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Photo by my daughter
Alexandria Marie M, 8,  
while on vacation touring
America, with her first
camera.
Feinstein issues call to arms to state Democrats

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Lambasting what she called the Republicans' and the Tea Party's "radical
ideological agenda," Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Saturday called on California
Democrats to gear up for a battle to protect collective bargaining, Medicare
and services to the poor and the elderly.

"The far right wing and the Tea Party have entered into the political arena with
a singular mission - to cut government so it cannot serve our people," she told a
crowd of 1,800 delegates gathered in the Sacramento Convention Center for the
California Democratic Party's three-day state convention. "They have tried
systematically to disassemble the American dream."

In what she termed "the most difficult environment that I've even seen in
American politics," Feinstein said the Republican agenda as defined by the 2012
budget plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin represents a harsh and
unacceptable attack on the most vulnerable Americans and "it must be stopped."

California's senior senator led a parade of Democratic officials and labor
leaders who, even as they gathered in an often-raucous celebration of political
domination in a solidly blue state, warned that Democrats must now look ahead
to 2012 and brace themselves for Republicans' well-organized political attacks
on organized labor and health care.

But elected officials and party activists also argued that Republicans may
already have overreached.

"They talk about the fact that if they can weaken the unions, they will weaken
the president's campaign - and they will weaken the Democratic Party - and
that's what the hell it's all about," said California Democratic Party Chair John
Burton.
'Right the wrongs'

Burton predicted Democrats in the nation's most populous state will lead the way
and are "going to right the wrongs of the 2010 election nationally," a midterm
contest in which a conservative wave swept the rest of the nation and
Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives.

"Our hope is that the people that voted in 2010 will have what they call ...
buyer's remorse," Burton said. "They may have wanted a change, but they
didn't want a disaster - and we are going to educate them to what the
Republicans have been doing."

Democratic consultant Peter Ragone said Republicans "always overreach ... the
last time we had a GOP wave bash the country, there turned out to be a very
strong reaction," he said. "Voters are already starting to feel the fatigue."

'A different message'

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said state Democrats can celebrate
that they control every statewide elected office, the governor's seat now held
by three-term Gov. Jerry Brown, and both houses of the Legislature.

"While the rest of the country was being outfoxed by the neo-cons and burned
by the Tea Party, here in California we sent a different message," Harris said
to cheers.

She brought Democrats to a standing ovation with an impassioned call to fight
back against "outrageous" Republican efforts to attack abortion rights and
same-sex marriage.

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of playing defense," she said. "It's
time to stand up for our basic principles. ... It's time. California Democrats,
let's not throw up our hands. ... Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work."

Big changes coming

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in California by 2 million voters.
But Burton cautioned against complacency. Districts will soon be redrawn, and
changes in primary election rules - what Burton called "this stupid open primary
system" - could impact the balance of power.

Still, the charged-up mood of the Democratic convention provided a sharp
contrast to the California Republicans, who gathered in the same location just
two months ago - in a meeting marred by infighting and efforts to shut the
media out of some of its main events.

Assembly Speaker John Pérez drew laughs when he commented on the
difference, telling Democrats it was a public demonstration of how the state
GOP continues "their proud march toward irrelevance."


DAVID M MILLIGAN
FOR
PRESIDENT
2012