Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Dems Need To Learn From The Failures The Bad Policies The Corporate Wing Of The Party Have Saddled Them With-- CA-22 Mea Culpa

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Ricardo Franco (D)

You may recall that a few days ago we looked at the race for the Democratic nomination for the Central Valley district (CA-22) occupied by increasingly despised Trump crony Devin Nunes. The DCCC has never contested this district before. At the time, we promised to get you more information about the two most recent candidates, Ricardo Franco and Bobby Bliatout. We're just starting discussions with the latter but we've been talking with Franco since then.

When I asked Franco if it is OK to campaign specifically on Medicare-for-All he responded-- too late for Sunday's post, that he's "been using the the phrases 'Universal Healthcare' and 'single-payer' system, but I think 'Medicare-for-all' is a much better phrase. I believe in it, it's a clear policy position to solve an important issue and I think voters are intelligent enough to know what it means. I'm going to start using it now!" He added that he's "not convinced that being a moderate in a district like mine will win swing voters, but rather being upfront and honest about your progressive values will show a genuineness that's attractive to moderate voters (I spoke with other voters over the weekend that said they would have voted for Bernie if it was him versus Trump!) You must also develop a plan. I believe voters are tired of talking points and want to see a concrete plan from candidates to spur discussion. No more wishy-washy statements generalized for broad appeal, but rather concrete plans of actions based upon your morals." So I asked him to pen a guest post for us. This is it:
I Voted For Hillary Over Bernie. I Was Wrong.
-by Ricardo Franco,
congressional candidate, CA-22

www.ricofranco.com

Back in November I cast my vote for Secretary Clinton with enthusiasm. She was the most experienced candidate in history. She would be the first female president. I had campaigned, donated and phone banked for her more than anyone else in my life. Love would surely Trump hate.

And then we lost.

It was inconceivable. I had gone to my parent's house so I could share Hillary's historic win with my family--  a day they thought they'd never live to see. We have hosted funeral receptions in their house that didn't feel as bad as that night. Somehow I muttered the words, "I was wrong."

In 2006 the house I had been living in at the time burnt down to the ground. I broke my foot and suffered burns jumping from a second story window. Eight hours later as I was getting discharged from the hospital with a cast on my foot I muttered to myself, "well, looks like I'm homeless."

Being wrong in 2016 felt worse than being homeless in 2006.

When reality bites, you have to admit you've been bitten. For me that meant admitting that Bernie could have beaten Trump, that moderate Democrats continue to lose swing territory elections and that all the polling experts know nothing about which they speak. It's time to stop listening to other people and listen to your neighbors and your gut.

I have met so many conservatives in my district that have told me they would have gladly voted for Bernie over Trump, but the Democratic party didn't give them that chance. "Bernie was a cool guy! I would have voted for him. Trump's an asshole, but there's no way I'd ever vote for Hillary," they tell me. Now, as a businessman, when clients and customers tell you exactly what they are willing to pay for I will tell you that you better listen. It's time for the Democratic party to do the same.

The more progressive platform that Senator Sanders is proposing is one that almost all Democrats would love to have enacted as well as being appealing to other non-traditionally Democratic voters. It's time we accept this bite from reality and find candidates that message it from the heart. Why have we not evolved as a party with the changing electorate and world around us? Why do we not discuss underemployment rather than unemployment? Why do we not emphasize the global  economy is going green whether we like it or not and economic success for America means understanding this trend? The electorate is not falling for any false tricks nor promises from career politicians or newcomers with no spine nor honesty. If you truly want Medicare-for-all, then say it.

I want Medicare-for-all!

Now, help me make it a reality!
The establishment favors a very conservative Republican-lite candidate, Andrew Janz, whose message in primarily, "I'm not Trump, I'm not Nunes." That's proven a bad gamble for the DCCC but it's who they are and what they are all about. Ricardo Franco isn't Trump or Nunes either, but he's offering a real alternative to their conservatism, while Janz says he'll be just like his hero, Jim Costa down the road.

