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Guy Houston
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ELECTION ‘12//CONGRESS 15 | What has long been suspected is now true. Eric Swalwell is indeed playing footsie with Tri Valley Republicans.
A robocall obtained by The Citizen shows Swalwell targeting conservative voters with the help of former Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston, who vouches for the Democrats’ moderate credentials.
[LISTEN to the robocall below.]
Since they are no Republicans on the ballot for the 15th Congressional race between Rep. Pete Stark and Swalwell, Houston says, “I believe our best and only choice is Eric Swalwell on Nov. 6.”
“Eric is a moderate,” intones Houston, also a former Dublin mayor. Later in the minute-long message, Houston adds, Swalwell “has the energy and new ideas to work with people of any party to solve our problems.”
Most have long believed Swalwell’s best chance to unseat Stark would lie in courting Republicans and independents in the district and primarily in its newly redrawn portions in the Tri Valley area.
The robocall, however, is the clearest example yet of Swalwell’s intent to shift the district from a long-time progressive enclave into a more moderate, Blue Dog Democratic vote in Congress.
wow. that isn't obvious at all 6:10 and 6:22, then again 10:27 and 10:30…
4 posts by swalwell staff 🙂
by the way 10:30pm, your last post was completely out of context. but hey, who cares about context when you can just put out sensational bullshit? 🙂
hey steve, spill the beans about eric couch surfing 🙂
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Mailed in my Swalwell vote this afternoon. Felt good to help take out the trash. Don't let the door hit you in the @ss Pete (of course the door would need to be in Maryland).
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i think you hit a nerve steve 🙂
and to 7:42 from oct 30. uh…you do realize that guy houston was a nobody when he was in office and that because of redistricting he would pretty much lose in that area just based on the population expansion since he termed out. (there's no question mark since it's a rhetorical question you moron)
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Steven,
Your point is well made. Staffers should be making calls not commenting on faux journalists thinly veiled opinion pieces. They should be contacting voters and getting their message out to voters to counteract the opposing sides message being pushed by pet bloggers.
As I am not a staffer…I will continue to comment.
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Sorry, I've already voted and I left this race blank. No self-respecting conservative Republican would vote for either of these candidates.
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If Swalwell staffers don't stop posting phony comments here and start making phone calls to independent voters, their candidate isn't going to win.
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9:46 — Is that you Ro?
Seems like quotes with similar veracity.
#1- “The new CA-15 is as progressive as ever”
#2- Stark is “as sharp as ever,” said Khanna (SFGate May 5, 2012)
“The new CA-15 is as progressive as ever, it just has a lot of new territory for Pete to introduce himself.”
And yet there he sits, back in Maryland, for all but 2 days in this crucial month.
Why? Why won't he face the new voters and introduce himself?
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The 15th Congressional District is 47.9% Dem, 23.2% Rep, and 22.2% DTS. In the 2010 election, the old CA-13 was 53.7% Dem, 17.1% Rep, and 24.4% DTS. A six point loss for the Democrats does not suddenly create a moderate district. The new CA-15 is as progressive as ever, it just has a lot of new territory for Pete to introduce himself. This is still a deep blue district that can and should elect a progressive. And there will be plenty of them running in 2014.
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Goodness, I don't know what Pete is mailing out to anybody these final days, but what is simply incredible is that when you go to his website you see the most recent update on Pete's activity is over 3 weeks ago.
“Alamo Trail Dedication 10-7-12
Joining the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, environmental allies and transportation enthusiasts for the ribbon cutting ceremony.”
Nothing about anything Pete has been doing in 23 days in the very month before the election.
I've been led to understand he's only been in the district for 2 days since October 7th.
Just being kept under wraps back in Maryland.
Oh, they did add one new video to his website, a full 120 seconds of Pete reading from something in front of him. BTW, all three videos were made the same day, and that was over a month ago. (same setting, same clothes, same everything when observe closely.
So it seems they've gotten Peter “fired up” for about two days in October.
Surely they'll have to bring him out of mothballs for at least one day before the election.
You know, to rally the troops (no press please)
The most recent photo I've seen of Pete was in Politico on October 23, only one week ago.
http://images.politico.com/global/2012/10/121023_stark_swalwell_ap_605.jpg
There he is, full of pep and looking “Oh so experienced and ready for another two years”
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If you aren't a republican you wouldn't have gotten it and thus…unaware.
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I am not aware of a single Pete piece to republicans. Can you please specify which pieces. My understanding is all Pete mail to independents and dems. Please back up your assertions with facts. Tavares always cites facts.
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If the area is supposed to be a “long-time progressive enclave” then why did its residents elect Guy Houston to the Assembly for 3 terms?
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Right… I forgot, you are a blogger masquerading as a journalist.
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7:31 – no you did not miss it. This site only cares about one candidate trying to get the sizable part of the electorate that are not Dems.
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My republican friends in Castro Valley have gotten three pieces of mail from Pete Stark's campaign in the last week asking for their vote. Did I miss your alarmist piece on Pete Stark targeting Republican voters?
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Good snag of that phone call. Great to listen to what we normally don't get to hear.
Now, having said that I would have to question the following…
” What has long been suspected is now true. Eric Swalwell is indeed playing footsie with Tri Valley Republicans.”
Suspected? You make it sound like some criminal investigation.
What, you have how many Republican voters in CD15?
I don't know, but in the Republican presidential primary, over 29,000 Republicans voted and the turnout should be higher in November.
So Swalwell would be a fool to ignore over 30,000 votes by playing the “who can go furthest left” game with Pete Stark.
“The robocall, however, is the clearest example yet of Swalwell’s intent to shift the district from a long-time progressive enclave into a more moderate, Blue Dog Democratic vote in Congress.”
Hey, it's not Swalwell doing the shifting, but rather reapportionment that shifted the district, back to a makeup similar to when Tausher represented parts of the area.
So the district shifted, and Pete Stark just sat in his robe and slippers every weekend instead of returning to the district.
Now, instead of returning to speak to the new voters in his district, he is sequestered back on his Maryland estate, unwilling to appear in public before the voters.
No one to blame for that behavior other than Pete himself. He seems unable or unwilling to adjust to the new reality. The reality that half the district is new and many voters, Republican, Democrat, and independent don't know who he is.
They only know he is unwilling to come home and speak to them, instead offering them only some videos where he reads from a script.
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A politician trying to get people to vote for him. Shocking!
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