Ted Lieu's one-man debate on Monday night, hosted by the Asian American Action Fund, was billed as a forum for all attorney general candidates.
But there was another element that may explain why the other candidates stayed away: the straw poll.
After Lieu debated himself for about a half hour, the guests -- an assortment of attorneys and API political hacks -- voted on their favorite candidate. The results are here. Lieu got 54 of 57 votes. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, who had RSVP'd before backing out at the last minute, got 2 votes. San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris (who, by the way, is the favorite) got 1 vote.
In other words, it was a pro-Lieu crowd. From the perspective of Torrico and Assemblyman Pedro Nava, who also RSVP'd before bailing out, it probably looked like an ambush.
What have we learned? That Lieu is capable of a certain amount of organization and guile, I suppose. Whether that will be enough to win this thing... well. It's a long way to June.
But there was another element that may explain why the other candidates stayed away: the straw poll.
After Lieu debated himself for about a half hour, the guests -- an assortment of attorneys and API political hacks -- voted on their favorite candidate. The results are here. Lieu got 54 of 57 votes. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, who had RSVP'd before backing out at the last minute, got 2 votes. San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris (who, by the way, is the favorite) got 1 vote.
In other words, it was a pro-Lieu crowd. From the perspective of Torrico and Assemblyman Pedro Nava, who also RSVP'd before bailing out, it probably looked like an ambush.
What have we learned? That Lieu is capable of a certain amount of organization and guile, I suppose. Whether that will be enough to win this thing... well. It's a long way to June.
Thanks for covering our Town Hall. However, we should make one point clear: AAA-Fund had absolutely no intention to "ambush" any Attorney General candidate.
Assemblymember Ted Lieu was the only AG candidate who was willing to hear from a packed hall of over 100 voters. He thoughtfully addressed some tough issues facing our State:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=EE780E7C626A8518
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3488
The result: Asm. Lieu scored a decisive victory in our straw poll.
Needless to say, we were deeply disappointed that five AG candidates chose not to hear from some of CA’s top leaders, including: Asm. Warren Furutani, former LA Area Chamber of Commerce President Charlie Woo, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, former CA State Bar President Holly Fujie, Hacienda La Puente school leader Jay Chen, and 53rd AD candidate Kate Anderson.
You get credit for showing up.
Gautam Dutta, Esq.
Executive Director
Asian American Action Fund (aaa-fund.org & aaa-fund.com)