What if you invited six of your friends to a dinner party and only one of them came?
AAA-Fund’s “Meet the CA Attorney General Candidates” Town Hall caused quite a stir — triggering stories in both the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Daily Breeze. Earlier, three of the six candidates had rsvp’d for our Town Hall, the first 2010 Attorney General forum to be held in Southern California.
But at last minute, Alberto Torrico and Pedro Nava bailed out — leaving Assemblymember Ted Lieu to address an overflow audience of over 100 leaders.
Asian Americans make up one-seventh of CA’s population, and they voted in record numbers in 2008. In that vein, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune picked up on a question I raised at the Town Hall:
The organization’s executive director Gautam Dutta repeatedly blasted the absent candidates and called the turnout “insulting.”
“What does this say about people’s regard for the Asian-American community? It is not a priority for any of the other candidates to show up. That speaks for itself,” Dutta told the crowd of 100.
We were deeply disappointed that five AG candidates chose not to hear from an overflow crowd of CA’s top leaders, including: Assemblymember Warren Furutani, former LA Area Chamber of Commerce President Charlie Woo, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, former CA State Bar President Holly Fujie, Hacienda La Puente school leader Jay Chen, Hermosa Beach school leader Ray Waters, and Assembly candidate Kate Anderson (53rd District).
Far from an “ambush” or “trap“, our Town Hall provided a valuable forum to discuss some weighty issues: the foreclosure crisis, protecting the environment, Instant Runoff Voting, the need for banking reform, and the importance of diversity in the judiciary.
Asm. Ted Lieu was the only Attorney General candidate who was willing to brave a packed hall of over 100 voters. The result: he scored a decisive victory in our straw poll.
Word to the wise: you get credit for showing up.
– Gautam Dutta
