By Joe Guzzardi
10/30/2003
Read the rest of the Joe Guzzardi recall campaign story:
10/24/03 — The Modesto Bee Says Sorry (Sort Of)
10/14/03 — Joe’s Campaign Diary (With Bittersweet Conclusion)
10/07/03 — Joe Guzzardi Returns From The Campaign Trail!
08/08/03 — Establishment To California: Shut Up About Immigration In This Election!
Psst….let the word go forth. Senator Barbara Boxer’s re-election race — due in 2004 — is an excellent opportunity for an immigration reform protest candidate.
"Why in the world would anyone want to run?" you ask.
Let me explain briefly:
Although three weeks have passed since the Recall Election, I am still hearing about how we got our message out. In Washington DC last week, I met Phil Kent, author of the new and well-reviewed book, The Dark Side of Liberalism, Unchaining the Truth.
Kent told me that he had spoken to a student political group at the University of California, Berkeley just prior to the Recall Election. According to Kent, the students had downloaded information from my website, www.Guzzardi4Governor.com. Even better, they supported my immigration reform views.
And in an October 17 post-election story published in the Washington Times, "Arnold Faces Test on Immigration", reporter Steven Dinan quoted my cautionary advice as an immigration reformer to Governor-elect Schwarzenegger: don’t start pandering now.
I believe that, by running for governor, I've paved the way for others to follow. I'll share everything I learned the first time around — plenty — to help the next candidate run more efficiently and effectively.
To be frank, I’m hoping others learned from my experience, too. Let’s review what future the protest candidate should expect his colleagues the next time around:
Here’s how I see it Barbara Boxer. She is unpopular and vulnerable. In a poll taken before Recall madness, Boxer against came out just 7 percentage points higher than former Gov. Pete Wilson (unlikely to run), 12 higher than former California Secretary of State Bill Jones, 17 higher than U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, 15 higher than former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin (the current Republican Party darling) and 26 higher than former Los Altos Hills Mayor Toni Casey. These are not good margins for an incumbent.
Forty-eight percent of California voters surveyed this summer by the Field Poll said they were inclined to re-elect the San Francisco Democrat; the percentage not inclined to re-elect is 41 percent.
Again, this small margin, viewed in light of California’s "Let’s Throw Them Out" attitude, is bad news for Boxer.
Any primary challenge by our side against the incumbent Boxer would generate publicity. And that gives us a forum to focus on Boxer’s strong open-borders immigration policy.
Numerous California immigration reformers are qualified. Now is the hour for them to begin formulating an aggressive plan.
Joe Guzzardi, an instructor in English at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.