Thursday, May 24, 2012

U-T San Diego Endorses Scott Peters

Peters is "the stronger candidate" of the two Democratic Challengers to Bilbray ~ U-T San Diego Editorial


San Diego – In a surprise dual endorsement yesterday, U-T San Diego endorsed a runoff between Scott Peters and Brian Bilbray in the primary election for the new 52nd Congressional District, calling Peters “the stronger candidate” between the two Democrats challenging entrenched Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray.

The editorial said that while the Editorial Board has “generally supported Bilbray in the past…his “high-profile stance” and “opposition to comprehensive immigration reforms continues to give us pause.”

Of Peters, the write up said, “we have been impressed in recent years with his ability to work in bipartisan fashion to get things done.” The editorial also noted influential business and public safety leaders that have endorsed Peters over Bilbray.

“Our campaign has said from the beginning that it is going to take more than just Democrats or Republicans to win this seat,” said Campaign Communications Director MaryAnne Pintar. “Only Scott brings the broad-base of support, and the bi-partisan, consensus-building reputation needed to take to win a district whose voters span the political spectrum, and still leans slightly Republican.”

The newly drawn 52nd Congressional District is a classic swing district - a third Republican, a third Democrat and a third other.  It supported candidate Obama by 12 percentage points in 2008, but also candidate Meg Whitman by eight points in 2010. It is impossible for any candidate to win this seat without broad-based support across party lines.

Peters, the first Democrat elected to represent City Council District One, is the only candidate in this race with demonstrated ability to win in a swing district like this one, which is one of the reasons San Diego’s leading progressive newsweekly, CityBeat has also endorsed Peters. 

Also, today, a writer for the very progressive OB Rag had this to say:  “Scott Peters has a reputation for being a consensus builder; for being someone who can work to resolve complex differences and achieve results. Lori Saldaña has a reputation for being combative and divisive. The last thing San Diego needs in a representative in Congress is someone who will further divide this county. We already have one of those. We don’t need another.”

“Our campaign has said from the beginning that it is going to take more than just Democrats or Republicans to win this seat,” said Campaign Communications Director MaryAnne Pintar. “Only Scott brings the broad-base of support, and the bi-partisan, consensus-building reputation needed to take to win a district whose voters span the political spectrum, and still leans slightly Republican.”

The newly drawn 52nd Congressional District is a classic swing district - a third Republican, a third Democrat and a third other.  It supported candidate Obama by 12 percentage points in 2008, but also candidate Meg Whitman by eight points in 2010. 

For more information, go to www.scottpeters.com.




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