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| Fleeing Filner: "The behavior I engaged in was wrong." |
Councilman, Congressman, and now disgraced Mayor Bob Filner was forced to flee
from office after not one, not two, but eighteen women came forward, claiming
that the long-time San Diego politician had sexually harassed them. Pleading
guilty to two felonies, Filner got house arrest, probation, and a pension cut.
To this day, the long-standing silence from the California and the National
Democratic Party is a deafening silence yet ongoing indictment of the
Democratic Party's War on Women (including Bill Clinton Eliot Spitzer, Anthony
Weiner, etc.)
While Democrats stood by their man until just about the very end, it looked
like one more media fail, plus a seemingly flailing conservative opposition,
would not capitalize on the fallout, Republicans in San Diego and throughout
the state marshaled enthusiasm, focus, and volunteers to get Republican
Councilman Kevin Faulconer to win the top-two special election primary, then
take the Mayor's seat by a nine-point win.
Even though the GOP ground-game was outspent and out-volunteered by the
Democratic public sector union machine, Faulconer flew to the top on February
11, even with the last-minute Obama ground game and polls which suggested that
the Democratic challenger was gaining. The California conservative resurgence
is getting stronger with every election, and no matter what resources the Dems
arrange for their efforts, the liberal-progressive-public sector union phalanx
will no doubt be putting out more fires in 2014, with fewer results.
Some lessons for the CA GOP, and grave concerns for the CA Dems, following the
Faulconer victory in San Diego.
1. Money is not the end-all-be-all for elections. The mindset that a machine
with lots of donations can swamp an election and kill GOP chances is all wrong.
Let's not forget that in two previous special elections (A, an independent
conservative and a Republican lost by a mere few hundred votes, even though the
Democratic candidate corralled ten times the money.
2. The party registration and demographic trends do not spell doom for the
California GOP, despite the pleadings of state (Tom Elias) and national (Pat
Buchanan) columnists. Last year in New Jersey, Republican
Lonegan ignored polls and demographics as he ran for the special election US
Senate seat to replace the deceased Frank Lautenberg last year. Losing by only nine points in two-to-one heavily
Democratic New Jersey, the mayor of Bogota could have taken the seat with more
ground troops and money, but his impressive showing then, and Faulconer's win
this week, demonstrate the power of values, and frustrated voters, against any
political machinations.
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| Kevin Faulconer, GOP Mayor of San Diego |
3. California's public sector unions, and their money, are becoming more of a
liability than an asset for the Democratic Party. Along with State Senator Andy
Vidak’s (R-Hanford) victory in the Central Valley last year, California
residents, regardless of their party affiliation, are punching back at a
Sacramento Democratic supermajority which has raised taxes, spurred
the spending, ignored the pension crises, coddled special interests and
public sector unions, all while short-changing well-performing school
districts, and has refused to put the brakes on the billion dollar bullet train
boondoggle. Now with an epic drought drying up the state, without any
long-standing plans from Governor Brown or Speaker Perez (aside from crooked
wheeling and dealing), vineyards in the Inland Empire and San Diego are thirsty,
and giving California Republicans more causes to take down Democrats in
Sacramento.
In San Diego, Filner fled, Faulconer flew to victory, and the California
GOP is making gains. Democrats nationally will be facing a conservative
resurgence raining on their progressive parade in 2014, and they are already
facing a run for the money in California.