The CDP Must Not Endorse Carole Migden

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Earlier this week, the California Fair Political Practices Commission levied $9 million in fines against Carole Migden for her violations of California law. This new $9 million fine is in addition to the $350,000 the FPPC fined Migden last week. At that time, the $350,000 fine was the largest fine ever levied by the FPPC.  If you have a spare 15 minutes, consider reading my detailed analysis of Carole's most recent problems with the law.

The California Democratic Party meets this weekend and it will vote on whether the Party will endorse Mark Leno, Carole Migden, or Joe Nation for SD-3. The CDP must not endorse Carole Migden.

Carole Migden's repeated and defiant violations California law is reason alone for the Party to not endorse her. To date, she has admitted to violating the law more than 130 separate times. But what is more disturbing is that she shows absolutely no remorse for her illegal actions. Instead, she defiantly continues to break the law and she says that "People don't really care about things like this . . . ."  And this isn't just any law that she broke 130 times.  It is a law in favor of which Carole Migden herself voted. If there are any standards to which we hold our elected officials, shouldn't following the very laws they pass be one of the basic ones?  Or are we going to allow our lawmakers to choose which laws they follow?

The CDP also should not endorse Migden because she has joined forces with Republicans to have California's campaign finance laws (written by John Burton and voted for by Migden herself) declared unconstitutional. In the most desperate of desperate defenses, Carole Migden is trying to claim that the law that she violated somehow is not constitutional. Another fundamental standard to which we must hold elected officials is that they should not put their own financial self-interests above doing what is right for our State. And that's just what Migden is doing. She is willing to sacrifice California's invaluable campaign finance laws to try to protect her own pocketbook from the fines associated with her violations.

The Republican Party would be expected to endorse a candidate that has shown as much disdain for campaign finance laws as Carole Migden.  I expect better of the Democratic Party.  In light of Carole Migden's defiant violations of the law, an endorsement by the CDP of Carole Migden at this time would be to put the CDP's seal of approval on the deplorable actions Carole Migden has taken. I hope our Party does not stoop to that level simply to protect an incumbent.