Congressional Races

[Ventura Patriot]

 

The House of Representatives has been mostly in Democrat hands since WWII, with a couple of respites.  The 2010 elections were a major, historic rout by the Republicans, putting them firmly in control.  This was more of a strong backlash to the extreme Progressive tendencies of the Obama, Pelosi, Reid regime than any great love for Republicans.  So far, they have done better than the Democrats, but are largely a big, cowardly disappointment, funding Obamacare, making mostly illusory cuts, not investigating the Obama excesses, etc.

 

Ventura County Tea Party recommendations

https://venturacountyteaparty.ning.com/profiles/blogs/election-cand...

 

April, 2010: CA 36th District had a race. Liberal Jane Harmon won re-election in November 2010 and resigned shortly thereafter to join a Liberal think tank, which will cost the state $3MM to hold a special election, About 10 candidates are running, including Debra Bowen (D), current secretary of State. Conservative Craig Huey ran as a Republican, also garnering Libertarian endorsements.  Harman won special election.

 

2012 candidates have already have  positioned themselves, developing signature issues, stump speeches and lining up support.

 

 Chris Mitchum and Abel Maldonado (brought you Prop 14 and higher taxes), are lining up to oppose Lois Capps (D, Outer Space) in the current CA District 26, which is more competitive than the old Dist 23.  Watson dropped out, to pursue business/personal interests.

Tony Strickalnd is running as the only 26 Dist Republican against "nonpartisan" (LOL!) Linda parks and a gaggle of Democrats. Dem's are pressuring candidates to drop out to avoid splitting the vote in the new nightmare top 2 primary system they created.

Democrats: carpetbagger Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Oak Park (via People's Republik of Santa Monica); Harbor Commissioner Jess Herrera, Oxnard; real estate broker Al Goldberg, Ventura; businessman David Cruz Thayne, Westlake Village.

Mark Reed has been showing his face at Tea Party meetings and other events. He intends to run against Brad Sherman again.

Redistricting is likely to significantly affect many races.

 

You can add information to any forum pages, via comments, if you are a member and if your posting is relevant to the subject of the page and our Tea Party Mission Statement (see" Read Me" section). Please post your ideas, interesting articles, surveys, prognostications below!  Follow forum rules in doing so.

 

Postings below are in ascending chronological sequence (oldest first), with multiple levels of response permitted, in indented format.

[Ventura Patriot]

Well, you have a lot to say about the District 23 race, so we gave you your own discussion group. candidate campaigns: post or send us uploads of campaign brochures.

[Alisa Ontiveros]

Clark Vandeventer is the man to vote for to get America back on the right track. I am fully confident he can get the votes needed to defeat Lois Capps. As Clark says, "Our country needs and is looking for a new generation of leadership. The old busines as usual approach just won't cut it anymore."
Check out www.ClarkForCongress2010.com

[Bob Nelson]

I too am supporting Clark and his run for congress...

I look at more than ideology, positions, and strength of character when choosing who to support, I weight that and electability.

Capps has dominated our district since she stepped up to "just" finish her husband's term after his passing...many a great man has run against her and lost. The Republicans have put very successful older businessmen up for the last three elections...Regan, Tognazzini, Kokkonen, been 0 for 3. Great men by all accounts but not enough to beat Capps. What would be different this year?

Of course, OUR cause has momentum: Scott Brown, Tea Party Movement, but I feel we need more...Stockdale, Watson, Davidson...more of the same. Ms. Miller seems nice, but not putting together a credible/electable campaign. Vandeventer has youth, we can work with that.

I admit, youth is not enough, does Clark stand up to other tests? Strong principled conservative? Check. Infrastructure and fund-raising for a serious campaign? Check.

To be fair Mr. Davidson seems to me making a admirable effort into his candidacy, but besides being more of the same, he doesn't live in the district. I know he says that's a "red herring", but I find it a little insulting to be honest and I imagine others will too.

As far as the "TOTAL PACKAGE" goes, I obviously feel Clark Vandeventer has it. I think he's our best shot at making this happen. It'll take a "perfect storm to beat Lois Capps and selecting Clark as our candidate is the first step. Please join me in my support of Clark Vandeventer for Congress!

[Ventura Patriot]

I am very enthusiastic about this crop of would-be citizen-legislators running for Congress to put the Constitution, integrity and fiscal responsibility back into the People's House. Any one of the five candidates and the Libertarian candidate, could do better job than Lois Capps and better represent our priorities. I am sad that we can't send them ALL to Congress. I hope that those who don't win the primary will also find a way to serve. Maybe the winner can enlist their support, if they don't kill each other before June 8.

