Support Progressive Democrat Ellen Corbettt
I want to call your attention to a major statewide
effort underway to transform our state senate
into another arm of the corporate interests. This
time they’re trying to do it through the Democratic
Party, using pro-business Democrats, and one of most
blatant examples is right in the Bay Area, where
Assemblyman John Dutra has received over $1 million,
mostly from big business, including Philip Morris,
Pfizer, Chevron-Texaco and the California Building
Industry Association, just to name a few. I’m not
joking here… He really claims to be a Democrat
while using that money to run a dirty campaign.
We need to keep the State Senate as progressive as possible, and his
opponent Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett has spent her
career working for strong consumer protections,
environmental protections, universal health care and
better schools. She has supported gay marriage,
medical marijuana, and all the causes we care about.
We cannot afford to lose this seat to the insurance
industry, and they need our help ASAP. Can you
volunteer to phonebank one night? I know a lot of us
never cross the Bay, but it’s only a half hour BART
ride from Civic Center Station to San Leandro, and it
will make a huge difference for our future. You can
call Dexter Roberson at 510 895-1374 to sign up.
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May 27th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
CTA is endorsing Ellen Corbett on a sole endorsement- most other labor unions did a triple endorsement, which included John Dutra. So, yes Ellen needs your help to distinguish herself from the field. Thanks for posting this.
May 29th, 2006 at 11:39 am
I was very impressed when I met Ellen Corbett. I got a call from her Campaign Manager and I’m going to try and do a phone bank if I can.
May 31st, 2006 at 10:27 am
This also applies to Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi who is obviously in the back pocket of the insurance companies despite adamently denying such a financial backing. The truth is, the chairman and not the companies, have paid for his campaign, so he feels its justified to say he has not taken money from the industry. Seems pretty rediculous to me. If Californians want clean campaigners, they should look to Jackie Speier for Lt. Gov. instead.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:31 am
“He really claims to be a Democrat
while using that money to run a dirty campaign.”
To be candid, I will announce my bias as someone who supported John in the race. But that aside, something that escapes any bias is the fact that he didn’t run a dirty campaign. Not one negative mailer came from his campaign. On the other hand, Corbett seemed to have abandon that ethic with an onslaught of negative mailers, that not only attacked records (which may be justifiable) but tastelessly attacked character. If you don’t beleive me, I have records of all the mailers. I can show each and every one of them and you’ll have no choice but to accept the truth of the matter, unfiltered by your comfortable ideological filters.
But wait. You can claim, “What about all those independent expenditures?” Well, there just that: independent. It is illegal for a candidate to participate or to have knowledge of those expeditures. To have been invovled in coordinating those mailers would have been a huge, unneccessary political risk. Besides, there were tons of indepedent expenditures on behalf of Corbett, too.
In the end, do not charge John Dutra with running a dirty campaign. In fact, Dutra and Klehs both worked hard to be clean. Unlike someone else.
Also, why is he not really a Democrat? Did he not recieve endorsements from the labor unions? Democratic clubs? He was a democrat on all social issues. Where did he differ? He was fiscally responsible and more prudent about issues affecting business/the economy. After all, if a business can’t survive (we’re talking about doing well, not indulging on disgustingly huge profits), doesn’t that affect the poor and the unions and people who have to depend on that work to feed families? If John was able to garner democratic and labor support while being mindful of economic matters, isn’t that a testament to his practicality and being truly progressive by moving everyone forward? That’s called not being pointlessly partisan, a plague that is affecting all politics on all sides.
That has been my pro-dutra tirade but at least it is balancing the some of the misinformation contained in the blog (about dirty campaigning and not being a democrat).
October 8th, 2006 at 12:06 am
John Dutra is an pompus ass! He SPED by my son’s shcool, Wibel, one morning. When I YELLED at him to slow down, he shot me the most evil look, as if to say, “who the HELL do YOU think you are lady?” He then rolled thru a four way stop sign, at Grimmer and Paseo Padre Parkway, over took a car, on the double solid yellow line, and sped off going around 70 mph….as reported by a the driver her over took!!! EVERYONE that morning recognized him. What a jerk! Get the word out, he is a politician NOT someone who cares about others or children!!! If I ever see his car speeding again, I will call the cops!
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Wow, Jan. I agree, that behavior by John is horrible. I will mention it to him. But, he’s no longer a politician. And did you have to use such course language? Taking a page from Corbett’s guide to dirty campaigning.