Upcoming Meeting
—by Tim Dixon
Join us for our hybrid (In-person and Zoom), club meeting which will be held at the Peninsula Center Library, 701 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates, California, 90274 on January 19, 2024. Our meeting starts at 2:30 pm but join us at 2:00 pm to chat with other Democrats.
Our first meeting of the new year will feature an expert panel that will discuss the topic, “Reproductive rights in the new administration.”
Joining us on the panel will be Sylvia Castillo, who is the Executive Director of the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom. Ms. Castillo became executive director in 2024 after serving for nearly 10 years as a coalition member and 6 years on the Executive Advisory Committee. She is a seasoned leader and a champion for reproductive health, rights, and justice, with more than a decade of experience in coalition building.
A native of Los Angeles, she received her Bachelor of Arts in History and Latin American Studies from UCLA and attended the University of San Francisco Public Affairs graduate program.
We are also pleased to have Minouche Kandel on our panel. Ms. Kandel is a Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Southern California specializing in the LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project. Ms. Kandel has been published in the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism and is a recipient of the 2008 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (Public Interest Law category), and the Daily Journal's 2009 Top 100 Lawyers in California. Ms. Kandel received her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
In addition to Ms. Castillo and Ms. Kandel, we have invited 2 other experts in the reproductive health field to join us on the panel.
For more information, or to register to attend our meeting, click here.
President's Report
—by Robert Wynne
There's been no shortage of analysis, explanations and mea culpas since the November elections. The popular narratives - Kamala Harris was a bad candidate, the Democrats failed to take credit for low unemployment and falling inflation, voters needed "more time" to understand Harris' economic policy, immigration and crime were "out of control" - are all wrong.
The real reason the Democrats lost? Maybe it was too much reaching out. Too many commercials, press conferences, policy positions, promises and messaging were wasted on "undecided" voters who were never going to abandon their tribe.
Here are the groups Democrats spent millions of dollars begging to give them their vote:
Union workers willing to lose their jobs and pensions for a candidate who promised to fire them if they went on strike.
College students who were happy to give up hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan forgiveness.
Women voting to lose their reproductive rights for themselves, their daughters or granddaughters.
Minorities who forgot about Trump's Muslim travel ban the last time he was president, and don't care about his promises to deport millions of nonwhite people.
Minorities who admired his "tough guy" image who were called criminals, thugs and garbage by Trump.
Poorly informed Red State voters prepared to give up their Social Security and Medicare to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
These are emotional responses. Fact-based arguments rarely work to counter psychological preferences. The mainstream media narrative about the Democrats' need to convince millions of voters willing to vote against their own health, rights and economic interests was just as successful as Aaron Rodgers’ stint with the New York Jets, the business plans of Enron and MySpace, or the fortunes of Trump's many casinos that went bankrupt.
Instead of crossing the aisle towards the unreachable, the Democrats should have shored up their sizable base. Don’t reach out - Reach in. Energize the base. Palos Verdes is a great example of reaching in. In our area, the SOS measure to fund our much-needed school repairs passed. Both democratic school board members won, as did two blue city council members in Rancho Palos Verdes and Palos Verdes Estates.
This year we will "Reach In" towards our local citizens with more events designed to educate, inform and connect with local Democrats on the hill. Stay tuned for more information on how you can become involved with the Palos Verdes Democrats and meet local, state and national Democrats. The Resistance is just beginning.
November 2024 Club Meeting Report
—by Tim Dixon
On Sunday. November 17, 2024, the Palos Verdes Democrats held their monthly meeting at the Peninsula Center Library and via zoom. The attendance at the meeting was good even after the presidential election results, which were very disappointing. Fortunately, locally we passed Measure SOS which will allow the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District to issue $297,800,000 in bonds with bond revenue going to fund school improvements. In addition, many local Democratic officials that our club members supported, canvassed and phone-banked for won their races.
The November meeting focused on what happened in the election, both nationally and locally, and provided some guidance on what is likely to occur in the future.
First, we heard from Distinguished Professor of History Allan Lichtman from American University via Zoom. Professor Lichtman, who received his PhD from Harvard University, is known for accurately predicting presidential elections and he had correctly predicted 9 out of the past 10 presidential elections dating back to 1984. Professor Lichtman had predicted that Kamala Harris would win the presidential election. Professor Lichtman provided insight as to why he believed Vice President Harris lost the election and what it means for our democracy. Dr. Lichtman also analyzed what the Democratic party should do in the future, namely better messaging, and communication to the electorate. Professor Lichtman also took several questions from members in attendance.
