{"id":6292,"date":"2017-09-28T17:31:10","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T00:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=6292"},"modified":"2017-09-28T17:35:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T00:35:14","slug":"pelosi-feinstein-facing-challengers-amid-protests-left-joe-garofoli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/09\/28\/pelosi-feinstein-facing-challengers-amid-protests-left-joe-garofoli\/","title":{"rendered":"“Pelosi, Feinstein facing challengers amid protests from their left” by Joe Garofoli"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Stephen Jaffe, seeking Nancy Pelosi\u2019s congressional seat, speaks at the Alameda Elks\u2019 Lodge.<\/em><\/p>\n

September 21, 2017 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a good time to be Nancy Pelosi or Dianne Feinstein. After a combined six-plus decades in Washington, they have become \u201cthe Man,\u201d at least to a growing number of progressives who see them as embodiments of a Democratic Party taken over by \u201ccorporatists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start with how immigration rights activists\u00a0shouted Pelosi off the stage and called her a \u201cliar\u201d<\/a>\u00a0at her own manicured press conference in San Francisco this week, saying she isn\u2019t liberal enough on immigration.<\/p>\n

Feinstein\u2019s star is even more tarnished after\u00a0saying President Trump still had the potential to be a good president<\/a>, causing progressives to rip her for being less than California-grade resistant to Trump. When the\u00a0Berkeley IGS Poll<\/a>\u00a0last week asked California voters if they would back Feinstein for re-election next year, they responded with a rousing, \u201cmeh.\u201d Only 45 percent wanted six more years of DiFi. More alarming for Feinstein: Only 30 percent of those under 30 would vote for her.<\/p>\n

So what are the alternatives? Who is stepping up to take on\u00a0two of the wealthiest members<\/a>\u00a0of Congress, women with near-100 percent name recognition?<\/p>\n

There is only one place to go to get answers to tough political questions like this: the Elks Club in Alameda.<\/p>\n

On a recent evening there, the Alameda Democratic Club hosted a\u00a0Progressive Candidate Night<\/a>. The fact that a Bay Area Democratic club held a candidates night solely devoted to progressives more than a year before the next election, and that 100 people showed up on a Wednesday night, tells you something.<\/p>\n

It tells you that voters are mad. Not just at Trump but at a system they see as failing them and at the people who have been in power for decades \u2014 no matter who they are or what they\u2019ve accomplished. Voters, particularly those Sen. Bernie Sanders inspired to get involved \u2014 are mad. And they\u2019re taking it out on the Man.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

So at the Elks Club, the revolution was fomenting. Or maybe that was the sound of the pretzels in my stomach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am running for U.S. Senate as a working-class representative for the people,\u201d\u00a0David Hildebrand<\/a>, a 39-year-old policy analyst who lives in Sacramento, told the audience. He also pointed out that he\u2019s been unemployed at times and paid his way through college over nearly a decade while working multiple jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not interested in corporations, their money and what they think,\u201d Hildebrand said. \u201cI am a Democratic socialist.\u201d<\/p>\n

So is Sanders. Hildebrand volunteered on his presidential campaign last year, and just like Bernie, Hildebrand promised not to accept \u201ccorporate money.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the candidates at the forum pledged to do the same. Democrats often tout themselves as the party of working people, but a lot of their money comes from a different source. Senate and House candidates raised nearly $47 million in the 2016 campaign cycle from Wall Street interests. That\u2019s more than the $44 million they received from labor union PACs and officials,\u00a0according to FactCheck.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And arguably the greatest political fundraiser on the planet not named Barack Obama is Pelosi. Through the end of last year, Pelosi had raised $567.9 million since entering House leadership in 2002 \u2014 $141 million in the last election cycle.<\/p>\n

For perspective, Hildebrand\u00a0raised $4,260 through June 30<\/a>, according to campaign finance filings, which is what Feinstein likely spends on scarves during an election cycle.\u00a0Stephen Jaffe<\/a>, who is challenging Pelosi,\u00a0has raised $46,722.69<\/a>. And we include the cents only to give his totals a couple of more digits.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

That money discrepancy is part of the problem for Jaffe, a San Francisco employment lawyer and Sanders acolyte. The first presidential campaign Jaffe remembers was Eisenhower versus Stevenson in 1952. Since then, no candidate has inspired him like Sanders.<\/p>\n

After the Vermont independent lost last year\u2019s Democratic primary battle against Hillary Clinton, Jaffe started thinking about what he could do to carry on the senator\u2019s work. So he decided to run for Congress against arguably the most powerful Democrat in the country. Doesn\u2019t matter that he\u2019s never run or held office before \u2014 this was about taking a stand against a party gone wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here because we are the true believers. We represent the fundamental core values of the Democratic Party,\u201d Jaffe told the Alameda audience. \u201cI do not adhere to the politics and programs and practices of the people presently in control of the Democratic Party. They are centrists. They are corporatists. And they are elitists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Elks Club filled with applause.<\/p>\n

Then Jaffe explained why he was in Alameda on a Wednesday night when the district he wants to represent is across the bay in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my election, with the risk of some immodesty, is the most important Congressional election in the United States,\u201d Jaffe said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not because of me \u2026 because no one knows who I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because of who my opponent is,\u201d Jaffe said. \u201cMy opponent represents the very corporate elitist Democrats who people want to remove.\u201d<\/p>\n

One subject that ticks off progressives about Pelosi and Feinstein is how they haven\u2019t supported the \u201cMedicare for All\u201d health care system that Sanders has proposed in the Senate and will be talking about when he visits San Francisco on Friday.<\/p>\n

The two elected officials do offer a defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now I\u2019m protecting the Affordable Care Act,\u201d\u00a0Pelosi told reporters last week<\/a>, after Sanders launched his proposal. \u201cNone of these things, whether it\u2019s Bernie\u2019s or others, can really prevail unless we protect the Affordable Care Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feinstein said she is waiting<\/a>\u00a0to see how much Sanders\u2019 proposal costs before weighing in.<\/p>\n

But c\u2019mon. Aren\u2019t the two who hope to become elected officials tilting at the biggest of Democratic windmills? What kind of prayer do two unknowns with little cash and less name recognition have in taking on two titans of the left?<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Jaffe and Hildebrand told me they are playing to win. But there\u2019s another reason to run.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cIf I can finish a strong second in the primary and take her on one-on-one in the general election, that is going to send a ripple effect across the country to my fellow progressives,\u201d Jaffe said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to encourage everybody supporting every progressive: \u2018Well, Jaffe is out there and it looks like he\u2019s going to take down Pelosi.\u2019 That sends a great message out there for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u201d includes Pelosi and Feinstein. The question is, will they hear the message?<\/p>\n

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle\u2019s senior political writer. Email:\u00a0jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com<\/a>\u00a0Twitter:\u00a0@joegarofoli<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Garofoli<\/a><\/h2>\n

Senior Political Writer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Jaffe, seeking Nancy Pelosi\u2019s congressional seat, speaks at the Alameda Elks\u2019 Lodge. September 21, 2017 (SFChronicle.com) It\u2019s not a good time to be Nancy Pelosi or Dianne Feinstein. After a combined six-plus decades in Washington, they have become \u201cthe Man,\u201d at least to a growing number of progressives who… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6292"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6295,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6292\/revisions\/6295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}