70th Assembly Candidate Don Wagner throwing in the towel? Or thinks he has it in the bag.

22 Comments

1. Why is there no mention of Debbie Tharp, who is also running for 70th District Assembly? 🙂

   • She didn’t file a candidate statement either.

     • Did you know it costs $$$ to file a candidate statement? (http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_cand_stat.htm)
       While it may not cost much, it’s still an expense. In any case it will be good to see two of the candidates debate at UCI (October 27th). Don Wagner has still not confirmed giving more validity to this article.

       • Thanks, Odette. Your comment made my morning! It’s absolutely hysterical to hear a libertarian complain about things costing money.

         • Campaigns are expensive Nathaniel Fyi….take a look at Melissa’s event calendar and see how many fundraising events are there?!!! If you want to go even further look at Beth Krom’s fundraising calendar….wow!

           Typical Democrat…money is just floating around there, let’s spend it on every special interest under the sun! Yeah, don’t worry about the 19B debt we are in

           • As Ayn Rand said, money is the product of virtue (read Francisco’s famous “money speech” in “Atlas Shrugged”). Since you and Debbie Tharp don’t have money, you lack virtue. And, no, obviously, I’m not a Democrat.

2. Debbie has no chance. She sap
   Lied with NAMBlAboy at oj

3. Aww, that’s sweet Odette. Trying to keep them honest I see.

   Yeah, I didn’t file a candidate statement either. It’s about four thousand dollars and I am piss poor at the moment because of our lovely economy. I decided to feed my kids instead. Libs often don’t file statements. Those mailers are pretty pricey to make, and I don’t know if the state makes money or loses money in the deal. Hopefully additional costs aren’t coming out of the tax payers pockets.

   Anyway, most people leave me out of the articles concerning this race because their best bet is to marginalize me. Any kind of press at all, even negative, will only serve to get me more votes.

   So Melissa and I were talking about Don yesterday. It seems that he really has gone AWOL from this campaign. I told Melissa that the voters still have a pretty diverse choice between me and her seeing that she is a moderate Democrat, and I am the equivalent of a Liberty Republican, so it should still be an interesting race.

   Looks like it’s just you and me now Melissa!

   By the way, Melissa and I were both at the prop 19 rally in Irvine yesterday. She came out big for this, and I appreciate it. We may not agree much on fiscal policy, but it is good to see that we can both agree on personal freedom.

   • Debbie – if you’re running for office, a candidate’s statement is one of those bare minimum things you need. If you are that severely impacted by the economy, if you get elected, how can you assure voters that your vote isn’t for sale? Seems like there are several candidates running for various offices where the salary is more of a driving factor than public service.

     • It’s the Democrats and the Republicans that are up for sale. They are the ones that are controlled by the unions and the corporate lobbyist.

     • You know, I am actually starting to enjoy these attacks. My vote isn’t for sale because I don’t have a big ass mortgage to pay. I’m a senior in college, and therefor not established in my new career yet, but my expenses are low as well. I just don’t live above my means. Furthermore, I have not engaged in extensive fund raising, or meetings with lobbyist. I have no party loyalties to consider. I have, in fact, nothing to consider when I vote, except for the constitution and the concerns of my constituency. Thanks for the low blows Chmielewski, I like the press. 😛

       • Debbie —
         Low blows? I asked a question and you answered. But I might suggest you don’t seem to have a clue what your constituency wants since so few of them bothered to cast a ballot next to your name. You’ve offered no platform, no ideas, no platform to run on other than being poor financially/ Gievn the big salary assembly reps make, it certainly looks like you’re out to enrich yourself. If it’s all about public service, why don’t you try for a different office other than state assembly. Water board, or school board…because if you like asing a question of you is an attack, you clearly lack the temperment to run for higher office.