Lois won a large majority last time, but as Scott Brown proved, the nation is a very different place than it was a couple of years ago. Terrible things have happened, financially, economically and socially. We have an extreme left wing Congress and an alien presence in the White House, seemingly inimical to our interests. The stunning combination of bad policy in the form of Obamacare, cap and trade, TARP, Stimulus, Cars for Clunkers, Czars, Federal Reserve- Bernanke, Geithner, weak foreign policy, weak anti-terrorism, threatened amnesty, huge deficits, huge borrowing, Social Security and Medicare going broke are overwhelming- part of the Cloward-Piven strategy. There is now no way to prevent either national default or major inflation-- it is baked in the cake and all we can do is mitigate it and set a better course for the future.

Lois Capps is the poster girl for all of this-- symptomatic of everything that is wrong with our government. She has voted the Obama-Pelosi-Reid-Waxman line almost 100% and must be made an example of -- and it is OUR job to do that. But we will need help from outside of the district, especially those with safe seats, like Elton Galleghley's district. We implore people to help us turn around District 23 in 2010.

Between now and June 8, it is our job to pick the candidate with the best combination of beliefs that represent our values, the skills to succeed in Congress and electability, considering our demographics. Tall order.

[Richard Dale Coplin]

Here is a repost from the other discussion.

By the time he wrote the DOI, Thomas Jefferson had EXPERIENCE. He had been in the Virginia House of Burgesses at age 26 in 1769 and learned there for 6 years until he took his seat in the Continental Congress in 1775. One year later, after 7 years of EXPERIENCE, at the age of 33, he drafted the DOI.

The point I was making is that IMO age 30 is of itself, not an issue. Having experience at ANY age IS AN ISSUE. The record does not show any depth of experience for Mr. V. and I think that the DNC will have a field day with that.

I too believe he is a good, moral, intelligent man, with less real world and life experience than Mr. Davidson.

Now, would you want to have your portfolio managed by a person who only had experience with raising money, or proven experience managing EARNING money? What if that person had no experience, identification or interaction with the small businessman and their struggles? Small businness is the foundation of our economy? Our candidate needs to know what makes them tick and how government can get out of their way so they can succeed. Mr. Vandeveter does not bring that experience to the table.

No, nice guy and all, you can live in the district and have no understanding of what challenges face the small businessman or you can reside elsewhere (which is allowed by the California State Constitution and should not be minimized) and understand the needs and requirements to be successful as a small business in any district. Given the choice, John Davidson is the real deal.

Vote for John Davidson, the only candidate strong enough in all areas to beat Lois Capps and the Democrat machine in November!!!

[Richard Dale Coplin]

Here is another repost for the sake of continuity.

Alisa,
I support the truth, no matter if it affects a friend or a foe. The truth is that John Davidson is not a lobbyist, not now and not ever. I have just told you that your information is not correct. I verified my statement with Mr. Davidson this evening, and he is NOT a lobbyist and has never been one.

Again, you have declined to give a reference, therefore, unless you have some evidence to support your statement, and can produce it so it can be verified, IMO, you should not be repeating it and should retract it. It is simple, just connect the dots for the readers here and we can move on. Otherwise, we can consider your statement to be mere speculation.

If you do research into who has and is contributing to Ms. Capps campaign, I believe the Democrats would be foolish to attempt to exploit the "lobbyist" and "big insurance" claims you make as an attack on any of the challengers. I can provide the details if you like, but you can find it on opensecrets.org for yourself. She would be throwing stones from inside a glass house.

I think you misunderstood my comment... I did not say that a candidate must be wealthy, nor did I make the implication. I said that Mr. Davidson has put at risk a sizeable amount of his savings, God's money, to pursue this opportunity. He did that because of his conviction to serve and because of a belief in himself. Perhaps Mr. Vandeventer is not in that position, I make no judgment on that.

It must be noted that the challenger in the November election to Ms. Capps MUST be able to raise around $1.5 million dollars to wage an effective campaign. When you look at the endorsements by Tony Strickland and Peter Foy and others as well as the support of the RNC, and guidance by Newt Gingrich and leaders in industry, John Davidson is the ONLY candidate that can perform at that level.

I do believe that there is a vast difference in the experience that these two candidates bring to the table. Mr. Vandeventer has experience in running not for profit organizations, for which there is little available detail. I have visited the Vandeventer Group started in October 2009, 8 months ago, I have looked at the World Changers, Inc. site started in January 2008, 2 1/2 years ago. He is CEO of both. I know he was the deputy director at the Regan Ranch and worked his way up to that position. All of that is admirable.

