GAY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE BASHED BY... DEMOCRATS ?!?!?!!!!?

Look, I want to help anybody who's sincere about fighting fascism and a couple years ago I met a Democrat running for congress just north of here (L.A.-adjacent) in Ventura/Santa Barbara, Brett Wagner. Brett was taking on entrenched right-wing extremist Elton Gallegly. The district, CD-24, gets more Democratic by the day but it is still basically a moderate suburban GOP-leaning area (like the northern Virginia districts that turned out for Tim Kaine Tuesday and made him governor of that state). Elton Gallegly is far more of a right-wing nincompoop that Kaine's opponent was; Gallegly's hardcore, down-the-line far right record is completely inappropriate for the district and Wagner has been chipping away over the past 3 years and is poised to take away a district that the DCCC doesn't even know is competitive.

Brett is a national security policy expert (and former Clinton nuclear disarmament operative). He teaches at the Naval War College. If he's elected he'll be one of the more progressive congressmen in the state. (The first thing I remember reading about him was how he was driving around the district meeting voters with Joni Mitchell CDs in his player. And the first time I met him in person was at a Democratic pep rally the Goo Goo Dolls played at.)

Over the past couple of months I've watched the local Democratic Establishment in Ventura try to shoulder Brett aside. 2006 is going to be a Democratic year. There's a good chance that whoever runs against a loon like Gallegly next year is gonna win. The local party bosses want to make sure it's one of their own creatures. I've been thinking about writing about this situation for at least a month but today I got a "Dear Friend" e-mail from Brett that explains the whole situation really well.

You've read the headlines in our local newspapers and the national
media, such as "California candidate told to get out of race because
he's gay" (Associated Press). In fact, our campaign has been in the
national spotlight for the past several weeks, including an article in
the upcoming issue of The Advocate.

Well, now it's time for me to share "the rest of the story" --

By now just about everyone knows, from May through September, I
received a series of insulting, threatening, and sometimes virulently
homophobic emails from a small group of self-appointed local Democratic
"kingmakers" who have been trying to force me to stop running for
Congress in order to clear the way for a "born-again" candidate who
compares homosexuality to a disease.

What many people still don't know, however, is that last August –
shortly after receiving a particularly threatening email that included
an arbitrary deadline for me to begin complying with this group's
wishes – I was the victim of an unprovoked attack, in broad daylight,
walking through the parking lot of a major Democratic fundraising event
in Santa Barbara.

I was struck in the forehead, resulting in a nasty head wound and a
loss of memory. Several people saw me immediately afterwards walking
covered in blood and noticeably dazed. As you might imagine, I suspect
there may be a link between this incident and the threats I had been
receiving.

Our campaign filed a formal request with the California Democratic
Party for an official investigation, and I'm very pleased to report
that the investigation has now begun. Our campaign has promised to
cooperate fully with this investigation. I am confident that our state
party will get to the bottom of all this, and restore a sense of
justice, tolerance and fairness in our local party.


"Why is all this happening now," you might ask, "when our party should
be redoubling our efforts to pull together?" While the timing does seem
odd, the motivations are clear:

During my first bid for U.S. Congress as the 2004 Democratic Nominee,
our campaign built the largest field operation for a legislative race our
area has seen in quite a while (more than 800 active volunteers, more than
40,000 phone calls, virtually every precinct walked. . .) all inspired by
a candidate who touched people's hearts by challenging them to "unleash
the dreams that are in your hearts, and unleash the love that's in your
hearts that can make those dreams come true – it's time to dream again
America, it's time to dream again."

Unfortunately, not everyone in our party believes in the power of the
"American Dream". That small group of "kingmakers" from the darker
corners of our local party apparently thinks that if they can force me out
of this race, they can simply steal our field operation and hand it over
to the candidate of their choosing.

Well, you know what? I'm not going to let anyone force me out of this
race. I will never walk away from our thousands of loyal supporters who
gave their time and money to build something from the bottom up. The
balance of power is beginning to shift in our area, and we have a real
opportunity to build a winning campaign for future elections.

The rest is a request for financial help. I'll spare you the whole schpiel but I recommend
you consider making a donation to Brett if you can by going to his campaign website or by
writing a check and sending it to:

BRETT WAGNER FOR CONGRESS
John Applegate Consulting
1901 Ave. of the Stars, Suite 1025
Los Angeles, CA 90069

I'll keep you up to date on this situation as it develops.