U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez has had about the worst start to her campaign for the U.S. Senate that you could imagine, with an incorrect email announcing the launch of the campaign somehow getting out, and a regrettable comment about how it is bad that her opponent, California State Attorney General Kamala Harris does not speak Spanish, to the cherry on top – a ridiculous gaffe on Saturday at the Democratic Party Convention in Anaheim, where Sanchez broke out with a war whoop that offended Native Americans.
But Sanchez was already in trouble even if none of those pratfalls had befallen her campaign. She is failing to connect to Orange County’s non-Latino Democratic Party leaders including several who have already endorsed Harris:
- Laguna Beach Councilwoman Toni Iseman
- Huntington Beach Mayor Jill Hardy
- Fullerton Councilwoman Jan Flory
- La Palma Councilman Steve Shanahan
- Laguna Woods Mayor Cynthia Conners
- Buena Park Mayor Art Brown
- Stanton Councilwoman Carol Warren
- Coast Community College District board President Lorraine Prinsky
- Orange Juice blogger Greg Diamond
These endorsements are not noted on Harris’ campaign website. I gleaned them from media reports and Facebook.
I have to wonder if these folks are just not that enthused about endorsing a Latina when there are other options? Then again, we are talking about Sanchez – and she does not come off as a serious candidate. That is made worse by her repeated ridiculous behavior.
Sanchez by the way has also not listed any recent endorsements on her campaign website. She does note who endorsed her in 2014.
Harris has also picked up a number of other prominent Democratic Party endorsements including:
- Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
- Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown
- City Council President Herb Wesson
- Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey
- Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia
- Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside)
- San Francisco City Atty. Dennis Herrera
- Former California State Democratic Chairman Art Torres
- San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee
- Rep. Jared Huffman
- Rep. Mike Honda
- Rep. Karen Bass
- Showtime President David Nevins
Latinos will eventually run California. But for now the Democratic Party wants their votes but many of their leaders are not interested in supporting Latinos for higher office. Just look at the statewide elected officials in California – not one of them is Latino.
Sanchez clearly is damaged goods but other Latinos, including U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, may jump into the race for Boxer’s seat now that Sanchez is faltering. Will any of them garner muchsupport from their party?
Democrats complain about the fact that Latino voters don’t vote very often. But perhaps the Latino voters feel that they are taken for granted by their party?
So the top of the endorsement list is the fake Indian. Fakes of a feather flock together I guess !
Whether because it takes less mental time and effort, or for whatever other reasons, the growing trend of
voting by ethnicity over qualifications has ALWAYS turned out so well,….. like in Detroit, for example !