John Davidson worked in sales and management for six years before beginning his professional career in the life insurance industry in 1981. John has since built his company, Davidson Insurance & Financial Services, Inc., into a respected and successful insurance and financial planning company.

After distinguishing himself as a local, state, and national industry leader for 25 years, John was elected in 2006 to serve as President of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA). This $20 million professional association represented more than 200,000 agents and their associates, flourished under John’s leadership. John has been successful in business for nearly as long as Mr. Vandeventer is old.

If there is a point of attack for the Democrats, it would be Mr. Vandeventer's youth and inexperience. There certainly is no comparison in that area IMO.

I have just spent several hours researching Clark and his positions, and the truth is that there is very little, IMO that distinguishes either candidate. They both appear to be strong conservatives with Christian values and experiences. I am impressed with Clark's writings and his positions on most issues mirror my own.

The goal here is to defeat Lois Capps in November and IMO, John Davidson is the only candidate qualified, positioned and equipped to do that.

[Richard Dale Coplin]

Final repost from the other discussion.

Respectfully, please call him Mr. Davidson. John and I have attended the same church for 20 years and that is how I know him. Please also do not make the association that I speak for John. I do not. I speak for myslef and what I feel to be true. John Davidson, I'm sure like Mr. Vandeventer, is a man of integrity. I have no financial ties to either of them, do you?

I think your research is accurate and thanks for producing the details. Forgive me for the claim I made that the RNC had supported John. You are correct and I thank you for setting it straight. I heard something like that in a conversation and made an assumption.... well we all know about assumptions. I will check my facts more carefully.

If you have been involved in politics for 30 years as you said, you must understand that you cannot win this election without having the ability to raise a significant amount of funds to overcome the Capps treasure chest. Do we agree on that? If yes, then all other things being fairly equal, we need to decide which candidate has the best chance of accomplishing that task. John Davidson has developed that depth of contact over his professional career and experiences. Clark Vandeventer just has not had the time to do that, no matter how good he is at raising funds for nonprofits, real business dollars IMO are a much different story.

You are making a giant WRONG assumption that because a large number of John's contributors are in the financial, life insurance or similar businesses that they are somehow unethical or have the "big" influence of a CWA or an SEIU. "...where his allegiance MIGHT be." Just because someone's business has the word "insurance" in it does not make them a big business with huge political clout and dollars. The very fact that the contributions come from so many different states supports the idea that John Davidson has peers in the business who support him widely.

Please stay with me. These people are small business men and women who over the last 20 years have come to know and respect John for the leader he is. They contribute to his campaign to see him succeed, because they know his character and his values and his integtrity. You make it seem like there is a sinister character or quality to the demographics of his contributors and THERE IS NO SUCH connection.

Now, if you were the candidate, where would you go for support? Isn't it logical to reach out to those persons you have had contact with and who can appreciate what you bring to the table? You would go to people who know your integrity, who you have worked with in the past. It happens that Mr. Davidson has chosen finance and insurance as his career. If he had been a professional baseball player, he would have reached out to those contacts. We should not fault any candidate for doing that, should we?

Karen, it is niave at best to think that experience working for nofprofits is a substitute for real life business experience. I just don't buy it. You can try to make a nifty comparison between Mr. Vandeventer's nonprofit experienct and our supposedly "nonprofit" government, but that too falls short considering that the government is $13 Trillion in debt with $40 Trillion in unfunded liabilities. The person who gets my vote darned well better have a solid understanding and working knowledge of finances and how to balance a ledger. John Davidson is the only candidate that is in that league.

You may claim that Mr. Vandeventer had much to do with the $20 million raised for the Reagan Ranch. Respectfully, he may have been on the team, they may have used his ideas, but he was at best the Deputy Director and did not have the final say in those matters. It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

[Ventura Patriot]

email received from Santa Barbara Tea Party, which is supporting Tom, tonight....

Fellow Tea Partiers,

It has been reported to us that a rumor is being promoted by one of the candidates that Tom Watson is quitting the Congressional race.

According to Mr. Watson,"This rumor is completely false. I am in this race, and I am in it to win. The 2010 Election is a turning point in America. I am asking that everyone who believes as I do in the Constitution and American values step up to the plate and do what they can to help me win. Anything will be appreciated: precinct walking, writing letters to the editor, hosting coffees or neighborhood parties, distributing literature to friends and family. I can assure you that I will stand up for tea party values in Washington."

