Thin-skinned, uninformed, a spinner? She'll fit right in.
Posted by: Mighty Thor | 05/31/2008 8:16 AM
From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Thin-skinned Marti, future mayor Todd, oblivious John and slogan-borrowing Steve
As both a political junkie and someone who thinks most political candidates have genuinely good motives and should be admired for seeking to enter public service, I should have a less jaundiced view of the endorsement process. But after watching dozens of candidates in action in recent weeks during U-T editorial board endorsement interviews, I have to say it's often dispiriting.
The lesser-known candidates -- the underdogs I want to root for and be surprised by -- rarely know the issues at all. Listening to a community college district trustee wanna-be offer a completely wrong timeline of the state budget debacle was excruciating.
But even many of the incumbents and the better-known candidates disappointed. I still don't know what to make of county school board member John Witt, who was only 97 percent off the mark when asked how many students attended county-run schools and who offered photos of himself on the parallel bars as somehow being testament to his worthiness to be re-elected.
And the endorsement interview with perhaps the highest-profile wanna-be City Council member of all -- TV consumer reporter Marti Emerald -- was a 70-minute train wreck. Since the District 7 candidate knows the ways of the media, I thought she'd soar. Instead, she was thin-skinned, not particularly conversant on big city issues and eager to spin her missteps.
I'm still left slack-jawed by her simultaneous effort to depict herself as a crusader for government openness -- she cited membership in a state group that I much admire -- and as someone who was somehow wronged because she was taped during her meeting with a few voters. Uh, Marti, aren't you for openness? Does your fondness for openness disappear if said openness means your controversial remarks are broadcast to the whole city?
By some reckonings, Emerald is favored to win a City Council seat Tuesday. Thin-skinned, uninformed, a spinner? She'll fit right in.
On the other hand, there were a couple of standouts. Chula Vista educator/politician Jerry Rindone, who's running for a county school board seat, was extremely well-informed, passionate and specific about what he thought he could accomplish.
And then there was District 3 City Council candidate Todd Gloria. The aide to Rep. Susan Davis was so much smoother, better-informed and affable than his opponents that I accused him of being akin to a ringer on a softball team.
He just smiled.
This guy will run for mayor someday (on a Toni Atkins-style platform, alas). He might win. He's the Dem who should give the local GOP establishment nightmares.
Alas, the joint interview with Steve Francis and Jerry Sanders came before I began to receive hit-mail pieces from Francis that use something I wrote last August as their slogan: "Jerry Sanders: Not what we signed up for." Some of the e-mails use the full quote this came from, but only identify its source as the U-T. Not your bilious neighborhood blogger. I would have liked to tell Steve how out of context the use was.
I've always enjoyed seeing edits I've written quoted in TV ads and in these sorts of mail hit pieces. But not this time -- not when they're used by the guy who's more desperate to do or say anything to get elected than anyone I've ever seen.
For the record, the "not what we signed up for" line was from a blog item that later appeared in the Sunday blog column. It ripped Sanders for his handling of Sunroad -- not for his overall record. It's about 70 percent what we signed up for, which is good enough for me -- especially when Francis is the alternative.
Thin-skinned Marti, future mayor Todd, oblivious John and slogan-borrowing Steve
As both a political junkie and someone who thinks most political candidates have genuinely good motives and should be admired for seeking to enter public service, I should have a less jaundiced view of the endorsement process. But after watching dozens of candidates in action in recent weeks during U-T editorial board endorsement interviews, I have to say it's often dispiriting.
The lesser-known candidates -- the underdogs I want to root for and be surprised by -- rarely know the issues at all. Listening to a community college district trustee wanna-be offer a completely wrong timeline of the state budget debacle was excruciating.
But even many of the incumbents and the better-known candidates disappointed. I still don't know what to make of county school board member John Witt, who was only 97 percent off the mark when asked how many students attended county-run schools and who offered photos of himself on the parallel bars as somehow being testament to his worthiness to be re-elected.
And the endorsement interview with perhaps the highest-profile wanna-be City Council member of all -- TV consumer reporter Marti Emerald -- was a 70-minute train wreck. Since the District 7 candidate knows the ways of the media, I thought she'd soar. Instead, she was thin-skinned, not particularly conversant on big city issues and eager to spin her missteps.
I'm still left slack-jawed by her simultaneous effort to depict herself as a crusader for government openness -- she cited membership in a state group that I much admire -- and as someone who was somehow wronged because she was taped during her meeting with a few voters. Uh, Marti, aren't you for openness? Does your fondness for openness disappear if said openness means your controversial remarks are broadcast to the whole city?
By some reckonings, Emerald is favored to win a City Council seat Tuesday. Thin-skinned, uninformed, a spinner? She'll fit right in.
On the other hand, there were a couple of standouts. Chula Vista educator/politician Jerry Rindone, who's running for a county school board seat, was extremely well-informed, passionate and specific about what he thought he could accomplish.
And then there was District 3 City Council candidate Todd Gloria. The aide to Rep. Susan Davis was so much smoother, better-informed and affable than his opponents that I accused him of being akin to a ringer on a softball team.
He just smiled.
This guy will run for mayor someday (on a Toni Atkins-style platform, alas). He might win. He's the Dem who should give the local GOP establishment nightmares.
Alas, the joint interview with Steve Francis and Jerry Sanders came before I began to receive hit-mail pieces from Francis that use something I wrote last August as their slogan: "Jerry Sanders: Not what we signed up for." Some of the e-mails use the full quote this came from, but only identify its source as the U-T. Not your bilious neighborhood blogger. I would have liked to tell Steve how out of context the use was.
I've always enjoyed seeing edits I've written quoted in TV ads and in these sorts of mail hit pieces. But not this time -- not when they're used by the guy who's more desperate to do or say anything to get elected than anyone I've ever seen.
For the record, the "not what we signed up for" line was from a blog item that later appeared in the Sunday blog column. It ripped Sanders for his handling of Sunroad -- not for his overall record. It's about 70 percent what we signed up for, which is good enough for me -- especially when Francis is the alternative.
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San Diego Politics
If Marti is thin skinned then she must be big boned. Hot air and self righteous bluster can add a few pounds, like the stereotypical ugly American tourist who tries to force comprehension through volume, Marti becomes larger and less attractive as she speaks. If she really is so thin skinned where do those lbs come from. Maybe San Diego should follow something else besides the money. After all it does not take a dietitian to know if you burn 2,000 calories a day not to consume 3,000. Then again I hear alcohol abuse can play havoc with one's metabolism.