CA-47: Inside the Loretta Sanchez Campaign

(Proudly cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

Every weekend, my wonderful Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Fantastic) comes home to Orange County to listen to we the people (her constituents) and see what we'd like her to do for us in Washington. Oh yes, and she also joins local Democratic activists in precinct walks throughout the 47th Congressional District. Yesterday, I was able to take a peek inside the Loretta Sanchez campaign and join the candidate and a group of dedicated volunteers (and other local elected officials!) on a precinct walk in Anaheim. And oh my, I was pleasantly surprised by what would happen on this walk!



At 11:30 AM on Saturday, I arrived at the Starbucks in Anaheim where we were all supposed to meet. I ordered some sweetened caffeinated beverage and chatted it up with a few friends while we were waiting for Loretta Sanchez and her campaign staff to arrive. And within 30 minutes, all the fun really began.

Loretta Sanchez arrived around 12:00 noon, and she immediately began to talk with the other volunteers. There were volunteers from all over the district, and from all different communities. There were Latinos and Vietnamese and Caucasian and old and young. They were excited about future President Barack Obama, and they were thrilled about Loretta Sanchez, and they were pumped up about all the great local Democratic candidates in Central OC.

So anyways, the volunteer training soon began and we were quickly taught on how to knock doors, how to talk to voters, how to register new voters, and how to convince them to support Loretta Sanchez and other Democrats running down ticket. Oh yes, and we were asked to get more of these voters to sign up to vote by mail so that they will have an easier time remembering to vote... And so we can have a higher Democratic turnout in November. Loretta Sanchez herself reminded us of the importance of registering new vote-by-mail voters by saying, "That's how we win elections. We make sure our votes come in [early]."

Shortly before 12:30, we were all introduced to the other local politicians and Democratic candidates who had come out to help Loretta Sanchez. Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez, Santa Ana school board candidate Valerie Amezcua, Anaheim Union High school board candidate Annemarie Randle-Trejo, North Orange County Community College trustee Mike Matsuda, and CA-42 Congressional candidate Ed Chau were among the local Democratic luminaries present at the walk. And about 15 minutes later, I partnered up with Annemarie Randle-Trejo and we marched off to a nearby apartment complex to start talking to voters.

Within our first hour of walking, we encountered several people in the apartment complex interested to talk with us about the election. Annemarie Trejo talked with them all about her candidacy for the Anaheim school board, and we both discussed all of Loretta Sanchez's hard work for us in OC. We answered questions from several undecided voters. We signed up one new Democratic voter. And to top it all off, we signed two Democratic voters up to vote by mail. All in all, our first hour was quite productive.

In the next hour, we talked to several more voters in the Anaheim apartment complex. Annemarie and I met a fellow teacher who was interested to hear about her thoughts on education, as well as Loretta Sanchez's work for our local schools. We met a nice young person who instantly signed up to vote and to be a Democrat. And finally, we met a lovely woman who switched from Republican to Democrat because she was excited about Barack Obama, she no longer trusted the Republicans to help working class people, and she wanted to ensure Loretta Sanchez will be reelected to Congress to help implement future President Obama's policies. And on that note, we soon ended our successful walk.

Shortly after 2:00 PM, we returned to Starbucks to turn in our materials to the local precinct leader. She thanked us for our help, and we all soon parted on our own respective ways. I soon left to return home and recover from my busy day.

All in all, I received some very positive vibes from the Loretta Sanchez campaign that Saturday. The Congresswoman always impresses me with her strong ties to the community and her thorough knowledge of the issues local voters care about. Oh yes, and she proves her commitment to the community by coming back to the district every weekend to do activities like this neighborhood walk.

Loretta Sanchez is a true OC Democratic success story that should make all of us proud. From what I can tell, she will continue to enjoy success as our Democratic member of Congress. And hopefully with a strong Obama victory in November, long "Obama coattails" coming down ticket, and hard work by other local Democrats running, we can see even more Democratic success stories just like Loretta Sanchez this year. :-)

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Lvht6, originally uploaded by atdnext.

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Hlvhr5, originally uploaded by atdnext.

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Hlvhr5, originally uploaded by atdnext.

On Taking Action

(Cross-posted at MyDD and Daily Kos)

During this Presidential Campaign, I've been hearing so much talk about so many things. And don't get me wrong, I appreciate it when the campaigns discuss issues. But in the end, I hope the discussion doesn't just end there. I hope the discussion moves to real action.

And in these turbulent times, we'll need a President who won't just talk about solutions for Iraq and health care and climate change and the economy. We'll need a President who will take action to make real change that will benefit real people. That's what compelled me to take action last weekend.

Follow me after the flip so we can discuss the importance of taking action...

I never thought I'd actually ever do this, but I was compelled to travel to Las Vegas last weekend. And no, I didn't go just to goof off and spend time with family (though I did get a little time to do that). I also went to ensure that Hillary Clinton would win Nevada.











And why was I so willing to take action and work the entire weekend for Hillary?











Because Hillary's ready to take action and start working for us as our next President!

Here's what Hillary says about the fast-approaching economic crisis:

"The American consumer, because of he increasing costs of everything that makes up a middle class life or just making it day by day - health care, education, energy costs - have all gone up because of the failures of this administration. We need action across the board and it's imperative that the President and his economic team instill confidence in the competence of our government to take on what is clearly now a global crisis that could very well thrust us into a deep, long recession. We've got to do everything we can to avoid that."

And here's how she plans to act to fix our broken economy and strengthen the middle class.

Here's what Hillary says about protecting women's reproductive rights:

"When I'm President, I will appoint judges to our courts who understand that Roe v. Wade isn't just binding legal precedent, it is the touchstone of our reproductive freedom, the embodiment of our most fundamental rights, and no one - no judge, no governor, no Senator, no President - has the right to take it away." [...]

"On the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I am reaffirming my commitment to safe, legal, and rare abortion, and unveiling an agenda for decreasing the number of unintended pregnancies in the U.S. through honest and complete sex education and expanded access to contraception and family planning."

And here's how she plans to act to do just that.

Here's what Hillary says about the importance of universal, affordable health care for everyone:

"Universal health care is a core Democratic principle. I am willing to go to the mat for it. I've been there before. I will be there again. I am not giving in; I am not giving up; and I'm not going to start out leaving 15 million Americans out of health care. I am not running for president to put Band-Aids on our problems."

And here's how she's been acting to do just that.

This is why I went out to talk to Nevada voters about the caucus. This is why I paid attention when they told me about their concerns about their health care plan and their shaky mortgages and their kids' education and all their other real concerns. And yes, this is why I volunteered to help out on Caucus Day and watch as so many Las Vegans turned out to take action and vote for the Democrat committed to working for us. Despite all the concerns these working people were telling me about the messy caucus system and the intimidation efforts by the Culinary Union leadership and how "the fix" was already in, they came out and helped Hillary win. And really, it was an honor for me to be a part of this great effort.

But you know what's even greater? What's truly great is Hillary's commitment to fighting for us. We never have to worry about her "poisoning the well" for us, or saying one thing while doing another.

Nope, we can count on Hillary to take action and work her hardest for us. That's why I'm ready and willing to take action and work my hardest for her. And really, it's so easy for us to take action and help Hill win. Just go to the Action Center at HillaryClinton.com. Since Hillary's working do hard to take action for us, shouldn't we do take some easy actions to help? ;-)

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Hlv1, originally uploaded by atdnext.