Posted on 10/19/2010 4:45:09 AM PDT by Kaslin
SANTA ANA, CA Bill Clinton is wagging his finger and issuing a warning to a crowd of about 800 voters gathered in front of the Old Orange County Courthouse in downtown Santa Ana. For the first time in his nearly 30 minute speech, the former president adopts a lecturing tone. Dont badmouth [Loretta Sanchezs] opponent. Hes an honorable man whos lived an honorable life, and hes made a good contribution, he says. Clinton isnt finished praising the Republican opponent of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), whom hes come to support in her floundering re-election campaign. Without referencing him by name, Clinton calls Van Tran impressive and an American success story, much to the surprise of the 30 or so pro-Tran demonstrators standing along the perimeter of the assembled coterie of Democratic partisans. The crowd, dotted with SEIU purple and Yes on 19 buttons, applauds tepidly.
Lets pull the tape and splice together the clips of Bubba praising Van, George Andrews barks into his cell phone. Andrews, a 26-year-old San Franciscan of Indian descent, is Trans campaign manager. Team Tran had a camera-toting tracker embedded in the audience, recording every moment of the rally. I bet Loretta wasnt expecting that, he chuckles. Andrews and Tran find themselves in the thick of an improbable election fight: Andrews is a rookie campaign chief seeking to shepherd Tran, a first-time Congressional candidate, to victory over an incumbent who won 69 percent of the vote two years ago. In order to pull off the massive upset, the pair must skillfully traverse one of the most complex political landscapes in the nation: Californias 47th Congressional District.
This is a trilingual race, Andrews tells me over a lunch of steaming bowls of Pho, a traditional Vietnamese soup dish. There is no other targeted congressional race in the country with these dynamics. That may be an understatement. CA-47 is a socially conservative district that strongly backed Prop 8the states anti-same sex marriage Constitutional amendmenton the same day it voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by an overwhelming 22 points. Whites are a minority in the district, making up roughly 35 percent of the electorate; 50 percent of CA-47s voters are Hispanic, and the remaining 15 percent are Vietnamese.
When we canvass neighborhoods, we try to send out teams of volunteers who can speak English, Spanish, and Vietnamese among them, Andrews says. Its a very tough district for Republicans. This is a blue collar area with a party registration breakdown of about 47 Dem to 31 Rep. But this race has exploded because of Lorettas record and big mistakes. Andrews is referring to Sanchezs paltry legislative record over 14 years in Congress, her controversial fundraising junket at the Playboy mansion, and an infamous Univision appearance in which she made racially charged comments about "the Vietnamese trying to take her seat.
The nationally televised diatribe, which was exposed by a Latino Tran supporter, flies in the face Clintons call for civility. Loretta Sanchez, sadly, has waged a nasty campaign of hate, fear, and misinformation, Tran tells me at the Western CPAC conference in Newport Beach, where hes receiving a Taxpayer Champion award. Youd think a seven-term member of Congress would be able to run on her record and accomplishments. Instead, shes running away from her record and attacking me. Im a big boy, and Ive been in the arena for awhile -- so I can handle negative comments. But she should at least be fair and truthful, he says.
Unlike other portions of Clintons speech (he inaccurately claimed that Republicans maintained total control of Congress from 2002-2008), his description of Tran as an impressive success story is undeniable. When he was just ten years old, Tran and his family fled war-torn Vietnam, emigrating to the United States in search of a better life. When they arrived stateside, Tran knew only two words of English: Okay and Salem, a popular brand of cigarettes among American GIs stationed in his homeland. My candidacy is an affirmation of how great this country is, he beams. I came here as a little boy with literally the clothes on my back, and without any knowledge of the language, and now Im the first Vietnamese-American member of the legislature of the largest state in the union, and a candidate for the United States Congress. Where else on this earth is that possible?
Trans compelling life story, coupled with his energetic campaign and an established track record as a small government, pro-family conservative has concocted what Republicans hope will be an ideal elixir to poison Sanchezs re-election effort. The latest poll, which Townhall first reported, shows the race in a dead heatwith each candidate earning 39 percent of the vote. The fact that the contest is tied is striking in and of itself, but what must truly worry the Sanchez camp is its candidates extraordinarily low re-elect number. As a point of reference, Sanchez was re-elected in 2008 by an overwhelming 44-point margin.
As Election Day approaches, Tran says he plans to maintain a heavy focus on job creation. My message is all about creating jobs. I know politicians utter these slogans all the time, but this goal is very personal to me. When someone has a job, they have an added self-identity and self-worth. Theyre productive members of their community, and theyre providing for their family. That is the essence of the America that I cherish, he says. The father of two young children also professes deep apprehensions about the longevity of the American dream if the current Congress spending binge continues unabated. I ask myself, will my kids have the same prospects for success that I had, and I challenge myself to ask what am I personally doing to protect and sustain those opportunities? Those are the biggest questions weighing on my mind. You want to talk about legacy? Thats what matters to me, he says.
Tran aides will be the first to admit their path to victory remains very steep. Aside from her built-in Party ID advantage, Sanchez has another major edge: Cash. According to the Tran campaign, theyre facing a massive cash-on-hand deficit of more than $700,000. Tran hasnt run a single TV advertisement during the entire general election campaign, and according to Andrews, going up on air is still merely an aspiration at this point. Given the institutional obstacles facing his upstart campaign, its remarkable that Tran remains in the hunt. At its core, he says, the race will come down to whether CA-47s voters share his core values: Individual liberty, freedom, entrepreneurship, faith and family. If they do, he predicts, we will achieve have a very exciting victory in November.
A more useless human being you'll likely not find in congress.
Go Van Tran! I had never heard of him before this article, but he sounds great.
This one you will hear a lot about.
Also, to see one of the Sanchez sisters knocked out is going to be like sweeeeeeet sweet champagne on election night.
Good report. That’s how I know it wasn’t from a national writer/reporter ...
Bill Clinton wagging his finger- imagine where that finger has been
Help the guy out:
http://www.joinvantran.com/
“the states anti-same sex marriage Constitutional amendment”
conservatives really need to get out of the habit of falling pray to this type of negative framing. The statement woul’ve been better made if it was reffered to as a pro-traditional marriage act or a conservation of of traditional families act.
This is perhaps why the libtards often win the messaging and branding wars.
This is when you just can't help think that Democrats are truly the stupidest people on the face of the earth. "I believe A, but I always vote for the person who believes B."
He was on Hewitt’s show last night, impressive sounding individual that the pandering respectable conservative radio show host couldn’t diminish.
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