Bulldog 2007 Article 127

(8-23-07)

There are 77 days until the polls close on this race for Mayor of San Francisco. Considering that the Left was deserted by its leaders, things are shaping up nicely. Let me give you a laundry list of things that are happening.

To qualify for public financing, a candidate must raise $25,000 from a list of at least 250 donors by August 28th. Tony Hall will make the cut which means that he’ll receive $50,000 in taxpayer money from a pool of some $7 million set aside by the Green Party legislation written by Steven Hill and Rob Arnow. As with other candidates, Tony can receive matching funds all the way up to a limit of $1.3 million. I’ll give you the incrementals after next Wednesday (again, August 28th ) which is the deadline to submit proof of prowess as it were. Keep that date in mind because if you’re wonk enough to read me, people will be calling you with that deadline and begging for emergency one-time donations and it is real and you should give to Ahimsa first and Quintin second. Then, you’ll start to see some Sumchai and Mecke and, hopefully, Wolf signs around town. And, no, I didn’t give anyone your address or number.

Word on the street is that Chicken John says he already has the money and sigs. Could be but I’ll believe it when I see it. From the rate that he and George Davis are running ads in the Bay Guardian, they must both have some serious cash. At any rate, there is sufficient cash for 5 candidates to receive the maximum. As in the initial public financing election (District supes in ’04), I doubt the fund will be fully subscribed. Just remember that the money you give will be doubled by the City and the proceeds will go to paying your simpatico ground-pounders and their literature.

Serious lefties should be worried about qualifying even a single candidate under the new legislation. Quintin Mecke’s late entry halved an already small donor base and (on your behalf), I made a big stink about it.

The upshot was that a few hours after I accused Matt Gonzalez of torpedoing the chances of Ahimsa Sumchai by sponsoring Mecke, Matt phoned to donate $100 to the Sumchai campaign. Way to go, Matt! Now, lets see you shake loose a hundred buck check for Ahimsa from every donor you approach for Mecke. You can do it guy. I can hardly wait to get my hands on these donor lists.

Apologies to Wilma Pang who says she’ll drop out of the candidates collaborative because I said she was a Newsom plant. I’m sorry, I must be mistaken. I got the impression from when I met you at the Newsom rally in Chinatown with Richard Ow. My bad, Wilma. But, you did say that you were voting for the Mayor didn’t you?

George Davis writes to ask what I’d think if he had some friends come to this Friday’s debate and exercise in the nude after it ends. I told him that I’d invited friends with children and that if he did that I’d see if I’m able to have him arrested. Nudity doesn’t bother me at all (unless it’s a naked woman – hey, my Japanese wife and I lived in the nudist retreat at Harbin Hot Springs) but I get nervous about people who fight for the right to be nude around children’s playgrounds and there are 2 such playgrounds in Alioto Square. As I put it to George, I’m not worried about what the kids think when they see a naked man. I’m worried about what the naked man is feeling when he goes out of his way to expose himself to them.

Josh Wolf will direct the stage for the remainder of the collaborative debates. Perhaps that will bring Wilma back. At any rate, I’ll be pushing for bigger audiences by hounding you to get yourself and your friends out to these things (make signs for your favorite candidates!). Courtesy of Josh, here’s the latest Collaborative bulletin.

Weekly Mayoral Debates Continue Friday
Contact: Josh Wolf (415)794-2401
wolfformayor@joshwolf.net
August 22, 2007
For immediate release:

SAN FRANCISCO – Following the success of last week’s Candidates Collaborative debate, this Friday, Aug. 24, the San Francisco mayoral candidates will again gather at 5 p.m. on the lawn in front of City Hall. Eleven of the 14 candidates participated in last week’s debate and a similar level of participation is expected on Friday. The debates, organized by the 2007 Mayoral Candidates Collaborative, will continue every Friday until the election.
For those unable to attend, the debate will be streamed live at www.joshwolf.net. Following this trial-run, all future debates of the Collaborative will be streamed at the SF Democracy Web site which is currently in development and will provide a means for those watching at home to interact with the candidates.
The debate will start at 5 p.m. and run until 6:30 p.m. Each candidate will be given four minutes to introduce himself or herself, outline the issue he or she feels is most important for the mayor to address, what remedies should be applied and where the money to realize this solutions should come from. The debate will conclude with the moderator taking questions from the audience for specific candidates or the panel. Freelance journalist Rick Knee will moderate Friday’s debate.
About the Collaborative
The origins of the Candidates Collaborative can be traced back to the 2004 District Five Board of Supervisors’ race when “Diamond Dave” Whitaker envisioned a forum through which candidates could unite around the issues they share, build alliances and provide a forum for all the candidates. With the help of Julian Davis’ leadership, the first Candidates Collaborative proved an amazing success and nearly all of the 22 candidates participated, including Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi.
Host a debate
A representative from a different media outlet will present each debate in the series. Outlets interested in hosting a future debate are encouraged to contact Josh Wolf to schedule a forum session.

Thank you Josh and now back to my bullshit.

I don’t have campaigns. I cover campaigns. And, there’s no better place to cover something than from the inside. Look at what I’ve given you just today and that’s not half of what I know and that even I won’t yet write.
As usual, I’m having trouble getting the Ethics Commission to get their head wrapped around the fact that I don’t have a manager, a treasurer, nor any campaign at all. I’ll raise no money and give no one anything. It will be strictly an I.E. effort (‘Independent Expenditure) which could run into the 10’s of millions but I have nothing to do with all those signs and TV and radio ads and that stuff.
Seriously, they won’t get off my ass. They keep calling and writing and mailing and saying that they’ll do terrible things to me if I don’t come to their silly ass ‘candidates training’. Give some people the least bit of power and they put in toll booths and penalties. I’m chasing rabbits here. Where was I?
Yeah, given the likelihood that all of my favored candidates will get totally clobbered in November (nevertheless, don’t give up the fight), So, I thought I’d need a project I was succeeding with which was running on a parallel time schedule with the race for mayor. Well, I am well into my parallel campaign and it’s going great. You’ve already guessed what it is.

Nothing is worse than wasted potential and I don’t want to look like Eric Jaye when I’m his age. Therefore, I went back to a workout schedule I developed a decade or two or three back when I was a marathoner. In this case, I’m calling it ‘Plan B’. It’s kind of like a prize fighter’s regimen only usually without getting punched upside the head.
I’ve found that if I do 100 workouts of 90 minutes or more within 113 days (Outdoor Training – gyms are for Yuppies), I’ll get the flab off and be in decent enough shape to start doing serious marathon training (takes another 60 days of serious training to reach peak). Today was my 39th workout.
So, while we may get our ass kicked on November 6th at least, in my case, I hope for them to be kicking buns of steel. Know what I mean? Huh? Huh? You looking at me, punk?

Be less than you can be.