I spoke for almost 2 hours yesterday to a largely Republican audience at a Meet & Greet in Valencia. The Honorable Christy Smith, President of the Newhall School Board District, was our special guest and gave a rousing introduction I'll post in a separate thread. It was a good exchange with lots of Q&A, and I walked away with an even greater appreciation for what impacts families, livelihoods and quality of life in Santa Clarita Valley. It ranged from water, transportation and education to the virtues of good government, political moderation and legislative effectiveness.
I reiterated what I told the DAA - Santa Clarita Thursday night when I picked up their endorsement: that Keith Richman and Cameron Smyth were good men who represent(ed) us well but ran up against the limits of being in the minority party in Sacramento. This was also an overriding theme of the KHTS AM-1220 7th Annual Sacramento Road Trip I took with 80+ SCV leaders earlier in the week. The frustration of Assemblymembers Don Wagner and Brian Jones was palpable as they talked about how even a good idea fell on deaf ears because they couldn't move it through the Legislature.
As the only moderate in a race with three right-wing conservatives, I wonder just how effective or relevant any of them would truly be. They can talk about continuing the "tradition of reaching across party lines on issues where there's agreement." But when you're much further to the right of Smyth and the late Dr. Richman, how much influence are you really going to have?
I hope you will join me in getting California "Heading in the Right Direction." You can go to www.Edward2012.com for more information about the race, my endorsements, upcoming events and the like. Below is a photo from the Meet & Greet at the Bennetts and an excerpt from a recent Parker column that resonated with me:
"Moderation isn’t an endpoint or even a center point, necessarily. Rather than a template, it is an approach, a tone, a cock of the head, an open mind, a willing ear, an unjaundiced eye. A moderate wonders what other facts might be brought to bear. A moderate figures we’re in this together and believes that a meeting of minds is not tantamount to surrender."
Source: Parker, Kathleen. "American Id-eology," Washington Post. 3/23/12.
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