The LookOut sm confidential |
|
THE
LOW-DOWN ON
THE TOWN Impudent, uncensored account By C. Castle Can Gore Make Bradley's Visit a Nader(sic)? Tuesday, June 15--It's not every day that Santa Monica plays host to a potential presidential candidate. Sure, the city has more than its share of celebrities, but they're hardly presidential. On Wednesday, however, Bill Bradley is scheduled to pay a visit to the Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club, talking about an issue that many Santa Monicans can relate to. EQUALITY: It's about about giving everyone an opportunity to play - a theme that rings louder in Santa Monica than in most other cities. (See the excerpt below from one of Bradley's speeches.) Bradley's visit comes at an interesting time for a coastal city that is fighting hard to preserve its progressive soul, a fight that manifests itself in local efforts among community leaders to give Latino hotel and restaurant workers a voice. Santa Monica is a city where discussions about imposing a living wage ordinance on local businesses are heating up and the union is increasing its political stronghold. Battles continues with the Miramar Sheraton Hotel over labor issues, and key community leaders - including city council members - are part of the effort. Santa Monica is a city where elections are beginning to be won and lost with the union's help. Indeed, there's no question that Santa Monica shares Bradley's philosophy of equality. The question is whether the city's political leaders - the Democrats, that is - will greet Bradley publicly with open arms. Remember, a perceived endorsement for Bradley is a perceived LACK of And that could matter to members of the California Assembly - Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, among them -- who followed the lead of Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and voted nearly unanimously to support Gore for President. Santa Monica would be displaying some kind of political nerve to fete his rival. Indeed, that is just the kind of bold move the city is famous for. But it's one that some Democrats in Sacramento may not be quick to forget. Wonder how they will feel if Ralph Nader announces his Green Party presidential candidacy and stumps through Santa Monica on a carpet rolled out by council-members Michael Feinstein and Kevin McKeown, both Green Party members. (Nader is expected to hit town in July.) Some might argue it wouldn't matter to California Democrats, but the party's leaders have been furious with the Greens -- and with themselves -- since earlier this year, when Assemblywoman Audie Bock won a seat in Oakland, the Green's first legislative position in California and a heavily Democratic district. In politics, that's exactly the kind of embarassing upset people don't ever forget. AN EXCERPT FROM A BRADLEY SPEECH:
|
![]() |
Copyright 1999-2008 surfsantamonica.com. All Rights Reserved. |