Who’s Down with NPP? Yeah, You Know, Me
By Don Greene
With apologies to Naughty by Nature …
First I believe I should start with a few disclaimers: 1) All opinions expressed are my own; this means all those people who will immediately begin to call, email, text and/or send pigeons to my boss attempting to silence me through intimidating him, stop. 2) I will clearly identify information based on emails, phone calls or speculation. 3) There will be a little bit of inside baseball stuff in here, stick with it. 4) Just to be clear: All opinions expressed are my own.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s begin.
This will come as no surprise to many of you who read this, especially after the DNC elected a Hillary-Clinton, corporate Democrat to run the party. (I wish Tom Perez the best of luck and hope he will bring a different perspective to the party; my fear is he won’t.)
The national Democratic party is in trouble and the local Democratic Party is flailing right along with it.
The momentum created through movements such as the Women’s March on Washington and the various Indivisible Groups is great and is noticed. All the strategists in the Democratic party – who, by the way, couldn’t excite and capture this level of energy during the last election – are conniving to capture and steer this energy for the Party’s gain. In other words, going forward, what may look like grassroots organizing and politicking will more than likely be a front for the “corporate Democrats” the movements are pushing against.
My decision to leave the Democratic Party and re-register NPP is based upon this type of collusion and shenanigans I see happening in the 49th Congressional District race. Colonel Doug Applegate was the first Democratic challenger in years to put Darrell Issa on notice and on the run. After many attempts by good Democrats to displace him, Applegate was able to come within 1621 votes, closer than any other candidate in Issa’s long congressional tenure.
It makes sense, at least to me, to support Applegate in the 2018 election. He has announced he will run; he has filed his paperwork and continues to maintain a campaign staff and campaign operation. Yet, there are movements happening within the Orange County and San Diego County Democratic Parties which would push Applegate aside and replace him with their own version of a “corporate Democrat” by the name of Mike Levin.
Levin is an Orange County attorney connected to big-ticket donors for the national and local parties. Though he hasn’t officially filed to run, he has been invited to a candidate forum in April sponsored by the OC Women’s Democratic Club. He spoke at the town hall held in Vista on Tuesday, Feb 21. More on that later.
When it became apparent Levin was in the mix a week before the Vista town hall, I approached SD Dem Party Past Chair Francine Busby to talk about beginning a conversation with Levin and the OC Dem Party about the advantages of having only one candidate in the race for the 49th and how important it is to keep Applegate in the spot. I was told by Busby she had already met with Levin multiple times, had discussed the issue with him and ultimately, the problem existed between the two candidates. I admit it seemed strange to me she had already met with Levin multiple times.
Fast forward to Wednesday, Feb 22, the morning after the Vista townhall. I was told by a couple of people Mike Levin had spoken at the town hall and Doug Applegate had been expressly asked to not speak. The reason given: We don’t want candidates to speak; yet, Levin spoke. I was outraged this happened; I sent an email to current Chair of the SD Dem Party, Jessica Hayes, Past Chair Busby and North Area Vice Chair Melinda Vasquez reasserting my belief we should be supporting Applegate and a conversation needs to happen between the parties so we can come to a solution.
What happened after my initial email was, to say the least, unbelievable.
Hayes told me in an email the answer is to have an Applegate rally. I’ll pause to let the statement sink in. In no uncertain terms I told her she was wrong and we could do more. She deflected with talk of bylaws and process and everything other than doing the right thing which would be to support Applegate. Not endorse Applegate, but support him through a conversation with the OC party to try to broker this problem to a favorable resolution.
Busby, in a separate email, told me the same information but went further to tell me she had been working with the organizers of the town hall event and they were unaware Levin was a candidate. Again, I’ll pause to let the statement sink in. Wasn’t this event supposed to be a grassroots effort? Apparently not.
It seems SEIU, MoveOn.org, and the California Democratic Party had something to do with it, in coordination with the local counties’ parties. (An email shared with me by Hayes shows the CDP glowing over the turnout numbers.) They are upset I’m sharing this information with you; they don’t want you to know they’re trying to get Levin in and Applegate out. I told you it seemed strange Busby had met with Levin a number of times; now it was beginning to make more sense.
All of this leads me to these points:
1) The grassroots organizing many people are taking part in across the county is trying to be subverted by the very corporate Democratic party. The Bernie movement and the progressives need to be aware the energy everyone is feeling needs to be focused. If it isn’t, those who would corrupt it will find a way to do it.
2) The idea of having a progressive candidate like Applegate in the 49th is not something the powers that be want to have happen. Levin is an OC resident, yet was at the Vista town hall, not the OC town hall event which happened on the same night. Why? He’s already known in OC; he needs to get name recognition in SD.
People continue to work behind the scenes to get Applegate to drop out. If they can’t get him to drop out, they’ll take over the momentum behind him and they’ll put Levin forward to make him more palatable. We can’t let them push out the candidate who represents change and progress with yet another “corporate Democrat.”
