Dear Rob,
I just got *yet another* campaign mailer maligning your opponent, Abel Guillen. This is the /twelfth/ mailer I get that supports you. It’s the second that’s negative towards Abel. The first one was put out by an independent committee, but this one comes straight out of your campaign.
Really, Rob? Did you need to do that? Sure, Abel sent a negative mailer against you (and a pretty good one), but it was one of just two mailers we got supporting him. We got twelve supporting you! All pretty much repeating the same platitudes (would it be so hard to actually share your platform or any concrete proposal in /one/ of your mailers? I know your parents worked with César Chávez and that you are in favor of education, what else do you have to offer?), this one also attacks Abel.
Look, Rob, you are going to win. All the money you spent, coupled with the hundreds of thousands of dollars PACs have spent on your behalf, will make sure you do. And I think you will do a good job, even though all that money indebts you to so many special interest groups. You are smart, you understand the issues and how to approach them, you are a careful thinker and I think you have solid Democratic values. That’s why I endorsed you a year ago, and kept my endorsement even though now I support Abel. I also think you are ethical – though beware that politics threatens everyone’s moral core. I think you will become one of the stars of the Democratic Party. I look forward to seeing you in that role
Your bright political future is even more of a reason to refrain from attacking Abel. At this point in the race, with 12 mailers for you versus 2 for him, why the need to be petty? Why create enemies and leave a sour taste in the mouths of voters? Don’t we have enough acrimony in the Presidential race? And did you forget the campaign maxim that you attack when you think you’ll lose, and you are graceful when you think you’ll win? Don’t you think you’ll win?
And Rob, one last thing. Twelve mailers is way too much. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars have you and your supporters spent on them? You talk about being all for education, but why not just send 6 (still 3 times more than Guillen), and give the rest of the money to the schools? Here, in San Leandro, we could afford to keep our music and arts program for at least a year with that money.
Thanks for reading,
Margarita Lacabe
This letter has also been posted on Rob Bonta’s Facebook page