patching democracy with gold

I have needed a haircut for some time but I was so wrapped up in campaigning, and I did not just canvass every Sat and Sun for Tony (who won!!!). I dropped lit for several other campaigns. As the election drew nearer, I'd glance at myself in the mirror as I passed it and think "Need a haircut" but then I would push it out of my mind for I was focussed on getting one more vote for Tony.

I have seen a beautiful image making the rounds of social media. This image shows a cracked pot that has been repaired with gold and there is some lovely saying accompany the picture suggesting that the japanese repair pots with gold and the repair both makes the pot stronger and more beautiful. More treasured.

Well, I believe I just participated, in a small way, in creating a small patch of repair, spun gold, by participating in the on-the-ground grassroot campaign of Tony Thurmond. His opponent, who has never held elected office, was endorsed by the CA Dem Party, primarily, I believe, because she's made big donations to big pols, plus she ran Google's public policy arm which must have doled out money, earning her favors and, of course, Berkeley's despicable mayor Tom Bates and his also despicable wife Loni Hancock seem to think of themselves as King and Queen of both Berkeley and East Bay politics.

Echols, Tony's now-defeated opponent, had no issues to run on other than being a female so she flooded the district with mailers suggesting women should vote for her just cause she's a woman. Gag me, eh? She also used smear mailers with lies smudged as innuendo but they were outright lies, sinking so low as to use a photo of Tony with his kids on the smear mailer.  She thought with the King and Queen's annointment as Nancy Skinner's successful, and Skinner herself mostly ran for the state assembly six years ago (she's been termed out) because Kriss Worthington wanted to run for it and Bates hates Kriss so he drafted Skinner at the last minute.

Six years ago, Bates had a stronger chokehold on east bay politics than he has today.

For folks who don't know this:   when Tom Bates got termed out of the state senate, his wife was then mayor of Berkeley. So she ran for state senate and Tom ran for mayor. a little incestuous. Having the power of those two positions isn't enough for them. Like all people overcome with greed, be it greed for money or power, there is never enough.  I think Bates wanted to control who reps this state assembly district because he wants to control as much as possible.

I think Bates/Hancock/Skinner, the Sierra Club (who increasingly endorses conservative politicians, what's up with that, the founders of the Sierra Club must be rolling over in their graves) thought that if they gave Echols their imprimatur, it would be a cake walk.

I watched her live a few times. Often she was like a deer stunned suddenly by headlights in the dark. I think she thought getting elected, with Tommy and Loni's kiss of approval, which also brought the CA Dem endorsement (shame on the CA Democratic party for endorsing a political patron over a candidate with 8 years elected experience being accountable to voters). . 

I'm rambling. . . of course I am sad about losing the Senate. A few times in recent months, I have had money solicitors on the streets of Berkeley to ask me to donate to support gay marriage. Each time they hit me up I said "I don't think gay marriage should be at the top of our agenda right now, saving the senate is much more important right now".  Up to a day or two before the election, I had fundraisers on the street, folks who must be desparate for jobs to be doing such work in the first place, asking me to support, financially, trivial causes when meaningful measures and offices were up for grabs.