By Tim Redmond
Sup. David Campos got the early endorsement of the influential teacher’s union in his bid for state Assembly. And for reasons that I think have nothing to do with policy, he has Rose Pak. I heard Pak talk about Campos at her usual nasty Chinese New Year’s parade rap a couple of years ago; she regularly rates and berates public officials as the pass the reviewing stand, and what she said about Campos was this: “David Campos always tells me the truth, where he is. He’s always straight with me.”
Campos and his main opponent, David Chiu, both opposed the 8 Washington project, which Pak was way, way pushing. So all the talk about this being “Latino vs. Asian” is a bit dumb; San Francisco is more politically mature than that in 2014, and what this race will be about, and should be about, is two things:
Who will be more bold and effective in Sacramento – where we have plenty of centrist Democrats and fans of compromise, and where we need a fighter who pushes the envelope – and who will use the position of power (particularly fundraising power) that a state Assembly seat (for 12 years) brings to promote the progressive agenda in San Francisco? (more after the jump)