D2’s Jen Campbell Gets What’s Coming
She’s at the “Finding Out” Part of Politics
The Union-Tribune editorial board has endorsed Linda Lukacs in the City of San Diego District 2 contest. She’s a novice candidate endorsed by the Republican Party whose stances on two critical issues facing her district (height limit/densification) are contrary to those expressed by the board.
Lukacs earned the endorsement by showing up. (**See note at the end of this post about the UT editorial board)
Incumbent Democrat Dr. Jen Campbell figuratively flipped off her critics by not participating in a sit down with the editors, skipping citizen forums, and name-calling her critics. Sadly, this is consistent with the behavior she’s displayed throughout her tenure on the city council.
The UT’s subhead on their endorsement summed it up quite nicely: “An elected politician who openly describes critics as ignorant and ducks participating in campaign forums may be in the wrong profession.”
A recall campaign aimed at Campbell last year failed. Had the organizers focused on her actual performance rather than her stances on controversial issues (height limits/tourism) and actually raised some money, they might have had a shot. It was an ill-fated attempt, one that would have been better served with organizing around a better candidate in the then-upcoming election.
A better candidate, at least in terms of the issues articulated by Campbell’s critics, did emerge for the primary, and was crushed by a corporate/centrist Democrat independent expenditure campaign portraying Lori Saldaña as somehow dangerous.
(I have long-standing issues with Saldaña, but told readers she was the best qualified candidate in the primary, despite some limitations. Ten years into commentary on local politics, she remains the only local politician –not even Carl frickin’ DeMaio–who’s deemed me offensive enough to block, which should give readers an idea about why I’m hesitant about her.)
From the UT- endorsement:
…last December, Campbell was abruptly ousted as council president after a year in the post. She’s also faced more criticism for poor constituent service than any member in memory. Her response to critics? Blasting them for having “no idea how government really works.”
In my pre primary analysis of the D2 race I gave Lukacs the lowest rating of all the candidates.
No record of community involvement, volunteerism, nothing.
(I refused to give Daniel Smiechowski a score because he was just an idiot not a serious candidate.)
What Lukacs is not is Donald Trump. She’s not waving her MAGA freak flag high. But she is, whether she likes it or not, connected to the party that’s been taken over by people who do not believe in democracy, a free press, civil rights, and a woman’s right to privacy.
So I’m not going to say you should vote for her. I am going to say there’s a problem. Chances are enough people will vote “D” to return Campbell to office, if for no other reason than Lukacs lacks name recognition.
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Those who know me also know I am an unrepentant Star Trek fan. I like all the flavors because they manage to incorporate some sort of hope for a better future. I want to hope the Democratic Party can buy into that better future.
In the Next Generation version of the series, the shows included a “ship’s counselor.” Her mission (aided by empathic powers) was essentially to serve as an ethicist in the command structure. (The lead photo for this post is of Next Gen’s Deanna Troi.)
I view Dr. Jen Campbell’s tenure as an elected official as a failure– not just for the citizens in District 2, but also for the Democratic Party. The party’s hesitancy in supporting the D2 incumbent in the primary should have been a huge warning, one requiring intervention once Campbell was chosen by voters as a general election candidate.
I think the same can be said of Board of Equalization member Mike Schaefer, who apparently bought his way into the party’s good graces by providing paychecks (I’m not sure you can call it employment) for key Democratic Party leaders. Were it not for former party chair Will Kennedy-Rodriquez threat to sue for wrong termination following allegations (but no prosecution for) of sexual assault, we might not even know about this deal.
Schaefer is a terrible candidate for purposes of the Democratic Party’s brand identification. So is Campbell.
Now that we’re mostly stuck in an era with one-party supremacy, the long-term viability of the Democratic party must be connected with not becoming that which got them to dominant status in the first place.
This isn’t a matter of ideas and platforms per se. It’s a matter of constituent service, observance of the rule of law, and just not being an ass. The party’s power, via direct mail and get out the vote efforts, should be enough to leverage changes in behavior.
So what I propose as a solution is the creation of a term-limited equivalent of “ship’s counselor” in the party structure. What goes on between that person and individual candidates should be private, but they should be able to provide guidance to the party leadership and professional counsel to aspiring leaders. It’s not a perfect solution, but it beats having the reputation issues the local party is bringing upon itself.
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** NOTE ON UT EDITORIAL BOARD– For those of you who have given up on reading the daily paper, the editorial board has in recent years functioned (mostly) independently of the paper’s reporters and ownership. This may come as a shock to those who remember the days of the Copley family and/or Papa Doug Manchester at the paper.
These days, both the reporting staff and the editorial board do an admirable job of researching and presenting information useful to voters.
This isn’t to say they’ve become independent of the city’s power structure; it’s to say that the prevailing views of the local establishment have changed along with voter registration numbers in the region. What we’re referring to is the prevailing consensus; one that is achieved through manufactured consent rather than brute political force.
In practice, this change means the paper’s endorsements now include mainstream Democrats. But –I think– the editorial board feels an obligation not to be completely predictable by adopting contrarian positions from time to time. A candidate like Dr. Campbell makes those kinds of decisions much easier to make.
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Vote, even if you have to hold your nose on some ballot items.
Here’s a link to my Voting Guide if you want some (obviously biased) coaching.
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I guess the “we’re persecuted” mode of politics IS becoming more popular.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com