3) The local Democratic parties are not interested in the progressive, Bernie movement. At least the current and former leadership isn’t interested. If you see any of the leadership showing up to a local Indivisible Groups or to a grassroots effort, be very wary. They are looking for ways to steer you and your energies to benefit the same old Democratic playbook which has failed. The party has failed to put up a candidate for San Diego Mayor – arguably, the most important position in the county currently. And now they want to push aside a viable candidate in the 49th for someone who just can’t do the job.
There is more. I can tell you this, there is certainly more. But, I believe I’ve blathered on long enough and I’m sure I’ll start taking flack from people for this. It’s OK. I’m used to taking flack from a number of people and have become mostly immune to it.
I chose to re-register and become an independent. In my life I started as a Republican, became an NPP, then Dem, now back to NPP. And here I will stay. I don’t know if we’ll ever get an actual Independent movement going, but I’m happy to talk with anyone who would like to kick around some ideas and make a difference. We don’t need to be a party (not that it’s a bad idea) but we can be a unified force for good.
Let’s give it a shot.
Latest posts by Don Greene (see all)
- The Age Of Fear And Hiding In North County San Diego - March 1, 2017
- The Who, What, Why, When, Where And How Of SANDAG Prop A - February 28, 2017
- A Message to the Grass Roots: Be Wary of Corporate Democrats in Sheep’s Clothing - February 27, 2017
No flack from me. 😀
Thank you, Don. I attended the first half of the Vista Town Hall (until we were asked to leave so that part of the overflow crowd could be seated). I was wondering who the organizers were — those with clipboards, those handing out “agree” and “disagree” signs, etc. It seemed a little too staged to be entirely grassroots. Same with the identical vigils held all over on the 23rd.
No flack from me either. Francine Busby is a old time Republican who got just to extreme for her. I asked her once if she would caucus with the progressives if she were elected to congress. She said she hadn’t made up her mind. That to me was a loud and clear “no”. Pelosi is behind all all of this, she wants to protect Issa to hide what the Dems do. It is so easy to blame the Republicans for doing what you want done without anyone knowing about it. We need to start demonstrating at the County Office here on behalf of Applegate. If you could get 1000 people to show up at their office, they might suddenly change their tune. We’re woke, and they don’t know it. Up to us to make them. BTW, everything you wrote is true.
Honest question: what is the difference between the corporate Democrats and the grassroots on actual issues? It seems to me like the only difference is the image. But on all major issues facing the country (health care, women’s rights, immigration,etc) the two groups have identical opinions. Please educate.
It’s not what candidates say, it’s what they do. (or propose to do) And after a while, it isn’t too hard to figure out. They all say they’re in favor of the Affordable Care Act, but then vote for amendments backed by campaign donors that weaken the act bby not replacing lost funding. Here’s a good article about the divide between progressives and corporate Dems here in California concerning the state legislature: http://capitalandmain.com/in-plain-sight-the-rise-of-corporate-democrats-in-california
Corporate Dems lose. Badly. Over and over. They do not excite people, they are corrupt Republican Lite, sucking up to the elite and don’t address the needs of working people.
That, to me, is the difference.
People that you label as “Corporate Democratics” are “corrupt”?? Using the Alt Facts line of thinking is no better than what’s in control of congress now. You can do better than that.
Btw, has Applegate been able to figure out where the missing $400,000 (last number I saw published) from his campaign funds went?
Job 1: need to defeat Issa. If we quibble and not unify, as what happen with Bernie’s presidential distractions, we don’t defeat Issa. I expect that the Republicans are counting on this.
Well, Doug, I could reiterate what the article says, but actually, Shaun King says it better that I could. Dems keep sucking and losing. It’s time to actually stand for working people and the suffering, or welcome a second orange term. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-democratic-party-doesn-unpopular-article-1.2993659
Time to start a new grassroots party based in part on Bernie Sanders’ campaign and way of funding. The Dem Party decries Wall Street and then takes their money. Obama took more money from Wall Street than any other candidate including Clinton.
I went to the Town Hall meeting in Oceanside at the Pier. I am an Applegate supporter and voted for him. I am trying to educate myself on the what is happening. Applegate was outside and not aloud to speak, but did speak outside. It was apparent something was going on as he said he was no longer being backed by the Democratic and I am trying to figure out why? I am doing my homework. Thank you for your article. People have to get serious about who is fighting for them at home in their own backyards.
I voted for Applegstemtoo. But then he proved problematic, both in finance and his creepy attitudes towards women. Past conduct dictates future. Applegate’s refusal to stand up for the women Marines attacked by the moronic “Marines United” was stunning revealing.
I voted for Applegate also, but no chalk that up to, “Fool me once”
His candidacy is proving problematic both in finance and his creepy attitudes towards women. Past conduct dictates future. Actually, have past experience being on Issa’s staffers speed dial. Go figure!
https://bonnierussell.wordpress.com/2017/05/30/mike-levin-or-doug-applegate-the-choice-is-seriously-easy/
Please. Levin has been volunteering in OC for ten years. It would be a problem if he didn’t have contacts.
Applegate continues to have a problem with women. The latest being his absolute failure to speak up for the women Marines bashed by the cretins forming “Marines United.” Applegate was asked many times to address this, and he refused. But then, San Diego has no shortage of misogynists and women who are Stepford type wives.