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Why the San Francisco Young Democrats Endorse Mark Leno
By Luke H. Klipp
President
San Francisco Young Democrats
The San Francisco Young Democrats are proud to endorse Mark Leno. Our endorsement comes after SFYD hosted the first debate in the primary campaign between Senator Carole Migden and Assemblyman Mark Leno, with fourteen months still to go in the campaign, and with a record turnout of SFYD members voting to endorse.
For SFYD, the choice is clear. Of all of San Francisco’s - and in many ways, California’s - elected family, Mark Leno has the clearest, most passionate commitment for cultivating and investing in new, young leadership within the Democratic Party. Since his time on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors clear through to today, Mark Leno continues to personally connect with and support countless young people. And Leno’s commitment exceeds that of so many others of San Francisco’s elected family not only for the sheer amount of time he invests but for something that is much more difficult to quantify: his inherent belief in the ability of the next generation to handle the tasks before them.
For SFYD, Leno’s commitment stands in stark contrast to our incumbent Senator Migden, to whom SFYD had reached out over the years, with no response. To her credit, prior to the SFYD endorsement vote, Carole Migden reached out to many SFYD members and spent countless hours on the phone in one-on-one conversations lasting 30-40 minutes each. Her outreach, however, came only after SFYD had decided to pursue an early endorsement in this race and placed itself squarely on her political radar.
On the flip-side, Leno, who has shown a commitment and outreach to young people for years, called on the many SFYD members he already knew and reached out through many of them to other SFYD members that he did not know, understanding that peer-to-peer outreach is critical to winning the support of young people, many of whom are incredibly cynical about politics and yet still idealistic about what our generation may one day accomplish.
And so it was that this vote was a microcosm of the larger dynamic of this nascent primary campaign. On the one hand was Migden working quickly to make up for a disconnect with the next generation of Democratic leadership, and on the other was Leno calling on this next generation to place their faith in him the way he has done countless times in them. And the end result was that Leno’s ongoing engagement with SFYD and development of new, young leadership in the Democratic Party over the years paid dividends. It is the kind of politics that SFYD wants to reward and wants to see honored and supported throughout our political community. And it is the difference between approaching relationships as commodities and approaching relationships as investments.
Young Democrats across the City of San Francisco yearn for opportunities to be engaged and respected in the political process, and we got just such an opportunity when both Migden and Leno agreed to debate at SFYD’s most recent membership meeting. But we have already gotten this opportunity on a regular basis from one person in our elected family for many years, and that person is Mark Leno who, unlike so many others, sees the next generation as his peers in the greater political struggles we all face.
It is for this reason that Mark Leno has the heartfelt gratitude and support of the San Francisco Young Democrats. As he has so often stood with and supported us, so we now stand with and support him as he takes his message of collaborative, relationship-building politics to the voters.
Luke Klipp is the President of the San Francisco Young Democrats. SFYD was founded as the San Francisco Federated Young Democrats by U.S. Rep. Phil Burton and Willie Brown in 1949. With over 400 members, SFYD is the largest chartered young Democratic club in California and the second-largest Democratic club in San Francisco. Past Presidents include Burton and Supervisor Chris Daly.
Comments
The early endorsement process was to help get Leno's campaign off the ground, was it not? I suppose this benefits Mark and it gets Luke's cute photo on the Net. O.K. good for you.
There's nothing wrong with the "sheer amount of time" Mark Leno spends trying to get elected to the Senate, but he won't be able to work effectively as a Senator assuming he even has a chance of breaking through what could end up being a large field of candidates.
I listened to the first ten minutes of that debate. The pro-Leno crowd laughed WITH Migden (when she joked about being the status quo) and laughed AT Leno when he tried to make a joke that went over the heads of the puzzled youngsters.
Mark starts off way behind. Will 14 months be enough time for him to catch up?
Posted by: M Stohl at April 27, 2007 12:40 PM
I'm really sad to see Luke Klipp throw flame onto the fire that will burn bridges that have been built in the Progressive community of San Francisco. While it is tru that the club endorsed Mark Leno, it is also true that he only won the endorsement by very few votes.
I think that Mark Leno and Carole Migden are both great legislators. But the resources and energy that are going to be used up in this race could be put to much better use.
Aren't we as democrats trying to get a Democrat in the White House next year? Now we have two candidates who are very similar on issues fighting for a safe seat. Thanks for the choice, but I would prefer a Democrat in the White House than to have to choose between two Progressives in the same race.
Posted by: Kristy H. at April 30, 2007 04:16 PM
Kristy H: I don't see how a challenge here interferes with the election of a Democrat as President. If it increases the vote in this very Democratic district because of the competition, it will increase the Democratic vote for President.
My suggestion to both sides: Go out and get your vote out. I hope this will be a race for the most votes for both side's candidate and not against the other candidate--but that may be hoping for too much.
Posted by: Frank D. Russo at April 30, 2007 04:29 PM
The 2008 Presidential primary is in February of 2008. The State Senate Primary is in June of 2008. The general presidential election will then be in November of 2008. Both candidates could have used their resources to promote other Democratic candidates on the local, state, and federal level - including the President. Instead, their resources are going to be used to fight for a seat that was securely blue.
Posted by: Kristy H. at May 1, 2007 10:43 AM
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