Democratic Party 86d in midterm elections
This holiday season, the Democratic Party woke up to find a bare tree and a big lump of coal in its Christmas stocking.
A close look at numbers in the latest Cook Political Report shows that in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections:
Democrats now have the lowest number of House seats since 1928. The lowest number of Senate seats since 1928. And Democrats now hold fewer state legislative seats than they have since 1928.
In other words, it is the worst showing in 86 years.
Democrats also have absolutely no white representation in the House in the deep South — the only
representation they have are brothers.
Meanwhile, Republicans picked up nine seats to win the majority in the Senate, their biggest gain since 1994.
And Republicans didn’t lose a single incumbent senator, something they haven’t done since 2004.
Democrats in California are a dramatically different story. Here they won all of the statewide offices, and there were no really significant Republican gains in the Legislature.
However, thanks to the crossover votes of Republicans in the new open primaries and the redrawing of district lines, many Democrats are now touting a much more moderate line, which in a way is a win for the GOP.
Things are really going to get complicated in 2015 for the super Democratic consulting firm headed by Ace Smith. The firm represents Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris, as well as former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and a host of other people
The issue will be which of their clients they persuade to run for the Senate seat held by Barbara Boxer if, as expected, she retires at the end of her current term.
And which of their clients they will start grooming to follow Brown when he winds up his fourth term.
Both races will require tens of millions of dollars, which means the work of getting that money together starts now.
My bet is that Smith and company will use the opening of the Boxer seat to clear the deck, with Harris running for the Senate and Newsom running for governor. The only complication would be if Jerry Brown decides he want to run for the Senate, because he would beat everyone.
It appears as if San Francisco no longer has the spirit of Christmas, at least not around City Hall, where for the first time in anyone’s memory there was no tree in the Civic Center. Plaza. The official explanation is that the plaza is under construction.
The reality is that they are only fixing the sidewalks, and there was still plenty of room for a tree.
The Delancey Street Foundation tells me that they went to City Hall twice to offer the city a tree and twice City Hall said “no.”
My bet is that Mayor Ed Lee knew nothing about this rejection.
The Warriors hosted a charity casino night at the St. Regis recently, with a number of players in attendance.
I closed the place down, and Stephen Curry was still there playing blackjack and signing autographs.
It was all smiles and a stark contrast to the crowd reaction at the Balboa Cafe on Dec. 16, when the Warriors ended their 16-game winning streak.
After the Giants’ three World Series victories, this town is getting spoiled with winning.
Sony really kept the movie “The Interview” under wraps. It never even popped up on the black market prior to its limited Christmas release. Ordinarily, movies hit my favorite DVD street vendor at Fillmore and O’Farrell, who usually has every new movie before they hit the theaters.
As for retaliation, I have to assume that the recent disruption of North Korea’s access to the Internet was orchestrated by the good old U.S.A., or at least I hope it was. And I hope history will show that the shutdown was on orders from President Obama to give that regime a taste of what is to come if the telecommunication vandalism of North Korea continues.
The Christmas Eve wrap-up of the annual toy drive at Lefty O’Doul’s was its usual collection of only-in-San Francisco charm.
I got there around 6 a.m. and TV trucks were lined up outside. Inside a trio of absolutely adorable kids were singing carols, while bar patrons, nursing suspicious-looking orange juices, joined in, most off key but all in good spirit.
Somehow I wound up being a human buffer between Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and London Breed, her chief critic on the Board of Supervisors. The two exchanged a “hello” and, thankfully, nothing more.
Thankfully, Police Chief Greg Suhr arrived and I was able to make my escape.
As I walked back out onto Union Square, shoppers were already going into Macy’s, while down the street the homeless were still sleeping in doorways. One guy was slumped over in his wheelchair. A particularly heartwrenching sight.
Poverty right up next to a wealth of abundance that is the envy of the world.
Is this the town’s new “diversity?”
Let’s hope not.