[poll id=”242″]
Democratic congressional candidate Bill Hedrick got 48.2% of the vote last year, against Republican Ken Calvert over in the 44th Congressional District, according to Smart Voter. Calvert beat him with 51.8% of the vote.
Last year, perennial Democratic candidate Steve Young tried mightily to take out Congressman John Campbell. In the end, Young got just over 40% of the vote – with Barack Obama atop the Democratic ticket, according to Smart Voter. Campbell came in at over 55% of the vote. Campbell got 171,431 votes to Young’s 125,351 votes. That is to say that Young lost by over 45,000 votes!
Hedrick only lost by about 9,000 votes. And he had no money and virtually no support.
So why is it that the Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) is betting the house on Beth Krom this year, against Campbell, instead of pouring all of their money and energy into Hedrick’s campaign? Doesn’t Hedrick stand a better chance of beating Calvert?
It just doesn’t make any sense. Krom has almost no chance of winning. Hedrick could do it with some help. Why gamble on Krom?
It’s no wonder the DPOC never wins in Orange County…
I totally agree, without trashing Beth at all, Hedrick deserves and needs a lot more support from the DPOC. Like you said, he came SO close to beating Creepy Ken Calvert, there was nearly a recount. Circumstances may not be quite as favorable in oh-ten (no Yes We Can! on the ballot) but it’s worth much more of a shot than the DPOC seems to be giving it, and Bill is a great progressive.
One word sums up why the DPOC is focusing so hard on the Krom campaign, Melahat!
Thankfully she stopped double dipping and stepped down from the DPOC to work solely on the Krom campaign. She will do the same for Krom as she did the party, not much.
Sean,
Yep. And the DPOC will lose two races where they could have won one of them…
What do you guys know about how much energy and resources are being focused on Kroms campaign from the DPOC? Any specifics?
I don’t know what money or other resources may have been going to the Krom campaign, but I really hope that the DPOC pushes for Bill Hedrick. He is a very eloquent speaker, seems like a great progressive, and from this article I saw on FDL it looks like he really had a shot last year and has one again this year. http://bit.ly/5joJFd
Hopefully the new ED of the DPOC will give each race a thorough examination and parse out resources accordingly. A big push for the most viable race makes the most sense, but leaving other candidates making a serious run out in the cold is no way to build the party or encourage future candidates if they think the party is going to be unsupportive.
Paul,
Well, as Sean pointed out, Melahat just quit as DPOC E.D. to go run the Krom campaign full time.
It seems like Krom is sucking the air out of the room – which is a shame as she has zero chance of beating Campbell, while Hedrick could take out Calvert.
This happens a lot with the DPOC. Remember Hedrick wasn’t the only guy they dropped the ball on last year. Ken Arnold could have beat Van Tran over the 68th A.D., and Robin Marcario could have won a seat on the Garden Grove City Council. Their campaigns were largely ignored by the DPOC and the Republicans prevailed yet again.
When will they learn? Now they are forgetting Hedrick again and salivating over Krom – and the numbers show that she can only lose. What a lost opportunity…
Be careful Sean,
I got accussed of riding a “High Horse” next door at the LOC for suggesting just what you imply.
After muddling through the lispy criticisim I realized, it does’nt matter. To many at the DPOC talking big and self serving take a front seat to victory.
What I know is the phones are’nt ringing…..1,000 people at a hundred bucks…HMMM that migh be enough to actually help someone.
Art,
Interestingly enough, Henry Vandamier will be interim exec and will presumably stay on the job as ED
Henry was Hedrick’s field director in 2008, so may your wish will come true?
#8,
I did not know that Henry had worked with Hedrick before. Awesome! I have met Henry and he seems like a good guy.
Go Hedrick! It would be great to see Calvert get tossed out of Congress next year!
Melahat used the DPOC volunteers to work 0on beth kroms campaign. melahat worked on Beth kroms campaign while at the dpoc and drew a paycheck from beth krom and the dpoc at the same time. Now melahat is using the dpoc email lists to use for beth kroms campign and not letting anyone else have access to the lists for their campains.
So basically, if you paid for your seat at the last three truman dinners, your money went to melahat to work on beth kroms campaign. All volunteers at the dpoc work for melahat and their efforts and the fruits from them are put to use for beth kroms campaign.
Isnt this some sort of fppc violation?
Krom is wonderful! No question about that. But we got to do what makes the most sense, and that’s supporting Hedrick. It is so sad that the DPOC could do no better than Melahat for Executive Director. We are lucky to be rid of her. She has no class whatsoever, and definitely no moral compass. And why in the world the Central Committee let her work on the Krom campaign while she was being paid as DPOC Executive Director is a mystery. The whole business stinks to high heaven and is unworthy of the name, Democrat. The status quo in the DPOC needs a good shaking up so that its many rotten apples fall to the ground. We should start by liberating the Party from a certain someone’s flaming Napoleon complex and from that certain someone’s oversized enabler.