral politics. As we continue finding our way through the inevitable post-election "what do we do with ourselves" period, I would suggest that the best way to become relevant even when there isn't an election is to take on more of the day-to-day stuff that keeps the grassroots in business. Not only do we build progressive infrastructure and step up the hearts-and-minds battle, but the netroots becomes an indispensable ally of the existing grassroots process.

As far as I've always understood it, Walmart undercuts everything about a strong and functional local economy. When it first comes to town, people love the bargains, but as the independent stores with higher wages start getting undercut and going out of business, gradually Walmart's prices aren't bargains anymore. Suddenly, Walmart is all that people can afford. Obviously this is why a ballot proposition is the most frightening option- this economic cycle is already well established in San Diego and people rely on these prices to get by. But an education campaign can change that. Going forward, I mostly hope that this issue, at least broadly if not specifically in San Diego, gains more attention. The netroots is best as the place where talking points are proposed, refined and distributed, so the more we talk about this, the better equipped people on the ground will be when we all start lobbying our friends and neighbors on this issue. For all the expanding capabilities of the netroots, serving as a bullhorn is still what we're best at, so let's begin to shout. People deserve better than a Walmart society, and San Diego is the coming battle.

Draft Yourself: Bringing the Grassroots Online

After an election cycle in which the netroots loudly proved its mettle as a mjor influence in national politics, our field is expanding and the demand for innovation and diversification has never been greater. We saw the first steps towards a thriving netroots/grassroots alliance in many places around the country, in Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, etc. Between now and the next election, the biggest challenge ahead is to establish a mutually beneficial cooperation with existing grassroots organizations which have largely been operating independent of netroots activities thusfar. The netroots, for all the progress, is still much more talk than it is tangible movement on the ground, and the established grassroots has clearly been reticent for a variety of reasons to leap headlong into the blogging community. It seems to me that it's much easier for us in the netroots to set about making the online world more receptive and more useful to grassroots activists, so how do we do it?

We start by establishing strengths and weaknesses. The netroots can do all sorts of things, but more than anything, it's a giant message machine. It's an educational tool- a megaphone for otherwise small issues, races and people. It may help steer public debate, but so far it hasn't been the primary business of the netroots to foster local conditions. Rather, the netroots has focused on empowering preexisting grassroots movements. They have the institutional framework and they have the shoe leather. They provide the local connections and the block-by-block insight into voter attitudes. Thus far, it's mostly been those campaigns and those organizations that have come online of their own accord that have benefitted from netroots attention, and understandably so. But at some point the netroots has to really get proactive about dragging the entire Democratic grassroots online. We need their organization at the local level, they need our volume. I'd suggest that we can force ourselves on them in the best possible way. How? Draft yourself.

When I took on the Googlebomb project a few weeks before the election, it wasn't as though I had Chris Bowers calling me to see if I would be interested in doing it. I just had the time and the interest and started doing it until it was my project. The simplest and most straightforward way to bring the grassroots online, in spite of the all-too-prevalent fear of computers and all things related, is to just nominate yourself as official blogger for your local organization. People have already started doing this, but it's something that needs to be done on a much larger scale. There are community organizations everywhere, whether explicitly or implicitly political, that are flying under the netroots radar because nobody's writing anything about them. So if you're already attending, write about it and tell us why it's awesome. If you aren't, find an organization in your community that's doing the work of progressivism and start showing up. Don't do it specifically to report back, do it because you should be involved outside the keyboard, but make sure that you DO come report back. Tell us, in real terms, about the people who are sweating to make this country better.

This is important and exceptionally useful for several reasons:

First, it hopefully gets more people involved in their communities. Obviously, this is great in and of itself, but it also is great for creating an inherent crosspollenization between online and offline. It also leads naturally to better local organization when it comes time to get progressive candidates elected to school board, mayor, state party posts, etc.

Second, it goes miles towards making the netroots more accessible. The many thousands of people working hard every day are going to see the netroots talking about them and about their work, and that's going to be attractive. For one, there's immediately an online discussion taking place to which they can contribute firsthand, expert observations and opinions. Two, it makes people feel important and part of a larger group. I've had this discussion a bunch of times with people, and feeling like you're earning people's attention is a big part of why the netroots is able to suck people in. Becoming even a minor rock star in the blogging world can go a long way. Just ask Tommy Lee how good a life being a mid-level rock star can be.

Third, it's a perpetuating cycle. The more attention that these groups receive online, the more people show up to local meetings, the more people report back, and the more we in the netroots become linked to the grassroots. Grassroots organizations get a primer in how great blogs can be for publicity, money and volunteers, and bloggers get a primer in what can happen when you show up and make decisions in your community.

I fear that one major issue standing in the way of the grassroots embracing the online community in a full-scale way is the idea, not entirely unfounded, that the netroots expect to shape the message of everyone they talk about. If we start bridging this gap by presenting the netroots as an opportunity to be heard, to make your case in the most naturally meritocratic sounding board we've currently got, it's going to be attractive. If we show up trying to crash the gates of everyone we meet, it's going to be quite a bit more contentious than it should be.

I'm the first to admit that I'm not as involved in my community as I should be, so let this stand as a lecture to myself as much as it's a suggestion to anyone else, but building the bridges into the communities from which the votes and the progress will ultimately come is (or should be) what the netroots is for. So go out and find the people doing good work in your community and pitch in. I bet you'll be glad you did, and I look forward to hearing all about it.