As our endorsed candidate, SBTP believes Tom is the best chance we have to unseat Congresswoman Capps in November. Of all the candidates, he is uniquely qualified to serve. He will draw on his background as an Annapolis grad and US Navy officer - sworn for life to defend the Constitution - for decisions about national security and on his hands-on business experience to help restore our economy.

SBTP Steering Committee

[Richard Dale Coplin]

Ms. MacDonald, I have moved my response to your comments from the previous discussion to this one.

Thank you for your response in support of Alisa’s comments. You are to be commended for taking such an interest in this election. However, please allow me to further provide you information that puts a different slant on the manner in which you characterized Mr. Davidson.

First, he is NOT a lobbyist. Mr. Davidson IS NOT a lobbyist. He is a private businessman and a concerned citizen. He rose to the position at NAIFA through years of hard work and integrity as recognized by his peers in his chosen industry. He IS NOT the president of NAIFA any longer, that was years ago. In any case, please understand that NAIFA is not linked to insurance companies but rather to independent small business owners that have agencies throughout the nation. During his tenure, he sought to look after the interests of these thousands of business men and women and their dealings with the federal and state governments and the large insurance companies. He represented the people not the government or corporate interests.
Yes, NAIFA does have the role of advocate. What is of critical importance to our discussion is to understand who NAIFA represents and what they advocate. Please read to the end, this excerpt from their web site about who they are.

NAIFA comprises more than 700 state and local associations representing the interests of 200,000 members and their associates nationwide. NAIFA members focus their practices on one or more of the following: life insurance and annuities, health insurance and employee benefits, multiline, and financial advising and investments. The Association’s mission is to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of its members.

You quoted, “NAIFA was in the forefront of groups successfully lobbying Congress to allow businesses to continue to fax information to their customers.”, as if this was something negative and proved that John was lobbying Congress at that time. This is a poor example IMO; seriously, they were able to lobby Congress to allow business to continue faxing to their customers? Satirically, this sounds pretty suspicious to me and I can see an election turning on this previously unknown bombshell!

I agree with you that lobbying is an important part of our political system; I do not agree that all lobbyists are “looked upon as being very bad”. Perhaps the ones you want to associate Mr. Davidson with are but, in fact, that connection does not exist.

Consider please; The American Association of Retired People (AARP), Human Rights Watch, The National Council on Aging, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), The League of Women Voters, The National Organization for Women (NOW), The American Consumer Institute, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the list goes on and on. All of these are political advocacy groups registered as lobbyists. I would argue that the American public does not see these as “bad”.

IMO, the DNC has nothing to “hammer” on the point of Mr. Davidson’s leadership of NAIFA as I will show shortly. Also, you say that Mr. Davidson’s association with the health insurance industry is a political nightmare. In the next paragraph, I will explain why this not true and is a strength and not a weakness. You say that, “…so many democrats and independents feel like the insurance companies are to blame for the state of healthcare and the economy, this is a serious problem for Mr. Davidson.” Again, you are making an assumption that your limited understanding of NAIFA and Mr. Davidson’s relationships are correct and that the DNC or Ms. Capps’ campaign would operate under that assumption. They will not! Here’s why.

Yes, some years ago John served as the national president of NAIFA. Let me point out to you again, that it is the “National Association of Independent Financial Advisors” (similar to those political advocacy groups just listed above); it is NOT an association representing the interests of insurance carriers or the federal or state governments. John led this association to look after the interests of the thousands of small to large independent business men and women. “Looking after their interests” translated into keeping government from interfering with and violating the rights we as Americans have in our country built by a free enterprise model – and by being a watchdog over large corporations that seek to act in disfavor to the small business person and the consuming public. This experience of dealing with the government and corporations by representing the interests of business constituents throughout our nation was most valuable and opened John’s eyes to the need to represent our own California populace business community regardless of their size in a similar manner.

This process also allowed Mr. Davidson to develop an extensive and deep network of friends and associates who now are supporting him by contributing to his campaign. You seem to insinuate that this is a bad thing when in fact, they know he will be doing the same job, fighting for them and that is why they support his candidacy. This is also a network of relationships, personal relationships with members of Congress, that is a considerable advantage to the next 23rd District Congress Person in achieving results for his/her constituents.

You also imply that John would be beholding to insurance carriers or others in his former NAIFA association. That is laughable. The very purpose of NAIFA was to look after the interests of the independent business persons and the consumer! This put him in direct odds against the federal and state governmental agencies and the corporate insurance carriers. Ms. MacDonald, there is danger in making such claims with half-truths and faulty conclusions.