         • OMG you are so clueless Dan! Good thing nobody reads your blog. I like to make jest about being a piss poor college student because you know what? Maybe the voters don’t want to hear from someone who isn’t in touch with our current financial perils. I know John Campbell couldn’t give a crap, not sure about Don Wagner. Haven’t heard much from his camp lately. I did talk to Melissa the other day and she seems surprisingly in touch with the financial times. That pleased me. Anyway, as far as your lame attempts to make me look like a do nothing candidate, clueless, or money hungry, I have a few surprises for you. 1) Go look at my website, my platform has been there for months. Perhaps you can type but you can’t read? 2) I took offense to the fact that our current representatives saw fit to let my family members have their pay temporarily cut to minimum wage or less, and yet still draw on their exorbitant salaries. So I made an commitment to the voters several months ago that when I get elected I will work for the same $455/week that they are paying managers who used to make high salaries (living salaries in this area). I promised to donate the rest of my salary to the state budget until pay is returned to normal, and challenged the rest of the reps to do the same. Send me up there with that ultimatum and it should motivate the hell out of everyone. Anyway, I don’t mind doing the job for barely enough money to pay rent in this county because I don’t believe that I am subject to different rules that the rest of the district. Can’t say that for our current reps. I’m simply working class Dan. Hell, I was a truck driver for eight years. I still change out my own brake pads. If you’d like to point out some sort of problem with being a working class American, and a person who has successfully struggled through great hardship to obtain an honest education in the face of adversity, I’d like to introduce you to a few fellow citizens who don’t have skin as thick as I do and certainly don’t have any patience for elitists. It’s no fun arguing with you, Dan, if you don’t bother doing the research. At least I have a good time at the other blogs where people have bothered to get to know me. We get into fierce arguments and it’s great because it’s real Democracy in action! This… this is just lame… and a bit boring. And one more thing, ask anyone, I don’t dish out what I can’t take. I enjoy a good political argument. I just don’t enjoy hearing uninformed whining. I guess maybe that’s par for the course though when we get into politics so… all I can say is that the drivel is coming out of your mouth and not mine so why should I complain about you sounding uninformed or empty of substance? Don’t take it as me trying to start a blog war though. Nothing of the sort. At least you care enough to get involved in local politics, and that says a lot. Besides, I’m more of an issues person. If you are working on something I agree with, I’ll help in a heartbeat. That’s because this whole thing is not about you and me. It’s about all of us together against THEM. So I say a lot of snarky things, and enjoy it very much, and I hope you take what I say in a blog argument in the spirit in which it is given, with a grain of salt, and I’ll be serious when I need to be.

           • Debbie — your current financial situation aside, if you are elected, how do you intend to pay for your transportation to and from Sacramento or your lodging and meals while you’re thre while still maintaining a residence in OC? I have no grudge against working class folks. I come from a blue collar family and spend time working in a copper mill, dairy farming and construction before starting college. I certainly know what it’s like to take a shower after work instead of before it. I’ve seen your page and personally believe you are out of touch with the issues that impact this district the most. Melissa is far more in touch with what’s going on here and far more electable. The personal sacrifices you promise if elected matter little. And even getting elected doesn’t guarantee you can do much..just ask Chuck DeVore.

             While I admire the fact that you’re running for office, I think you set your sights too high.

           • Wow Dan, that is a surprisingly astute question coming from this site. I am glad to know that we are now engaging in a serious discussion. You are right to ask how I will survive. People in our district are asking this question every day. Sensing your sincerity here, I will answer this in all seriousness. I actually started checking out rental rates in Sacramento before I even made the statement about pay cuts, knowing that I would have to have somewhere to live in order to be able to do my job. The plan is to rent a very cheap apartment in Sacramento, having my children living full time there, while sharing an apartment here in Orange County. Transportation will sometimes have to be by car because it is cheaper, but we do get travel allowances. I will most definitely take advantage of that. It will be ugly. I will not eat much (but my kids will) and I will have to make many many sacrifices. Unlike you, Dan, I think that such sacrifices do mean a lot. I do not feel that I should be insulated from economic hardship as a lawmaker. I should have the same concerns as every voter in my county. Period. And my vote is not for sale. If it was, 1)I would be fundraising with corporations and unions 2) I would most definitely take the full salary straight away because it would be great to have and 3) I wouldn’t have made this promise in the first place. I am betting on the fact that the motivation to fix this economic problem and return salaries to normal will be high enough that I won’t have to suffer these circumstances for long. Believe me, when the problem gets solved, I will take my whole paycheck and consider it money well earned, but not until then.

             As far as your blue collar roots go, you seem to have lost touch with them in your blogs and comments. I hope that you will reconsider a return to those roots as they are the backbone and blood of our nation. I hope that I still have some notion of my roots upon my graduation. (Actually, I’m only eight units away. It feels good to finally be earning that degree.)

             If you feel that I am missing what matters most to the district, I invite you to open a discussion on this, as you are uniquely qualified to educate me being a local blogger. It is my job to listen and learn after all. Please provide some specific examples of what you would like to see me address. I do the same with Melissa, by discussing some of the issues on her blog. (The one about oil drilling was especially interesting. I emailed her my response, but I haven’t heard back from her. Does she keep in touch with you?)

