Monday, October 8, 2007

Back in Town

After leaving town for a few days, I came back yesterday to see San Diego was literally crashing in on itself. I saw the national news coverage of the La Jolla landslide, but missed the internal politics. Seems that Mike Aguirre may have given the insiders (the Mayor, the UT, the downtown establishments) enough fodder to make him look like he has gone off the deep end. That, combined with the ugly UT story yesterday pointing out the cost of his pension lawsuits, marks the official start of the "Anyone But Mike" campaign. We Dems need to be careful and start looking for a real Dem candidate (read: NOT Alan Bersin), in case Mike really is in trouble or decides to run for Mayor.

Some pieces of gossip I picked up this morning:

1. New names being floated among Dem circles for Mayor of San Diego: Scott Peters and Bob Filner. Both are intriguing, but have some serious negatives. I heard both were being floated in circles at the San Diego Democratic Club Dinner this weekend. The beauty is, with Francis and Sanders duking it out, whoever the Dem candidate ends up being, s/he almost guarantees themselves a spot in the November run-off. In a Presidential year, you gotta believe a Dem has a great shot at pulling it out against whatever bloodied Republican makes in into the general. So, who is going to stand up and make it official?

2. I had a friend e-mail me about the Labor Council's Candidate training this past Saturday. I guess there were quite a few Republicans who came out for the pre-endorsement meeting. That should be interesting. Are we going to have Republicans looking for favor with the unions this go around? I guess appearing mainstream must poll well.

3. It looks like there will definitely be two viable Republicans running in San Diego City Council District 1 (Scott Peters is termed out). Lincoln Club endorsed candidate - Phil Thalheimer is facing opposition from millionaire-Republican Marshall Merrifield. This means Sherry Lightner may be able to get into the run-off just by being the Democrat in this swing district. Not an exciting candidate, Lightner lacks the polish you would want from a candidate in that district. But, I hear she has a substantial following in La Jolla and is willing to spend her own money. We will see, but it looks like another likely November showdown.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, to your blurb on the Labor Council training, here's what the Republicans had to say... seems they planted a spy!

http://www.redcountysandiego.com/red_countysan_diego/2007/10/5th-district-ca.html?cid=85643212#comment-85643212

Rough. This will kill Ilko among rank-and-file Republicans. but wasn't that the point?

Anthony Saavedra said...

A Lincoln Club spy would explain the last minute cancellations/no shows by several prominent Republican candidates.

Anonymous said...

Scott Peters for mayor? Maybe if the pension fiasco didn't happen after all a lawyer who made a fortune by making investments should have known better. As for Bob, I don't think he want to leave the House, but I'm sure Juan Vargas is praying for a Filner R mayoral run because now he run for Congress and live the dream!
Also I love Red County, I love laughing at those who make Republicans look like ignorant, boorish wing nuts. It's not like they really think that way or believe in that stu... What?! Those are real Republicans? Holy crap those guys are crazy!

Anonymous said...

I think my first choice for a Dem to run for mayor is Ben Hueso. I don't think Bob has the temperment to run for mayor. Eventhough I think Bob would make a great mayor. I just don't think he'll get a fair shake from the UT if he ran. As for Peters, beside the pension issue, there is the whole investment issue with his wife investments in companies that have done business with the city not to mention the recent water use issue.

Anonymous said...

Ben would be good, he's untainted by the pension or other city hall problems. He's great on the issues from a Dem point of view and force Jerry to talk about issues he would prefer to avoid since he's going to be challenged by/on the right. If anything even if he loses he wins because he raises his profile. So who's goinna make the Draft Hueso bumper stickers?