You might think that a candidate for Congress would focus on immigration issues, such as money laundering; High cost of living for Americans; and paying TSA agents so Americans can resume normal air travel.
No.
More often, we get pranks, pandering, innuendo, distractions, anti-Trump anger –– and priorities only a lunatic would like.
Will the candidates for high office -– especially from the blue areas of California -– please take a minute or 10, and focus on practical solutions to real issues?
Take Saikat Chakrabarti, who is running for San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi in Congress.
Chakrabarti drew attention this month not for talking about any serious issue facing his candidates, but for promoting a video in which he endorsed the drag queen “Peaches Christ.”
In the short clip, “Peaches” and the candidate make no apparent reference to race issues.
“We need a bug,” Peaches said. “We need someone who is not a politician.”
That’s almost deep. There is no word on how the millionaire candidate could interfere with anything, or to what extent. Just a request to vote for him — and volunteer for his “grassroots” campaign.
We have no objections to endorsements, drag queens, or having a little fun in campaigns.
The problem is: Even the darkest, bluest areas of California have serious business to deal with for potential policymakers.
Hats like Chakrabarti’s address there is no trace of.
Indeed, the race to replace Pelosi in California’s 11th district represents a race to the bottom.
Chakrabarti, former assistant to Rep. AOC, he is not the only candidate who has lost his way in the race.
Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County in the state Senate, has a long history of left-wing activism, from advocating for “gender-affirming care” for children to requiring big companies to publicize their air pollution levels to forcing Caltrans to prioritize anything but cars on the city’s state-run roads.
In the stunt department, Wiener sponsored the “No Kings Act” to allow prosecutions against ICE and other federal agents for alleged constitutional violations; SB 747 passed the state Senate this year and is pending in the Assembly.
Meanwhile, a third progressive candidate, Supervisor Connie Chan, supported defunding the police before withdrawing from that position, opposed the (very appropriate) recall of DA Chesa Boudin, and is running on a tired “green new deal” platform (ie, good signals and green pigs).
Is this party the best the Dems have to offer?
Candidates would do well to take the business of Congress seriously — offering real solutions to real problems facing California and the nation.
Enough with stunts, activism, and ideas.