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6 Comments:

At 6:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So Ricardo wants MFA? But as a democrap, his party's leadershit will never allow it. Just as they wouldn't allow Bernie to win, they won't allow MFA, free college, the ANY real bank reform and a host of others to see the floor for a vote.

So... Ricardo was wrong about his party wrt $hillbillary. Why is he still a democrap? Seems to me that he'd have told the $hillbillary democraps to go fuck themselves instead of joining them to run as just another irrelevant D place-holder... if he defeats the corporate whore/shill the DCCC is going to give all that money to.

 
At 7:43 PM, Blogger Anonymous said...

So because you don't like the Democratic party, you would rather end up with someone like Trump? I personally would rather try to improve the Democratic party rather than trying to fight against them. Like it or not, we live in a two party country. Support the better of the two, and bring fresh, new ideas into the party. It's much easier to fix what's broken than to start from scratch.
I voted for Bernie in the primary and Hillary in the general. I didn't vote for her because she was my first choice, but because she was my 10th choice. Trump would have been at the bottom of my list. Deciding to only vote for a perfect candidate that fits your views 100% of the time is a great way to be disappointed. You won't find one, and if you do, they couldn't win because others may not agree with you on everything.
If we want to win and move forward as a party, we must bring in fresh people, make our case, and support the best candidate together. Don't miss out on a 7 because you are holding out for a 10 that will never happen...

 
At 9:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you think $hillbillary is a 7, you speak volumes about your own delusions.

If the drumpfsterfire is a zero, $hillbillary scores all of .0001

And if you think electing some window-dressing irrelevant rookies will do one single thing to fix the democraps, you again expose your own delusions.

2008 happened because of Clinton and democraps. Nothing was done to remedy 2008 by democraps or obamanation. Iraq and torture and drone murder were done with the enthusiastic support of democraps. None of those was fixed by obamanation and democraps. Drone murder was expanded and made WORSE by obamanation and democraps.

If you think $hillbillary would have done any better... well, we already know you're delusional.

Because most voters are like you, nothing can and ever will improve.

History is replete with "new" parties forming to solve big problems that the legacy parties refused to. I'm thinking of the Republicans and Abraham Lincoln as one prime example.

Yet you cannot imagine such a scenario today. Well, we already know...

 
At 8:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

People who think Hillary is as bad (or nearly as bad) as Trump are part of the problem.

There are plenty of things I disagree with Hillary about, but if you think she would be thanking Putin, defending white supremacists, and pulling out of the Paris accord then you simply aren't paying attention.

Also - your name calling makes you seem childish and is reminiscent of the tactics used on the far right. Democracy works better when serious adults engage in meaningful debate and discussion.

 
At 4:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

$hillbillary, tactically at least, is not as bad as drumpf.
But her further normalization of the culture of corruption would make her worse than anyone before her.

If you read my words and parse my meaning from them, you'll realize that it's not the current horror in the WH that needs to be avoided. He's a gimmick. He's a knee-jerk reaction to the 4-decade downward trend; the recession for which only the rich got well; and forever wars that cannot ever end and which cause worldwide terrorism to flower and thrive.
He'll go away some time soon. Once people get a good look at the filth inside his soul, they'll send him off. And then it'll be some random democrap's turn to take the reins.

At that point, as in 1992 and 2008, pinheads like you will heave a sigh of relief and be joyful that everything will be ok. Except just like in 1992 and 2008, everything will NOT be ok. In fact, just as in 1992 and 2008, everything will become worse.

2007 was a direct result of 1998 under Clinton and Ds. 2016 was a direct result of obamanation not fixing anything from the cheney wars to the 2007 Clinton recession, making most things worse and the democraps committing election fraud to give the nom to the neolib, neocon, Russophobe, sociopathic goldman-sachs whore.

If your perspective is only as far as tomorrow, your logic is sound... usually.
If your horizon extends beyond tomorrow, your logic is lethal. The US and the earth will not survive many more cycles of lesser evilism.

But at least you'll feel all warm and fuzzy when it all goes poof.

 
At 8:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Woah. Why is Franco pulling in the Bernie versus Hillary crap? That is extremely divisive. That kinda talk is gonna split the D vote & get Nunez re-elected.

 

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