Loading ...Talk to this small but vocal faction of local Democrats about the future of the party in central and north Orange County and one name above all others brings a sparkle to their eye and a smile to their face. Despite the fact the demographic makeup of the party in this geographical area is largely Latino the local elected that garners their excitement doesn’t have a Hispanic surname like Tinajero, Alvarez, Benevides or Martinez as one might expect. The “chosen one” for these folks is Anaheim Union High School District Trustee Jordan Brandman.
Many in this group make up the “Janny” faction of the DPOC, thus called this for their covert support for Latino bashing Supervisor Janet Nguyen. It is not shocking that they would pin the party’s hope for the future in Central/North OC on the shoulders of an Anglo politician. History shows us that many within the DPOC have a track record of opposing Latino politicians in the local area. Loretta Sanchez and Lou Correa did not gain any party support until the won their seat. To this day, much, if not all of Loretta and Lou’s success is in spite of the local party.
While we cannot, nor should we, hold the actions of these folks against Mr. Brandman, we should question his decision to endorse uberconservative Republican Chris Norby for Orange County Clerk/Recorder. From what I have seen Mr. Brandman is a bright and articulate young man, not to mention he is a fellow Anteater alumnist. I would think that Mr. Norby’s politics are the polar opposite of Brandman’s, at least I would hope they are. So why endorse him?
Some will argue that Mr. Brandman is just returning the favor to Norby for his endorsement in the school board race last year. However I cannot reconcile the fact that someone who folks want to represent Democrats in local elected office would offer his support to an uberconservative like Chris Norby. I am not saying that Brandman should endorse Hieu Nguyen, Norby’s opponent for the seat, but I would have liked to see him remain neutral.
Not surprisingly Brandman’s supporters have remained eerily quiet about his support for Norby. Within the local blogosphere the silence is deafening. Folks who routinely bash Norby and his politics have spoken nary a word about the Brandman endorsement.
Where is the self-annointed leader of the liberal blogosphere Chris Prevatt in regards to the subject? Prevatt regularly uses Chris Norby as cannon fodder for his self-righteous pontifications. He has painted Norby as horrific figure in local politics, second only to John Moorlach in regards to his disdain. Yet Prevatt has not uttered a single word about Brandman endorsing Norby.
What about another Brandman supporter and Norby critic Claudio Gallegos? I realize that his Sunny D blog is all but dead, but perhaps he could breathe a little life into what is left of it by blogging his thoughts on this issue. When Sunny D was unveiled with much fanfare, Claudio told us all that his blog was going to “expose the machinations behind the Orange Curtain”. So far all we have gotten is silence from Gallegos in regards to what is clearly machine politics at its worst.
I wish Mr. Brandman much success in the future. He will no doubt be a rising star in Democratic politics in the coming years. He may very well likely be a candidate for the 69th Assembly District seat, the district in which i reside, in the coming years, though I will look to support a candidate that I feel is a better representation of the people of our district.
To all those Norby-bashing liberal bloggers like Prevatt and Gallegos all I ask for is a little consistency. You would be falling all over each other to bash other Democrats who would dare endorse a conservative Reep like Norby and yet you fall silent when your “chosen one” does. Why am I not surprised?
It is disappointing that Brandman would overlook a moderate Republican like Hugh Nguyen, who is also a minority.
Nguyen has experience that Norby lacks, when it comes to working in the Clerk-Recorder’s office. Sadly Brandman is playing politics by overlooking Nguyen’s qualifications and doing what his GOP masters tell him to.
How sad. I expected big things from Brandman, but this endorsement is an outrage…