Next, two recently elected local Democrats attended the meeting and participated in a panel discussion concerning the election and local issues. Rancho Palos Verdes City Councilman George Lewis and Derek Lazzaro, Palos Verdes Estates City Councilman joined us for this discussion and provided valuable insight on the election and the important issues that need to be addressed on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The council members also answered several questions from the members present.
Our final guests featured students from UCLA Democrats and Loyola Marymount Democrats. These young democrats from their college Democratic clubs provided their reaction to the national election results, insights on outreach to young people and shared their views of what is next for our country. Hearing from young democrats was very insightful.
From the Activism Chair
—by Caryl Schwartz
Democrats didn’t lose, America lost. In my opinion the influx of 257 million from Elon Musk got Trump over the finish line. The reality is Right- Wing media controls the majority of news that many Americans are consuming via television, newspapers, radio, podcasts and social media.
The election results were not what we wanted, but thanks to many of your efforts, Activism did produce some down ballot successes. We flipped CA 27 from MAGA Mike Garcia’s seat to George Whiteside; State Senator Dave Min won in CA 47; CA 45 Derek Tran flipped Michele Steel’s seat. Adam Gray flipped his seat from Republican John Duarte. The canvassing, phone banking and distribution of hang tags done by volunteers from PV Dems made a difference. Ami Gandhi and Eric Alegria won the two open PVPUSD board seats and George Lewis was elected to RPV City Council.
Kamala did not win North Carolina, but Democrat Josh Stein won as Governor and Democrats won statehouse races that kept the Republicans one seat short of a Super Majority, so Governor Stein will have veto power as a tool. Donating to North Carolina State Democratic Committee is crucial with the GOP attempts to reverse Justice Allison Riggs’ State Supreme Court victory by throwing out 60,000 votes.
Other state level successes include Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump won a narrow victory in the swing states. We had hoped to see a national rejection; instead, Trump made gains. But this win is not a mandate, and it’s not a durable coalition. It’s important in 2025 that we get involved in the Congressional special elections for those 3 seats vacated by Trump’s appointments.
The Club’s Activism in 2025 will include Governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey. Abigail Spanberger, currently representing VA 7 is a superlative Democratic candidate. I recommend those that can afford to please donate to her campaign. Concurrently Virgina State Senate and General Assembly races are Nov. 2025.
The next 20 months are critical, don’t surrender your power preemptively or ‘obey in advance’ (per Tim Snyder). Unfortunately, legacy and social media has capitulated and kissing the ring of the “Don”. I am now supporting and receiving news from The Guardian, The Atlantic and Democracy Docket. It is important to write and/or call our Senators Adam Schiff (202 224 3841) and Alex Padilla (202 224 3553) to oppose nominations of Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, JFK and other unfit Trump Cabinet nominees. More valuable is convincing your like-minded friends and family in RED states the importance of contacting their Senators about the unqualified nominees for Cabinet positions. Use your influence and voice.
Joe Biden appointed 235 Federal Judges, one more than Trump did in his prior Presidency. Biden implemented some policies that will delay or defeat efforts to undo his accomplishments. Two California state parks, Chuckwalla and Satittla (in Northern CA.) are now National Monument Parks. Chuckwalla expands Joshua Tree Park east almost to Colorado River and protects fragile eco-systems and imperiled wildlife.
Trump transition team delayed for months following protocols to sign the 3 required formal agreements with the White House and Justice Department to allow the FBI to screen his personal choices, both for the process of obtaining security clearances and meeting the Senate’s nominations. The Senate has traditionally required three things before moving forward with confirmation hearings: an FBI background investigation, an ethics agreement with the Office of Government Ethics, and responses to a detailed questionnaire. We need as much information made public, maybe unlikely in a considerly reduced timeline so that unfit nominees are withdrawn or their nominations withheld. I reiterate reach out to friends in RED states to call their Senators to voice their disapproval of nominees’ qualifications.
Notes from the LACDP November Meeting
—by Jon Munoz
The LACDP meeting was held on Tuesday November 12th. The meeting was short and served as a recap of the election – both national and local. A number of speeches stressed the need for continued and increased engagement in the face of a likely hostile administration. It was noted that 70% of LACDP candidates won their races. A summary was given of the LACDP Legislative Committee work in 2024. A total of 39 bills were supported by the LACDP. Of those bills 19 were sent to the Governor’s office, 15 of which were signed into law, 4 of them vetoed.
The 15 bills signed into law are AB-1779, AB-1802, AB-1825, AB-1836, AB-1955, AB-1960 AB-1972, AB-1986, AB-2013, AB-2240, AB-2602, AB-2711, AB-2943 AB-3209, SB-233.
The 4 bills vetoed by the Governor are AB-2263, AB-2288, AB-3048, SB-1374.
The next LACDP meeting will be held January 14th.