             Anyway, I don’t think that the question in this election is qualification as much as it is motivation. What makes a person want to attain public office and endure the public scorn that accompanies it? I can not speak for my fellow candidates, but in my case, the motivation came from watching our congress pass TARP, Cash for Clunkers, the healthcare bill and then kill Audit the Fed. I just can’t take it anymore. If I stand aside, I will have only myself to blame for our problems. I’m getting involved on a local level because I am hoping that I can encourage my fellow legislators to overturn or resist some of the more invasive federal legislation. I am also hoping that we can steer California toward a more free economy and society. I would like to reign in the judicial activism such as the ruling that cut off the water to our state’s farmland. I would love to encourage and support the mass social awakening that is taking place in our state to end the drug war and give equal rights to all couples, regardless of gender.

             You’re right Dan; I do set my sights high. But I will argue that you can NEVER set your sights too high. I see a wonderful future for us. ALL of us. I wish you could see it too. Please don’t give up and settle for less simply because you think that it is more attainable. That is not what made America great. That is not the spirit that made us the greatest nation in the world. It is the spirit that has seen us settle for crooked legislators, and shrug our shoulders every time we are robbed by our own representatives. We can do better than this, and we deserve better. I don’t know if I can do better than Chuck did. All I can do is try.

             Thank you for the honest question. It is a relief to know that we can still have an honest discussion, despite animosities in the blog-o-sphere. I believe that this is such an important outlet for political discussion as it is truly free and unencumbered.

   • Debbie, “piss poor” doesn’t mean you lack money, it’s slang for pathetic or substandard.

     • Oh snap! And you don’t even know me! How is that ad hominem attack working out for you?…yawn…

       • 1) While it’s true that I’m not acquainted with you, you don’t have any way of knowing that. I post under the moniker of “Howard be my name” but you do not know whether my name is Howard or even if I am male. I could be your next door neighbor named Sue.

         2) I realize you don’t expect to win, but do you have any idea whether I am registered in your district or whether I’ve decided how to vote? Why do you make a special effort to insult a constituent?

         3) You accuse me of making an “ad hominem attack.” You really need to study your logical fallacies. What I said was no such thing.

         4) Once again, the slang term “piss poor” does not refer to a person who has no money. It means lousy or mediocre, as in “that was a piss poor excuse.” This is a statement of fact, not an attack on you, ad hominem or otherwise.

         5) It strikes me as very unprofessional for a candidate for public office to use the term “piss” (anything) in a public forum.

         • Howard, it was a YAWN, and not an attack and furthermore, an attempt at humor which you are obviously prepared to ignore vehemently. Your singular attempt at wit, by pointing out the vagrancy of my verbiage was a masked and not at all subtle attempt to call me a piss poor excuse for a person, i.e. ad hominem attack. But I don’t take it personally, because I have been doing the same thing to other candidates all week. (Boxer and Campbell, not Fox or Wagner.)
           I know you don’t know me, because if you did, you wouldn’t be calling me that. But I forgive you wholeheartedly, because this second post, much more witty! I neither apologies for, nor do I retract my use of humorous language to lighten the heavy and very oppressive mental environment that exists within this blog. If you would like to vote for me, great! If not, well, at this point I am only wasting my time on gaining attainable votes, which I will not find in here. I do promise though, and you will see this if you look at some of my other posts on the internet, that no matter what my personal feelings (which are not strong in the case of mud thrown on a blog, who could take such things seriously?) I will always seriously consider your political concerns and address them as such. So anyway, No yawn this time, now you get a giggle.

           • You are apparently very easily entertained. I made a simple statement which was intended neither as humor nor insult.

           • It’s cool. I think you are saying no harm intended. I AM easily entertained. It makes me a cheap date which is a good thing in these economic times don’t you think? I like to find humor when I can. Have you noticed that the political process is almost completely devoid of humor? That sucks, considering that our political process is laughable. Honestly, I just enjoy talking to people who are actually still interested in politics. Most people have given up in disgust and gone home by now. What can we do to get the people interested in the process again? Me, I stir things up and make snarky comments. It’s not enough though, I know. That’s why I’m on the damn ballot. I’m bettin’ we both feel like it’s a losing battle sometimes 😀

4. Yes, Don has it in the bag. The 70th is very conservative and the voters here will absolutely vote for whatever R is put in front of them.