Now that the joy has worn off....

from Last Tuesday, I think I can type up some thoughts.

So...my day began when I got ready to walk down to the polls at the local high school. I gathered up my sample ballot and a flyer I recieved from, what I believed were, Democrats. Singing the little voting "jingle" 'Nix on the First Six'...I glanced down at the "handy dandy" guide provided on the flyer and then I notice it. The Handy Dandy "voter guide" had a vote Yes on Prop 78 and NO on Props 79 and 80.

Wait just a minute. I go back and check my email I received from the CA Democratic Party and, no, I wasn't mistaken....the CA Democratic Party says NO on 78 and endorses 79 and 80. But this "official" looking flyer with the "Vote Democratic" on the cover; this flyer with images of Dianne Feinstein and Phil Angelides saying Vote NO on 77; this flyer festooned with images of Presidents Truman, Roosevelt and Kennedy with the big letters stating "VOTE DEMOCRATIC...The Democratic Party has always been the party of new ideas and strong leadership"; this "Democratic" flyer was telling me to vote against two of the initiatives the CA Democratic Party was for.

Inside the flyer it 'yelled in print' "ATTENTION DEMOCRATS! Prop 77 is a harmful, misguided effort to achieve reform. Join us in saying "NO on Proposition 77" and then lists Feinstein, Boxer, Lockyer, League of Women Voters, CA Democratic Party, CTA, CPF, Congress of CA Seniors, CNA, CA League of Conservation Voters, CAHP, CFT." Well...that I agreed with. I DO think this prop was misguided, and quite frankly, stupid...but two little boxes below the fold read:

Yes on Prop 78! (Californians for Affordable Prescriptions) This drug discount program will bring immediate help to millionsof Californians. It's the only proposal that delivers significant discounts to those in need. www.yesprop78.org

No on Prop 79! Nurses, patient groups and seniors oppose Prop 79! It won't deliver what it promises. We have a healthcare crisis in California, Prop 79 makes it worse.  www.noprop79.org (Californians Against the Wrong Prescription)

Wow....completely opposite of what the Offical CA Democratic Party was suggesting. It was a real slick, sneaky effort to thwart the Democratic vote on those three particular initiatives.

Looking at the fine print, this thing was sent out by the "Democratic Voters Choice", 601 S. Glenoaks Blvd., Suite 211, Burbank, CA  91502.

Searching the web on that address I came across an archived entry from Mayor Sam's Sister City re: outsourcing campaigns in Los Angeles races which led me to the political campaign manager name of Kindee Durkee of Durkee & Associates.

Seems that Kindee is also the Treasurer of quite a number of Democratic candidates and was even a treasurer of the West Side Democratic Club Organizing Commiteee (pdf). She's even listed in the CA Political Treasurers Org. It looks like Kindee was also the Treasurer of LA County Democratic Party in 2003. This person should have known which initiatives the Democrats were backing...and why.

So why is Kindee sending out something that looks like it is from the Democrats but goes against what the CA Democratic Party recommends?

I called the CA Democratic Party in Los Angeles. I called the Democratic National Party. I called Dianne Feinstein's office...and they were not happy to hear that her image was used on something that gave the wrong impression of her stances on the initiatives. I faxed a copy of the flyer to all. I'm not happy that someone so "tied in" with the Democratic Party has something to do with sabotaging the Party's efforts.

And that leads me to the bigger question. Should we do what is "expedient"  or should we do the right thing?  I'm sure Kindee really appreciated the thousands of dollars thown her way by big Pharma, but was it the right thing to do? Sure it just might slide in under the bar of being legal, but is it the right thing to do? If you send out a flyer "disguised" as an "official" Democratic flyer, is that really "the right thing to do?"

"New ideas and strong leadership"? Bait and switch tactics are nothing new but one would hope that someone with a history of campaigning for members of the Party would have enough "leadership" qualities to "just say NO." One would hope that the folks at the CA Democratic Party and the National Party would show leadership qualities and confront the folks that put out this piece o' trash.

We can't point fingers at the Republicans when they pull these stunts and say..."Oh..they're baaaaaad" when members of our own party do the same.  I was hopping with joy that Arnold's initiatives were defeated, but hopping with anger that someone from my own Party tried to "dupe" me.

Oh...yeah, and I dropped off some cookies to the fire station down the street with the big "Vote NO on 75" sign outside. Why did I spend hours baking cookies to say thanks? It was the right thing to do.