As spring turns into summer here in San Diego, we are embroiled in a primary election, which will occur on June 5. San Diego has four totally uninspiring candidates for mayor this time around; three Republicans (oh, scratch that...one became "independent") and one Democrat. Obviously the one Democrat is going to move ahead to the general election in November.
The Lone Demo is Bob Fillner, a US congressman, and quite frankly, one of the ugliest politicians I've ever seen. Oh, I know...politics shouldn't be about looks, and when you look back in history, some of those guys look they stepped out of a Monogram horror movie from the 1940s, co-starring Rondo Hatton. But beyond his looks, Fillner strikes me as a pretty much do-nothing congressman, and I have every bit of faith that he will be just as dull and boring in the role of mayor here in San Diego.
The two Republicans are District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and City Council member Carl DeMaio. Dumanis moved from Brockton, MA decades ago but still has the Bahston accent; every time she speaks she sounds like a barmaid from Southie, and there's no way I can sit through at least four years of that crap. In addition, she is colossally stupid enough to run a self-congratulatory campaign ad on TV which talks about a case that is pending in court, and her campaign mangager is arrogant enough to say they won't pull or change the ad, even though the presiding judge has said it could have a possible bearing on the case. In other words, the ad will be changed or dropped in the next few days, and the campaign manager will be the sacrificial lamb.
DeMaio, who pronounces his name De-MY-o, instead of De-MAY-o (I'm guessing so no rival politico can run ads proclaiming "HOLD DE MAYO!"), is running on the platform of pension reform which is sorely needed in San Diego. But I can't see this chipmunk-cheeked councilman on TV without thinking of him as "Creepy Carl DeMaio," because that's what he is to me: a self-aggrandizing creep. Leading up to the election, he's been on more morning TV news shows than I can shake a stick at (if that's your idea of a good time) and it seems like he's been running for mayor FOREVER. He's also running major ads denouncing his opponent Nathan Fletcher and the ads are big-time negative ones, the kind you see on a national level. Four years of DeMayo and I'll move to Tijuana and start ducking a lot.
Finally, there's veteran Nathan Fletcher, a California state assemblyman who's main claim to fame is authoring Chelsea's Law, which is named after a local murder victim who was just 17 years old. I can't figure Fletcher out. He recently turned independent, which makes me question his alleigance to anything. I hate partisan politics. I think it's the bane of the political system in America. But switching party affiliation--or dropping it altogether--this close to an election is a major red flag for me.
So in the end, what do we have? Four extrememly unappealing candidates (is this the best San Diego can muster?) looking for a shot at righting a city that has been sinking for years. And a ton of phone calls. The other night, my phone rang 8 times between 6:00 and 9:00 pm, all of them robo-calls for local elections. Want to get my vote? STOP CALLING ME! And stop killing trees and filling my mailbox with glossy cardstock one-sheets that proclaim your worthiness. You're not worthy. None of you are.