In closing, let me simply say that your bold statement of claiming that John Davidson is a lobbyist is simply wrong. To use your logic, one could claim that Mr. Vandeventer’s association with the Reagan Library, that receives significant funding from the federal government, puts him in a special interest category with a federal support bias. Of course, such is ridiculous and is not true of him … nor is such an allegation of John being a lobbyist.

Perhaps we ought to focus on the respective strengths of each candidate versus seeking to sling mud or bash one another or make comments with half-truths – how Ms. Capps must relish such behavior. Thanks for listening.

I agree with you that we all need to be informed.

[Richard Dale Coplin]

John Davidson and Senator Scott Brown -

[Bob Nelson]

I'd like to get back to my point about electability.

For a moment if I conceded that Mr. Davidson is more qualified than Mr. Vandeventer based on the criteria you mentioned, does that make him more electable?

If it was about resumes, who would we have as president today? McCain or Obama? Obvious answer is Senator McCain. For the sake of the discussion, Joe Biden's resume is better than Obamas and they are ideologically very similar, yet Obama was able to win their party's primary and eventually became president.

Elections aren't lifetime achievement awards, voters are a very dynamic group and intangibles often come into play.

As for the other stuff mentioned earlier, even under ideal circumstances I still think Mr. Vandeventer is more electable than Mr. Davidson, but in the era of soundbite politics, I honestly fear all you'll hear is "insurance lobby" and "carpetbagger". Pardon the pun, but that's not the baggage we need.

[Richard Dale Coplin]

Bob,

I loved the pun!

Thanks for the momentary concession; I believe it does make him more electable. Here's why.

You have me really thinking about the statement, "Elections aren't lifetime achievement awards,...". On reflection I agree with it and that voters are very dynamic and that there are intangibles. But, the nature of that assessment is limiting and incomplete IMO. Why? Perhaps the more important quality is not the overall achievement BUT the cumulative lessons learned and knowledge gained along the way (experience).

So, rather than limiting Mr. Davidson's qualifications to the "resume" of his life, the listing of his achievements, consider the experience gained in building that resume. A lifetime record of achievement is proof of the individual’s ability to navigate and overcome the obstacles and to assimilate those victories into a pattern of successful "experience" that can be duplicated. There is that word again.

I think this explains the Obama/Biden contradiction you mentioned. Evidently, Mr. Obama had more "experience" at playing the game than his resume accounted for. Or perhaps Mr. Biden had less "experience" at playing the game in spite of overall lifetime accomplishments. In any case, Mr. Obama brought to the table his "experience" with Chicago style politics, and a well oiled cadre of ruthless associates that had the same experiences. They got the job done because they knew how. They knew how because of lessons learned.

In John Davidson, we have a subject matter expert in the intricacies of finance, accounting, insurance, and regulation, and an experienced advocate for the rights of the little guy. That makes him electable because he knows how to get the job done. Small business persons can and will relate and respond to that. He has walked in their shoes. It can be demonstrated convincingly to his constituents and his opponent. At the same time, he has the knowledge of how things get done in Congress, having led a 200,000 member group whose main strategy was to build relationships with members of Congress. This gives them access. Access gets their voices heard. He can capitalize on that strategy and those relationships.

He is already doing that by utilizing that network to gain financial support. Let’s face it, as much as we would like to get money out of politics, it will take well over $1.5 million to defeat Ms. Capps. John will be able to extend those former relationships into their district equivalents and capture that financial support. That is certainly another of the criteria for being “electable”. I just don't see this from Mr. Vandeventer.

So to summarize, I think that electability is directly related to experience. You have to have the tools to get the job done and the knowledge on how to use the tools (experience).

You are not going to get the plumbing job (convince the customer you are the right person, in this case the electorate/getting elected) if you cannot get to the customer. Getting to the customer means having a truck, you know the one with the moving John Davidson Plumbing sign on it. That costs money. You will not be able to influence the customer (cause them to select you) if do not have the tools or the proven ability to get the job done. You cannot complete the plumbing job (fulfill the expectations of the customer, again the electorate/being electable) if you do not know how to use the tools.

As I said earlier, I have studied Mr. Vandeventer and I respect his views as very close to my own, but IMO, he will not get the plumbing job, by comparison to Mr. Davidson because customers and citizens will not know who he is because he will not be able to raise the funds to get the truck to advertise and carry his tools. They will weigh experience over youth and choose the one who has the truck, the tools and the knowledge to use them. Mr. Vandeventer simply does not have the scope of completed plumbing jobs because he does not possess the same tools or the knowledge (experience) to use them.