Lavender and Yellow
November 19, 2008
There’s been a debate about the tactics of the anti-Proposition 8 campaign; some felt it did not put a human face to LGBT nuptials. If voters in heavily Asian American precincts had seen the 2004 marriage of former Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club co-chairwoman Esther Lee and realtor Lisa Chun, with eyewitnesses like then-Supervisor Fiona Ma shedding tears of joy, would that have changed their mind? Or would their two-year old son, Christopher Chun, change some hearts? A few San Franciscans were surprised by the 25 percent of S.F. voters who opposed same-sex marriages. Some of the opposition came from heavily Chinese American communities in Chinatown, Visitacion Valley, Sunset and the Outer Richmond and Filipino American enclaves of SOMA and Excelsior. They voted to overturn this year’s state Supreme Court decision legalizing the marriages. Given such strong opposition, APA elected and newly elected officials will have to step up to the plate for same-sex marriage and show the same courage as Assessor-Recorder Mabel Teng and former Deputy Assessor-Recorder Ron Chun. Teng acted on Mayor Gavin Newsom’s 2004 executive order to issue same-sex marriage licenses, while Ron Chun had moved under Teng’s predecessor, Doris Ward, to give domestic partners the same property tax exemptions enjoyed by straight spouses in 2002. Teng and Chun’s stances risked their political futures with APA constituencies, some of whom supported Prop 8 on Nov. 4… HYPOCRISY RHYMES WITH S.F. DEMOCRACY: While there’s a debate about boycotting Utah commerce because of Mormon financing of the pro-8 campaign, leadership also starts at home. City and community leaders have not readily condemned APAs espousing anti-gay religious viewpoints, as in the case of Supervisor candidate and Cantonese radio commentator Rose Tsai in 2004. None of the candidates, including incumbent Jake McGoldrick, called her on it during one 2004 San Francisco District 1 Supervisor candidate forum. Instead, current S.F. Democratic Party county committee member McGoldrick played political footsy with Tsai to win election against a challenge by retired Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing… Even McGoldrick’s county committee colleague, “progressive” Supervisor-elect David Chiu, must demonstrate leadership to his overwhelmingly anti-Prop 8 Chinatown constituents, who likely supported him. Chiu could start by divesting his company stock in Grassroots Enterprise or publicly repudiating viewpoints of company colleagues who once led pro-Prop 8 organizations like the Christian Coalition and Family Research Council. He has expressed misgivings about his company’s dealings…
ODD IS GOOD: With the Nov. 4 defeat of San Fran’s Proposition F, the mayor’s race won’t be moved from 2015 to 2016. That lower-turnout year keeps in play the moderating clout of APA voters, who have delivered victories in hotly contested mayoral races for Frank Jordan in 1991, Willie Brown in 1999 and Gavin Newsom in 2003. In a presidential election year, APA voter clout could be offset by high turnouts: At least 78 percent of S.F. voters came out on Nov. 4, but in the November 2007 mayoral race, only 35 percent turned out…
LOTUS FLOWER IN FULL BLOSSOM: San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Devi Harris might not be around for 2011 given that she’s biding for California Attorney General in 2010. The second term DA - whose name is translated in Hindi as “lotus flower in full blossom” - could provide an interesting off-year test of President-elect Barack Obama’s strength in advance of his own re-election for 2012 and his ability to hold California, which comprises one-fifth of electoral votes to win the White House…. The 1994 election was a disaster for Democratic President Bill Clinton, with Republicans holding the House and Senate after Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America”…Harris will want to shed being tagged as a “San Francisco liberal,” which was trumped by her predecessor DA Terence Hallinan’s badge of honor, - “America’s most progressive DA” - for his stances on medical marijuana, prostitution and alternatives to traditional prosecution. Early in her term, she opposed capital punishment for the slayer of a police officer. However in this last election, the DA strongly opposed decriminalization of prostitution. If Harris - an early Obama supporter and friend - wins in 2010, her victory and Controller John Chiang’s re-election would leave the state with an unprecedented two APAs in state constitutional offices. Further, Harris’ victory would ratify the 2008 Obama victory as a once-in-a-generation political realignment and signal a further decline of a conservative era. It had started with Ronald Reagan as governor of California in 1967 and then as president in 1981 with deregulation and social and fiscal conservatism that even punctuated 8 years of the Clinton Democratic presidency and 12 years of Republican Bushes in the White House…
GIANT KILLERS: With Newsom terming out in 2011 and running for governor, the window opens up for APAs like State Senator Leland Yee, who could flex some mayoral muscle in 2010 when he runs for re-election, or Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who’s up for re-election in the same year. Both have been political giant-killers. Yee bested the Willie Brown “machine” candidates in 2000 by winning re-election to supervisor. Adachi overthrew Brown-appointed Public Defender Kimiko Burton - daughter of John Burton and scion of the Burton “machine”….And then there’s a Burton political scion - Fiona Ma who whipped Janet Reilly for Assembly - wife of Clint, a millionaire and pioneer of the political consulting industry, although, Ma’s future is more statewide….
WEAK MAR WIN? While school board member Eric Mar may have edged Chinese Historical Society of America Director Sue Lee for county supervisor in District 1 (Richmond), his slim one percentage point or few hundred votes margin under ranked-choice voting isn’t a mandate for the instructor of Asian American and ethnic studies at San Francisco State University. Lee, after a credible first-time run against the veteran campaigner, is a threat to challenge Mar again in November 2012…HORSE FOLLOWS HORSE? Further, Mar’s relatively weak win for supervisor isn’t a strong card to build a case for succeeding Assembly Majority Whip Fiona Ma who terms out in 2012. Whether it’s succeeding Ma (whose Chinese surname translates to “horse”) or staving off a Lee challenge, Mar (also surnamed “horse”) will have to build a strong legislative record…To compare, cases for a Ma succession could be made for Board of Equalization member Betty Yee, a former legislative analyst who could follow the political path of her mentor and former equalization member and former State Senator Carole Migden. Another candidate is Supervisor Carmen Chu, who won in her own first run a four-year term with a convincing 17 percent margin over businessman and perennial candidate Ron Dudum. She could follow Ma, who made the jump from Supervisor to Assembly in 2006….
NOT FAVORITE DAUGHTER: One interesting non-endorsement was the Chinese American Democratic Club staying neutral in the District 4 (Sunset) race that Chu won. Given that former supervisor Ed Jew was CADC’s favorite son, that’s understandable, given some sentiment among a few CADC-ites that the florist was railroaded into resigning by a legal pile-on by the feds, District Attorney Kamala Harris, City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Mayor Gavin Newsom, who eventually appointed Chu after suspending Jew. However, the club - long an advocate for Asian American Contractor Association interests - nearly endorsed Ron Dudum, who was ironically opposed to the club and contractor requisite rice bowl stances on project labor agreements and Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement policies…
Reach Samson Wong at (415) 321-5886 or swong@asianweek.com.
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FYI: Board of Equalization Members Judy Chu, Betty Yee and Michelle Steel are considered State Constitutional Officers.