Will Israel be a factor in S.D. Mayor’s race?

SAN DIEGO – Liam Dillon, who is distinguishing himself as a political reporter for the Voice of San Diego, has reported that Democratic County Chairman Jess Durfee has threatened to oppose any Democrat running for office who has endorsed a Republican candidate against a Democrat in a non-partisan race.

To be more specific: Democratic elected officials who are lining up behind Republican District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis against Democratic Congressman Bob Filner for mayor of San Diego shouldn’t expect any support from the Democratic party in their future races.

This is not a serious threat.

First, the Democratic County Central Committee is notoriously weak.  It is more likely to ask for funds than to provide serious help in raising them. So anyone who can help raise money for Democrats will be forgiven, whatever their past “sins.”   If such Dumanis supporters in the Jewish community as former Congresswoman Lynn Schenk or philanthropists Murray and Elaine Galinson ever take leave of their senses and decide to run for public office, local Democrats would be likely to get in line to support them.  Far more than rigorous party loyalty or ideological purity in local non-partisan contests, Democrats want to win partisan elections at the state and national levels.

Second, there is something anti-democratic about Democrats telling people whom they can support.  Being a Democrat is a voluntary act, accomplished simply by checking that party’s box, rather than another one’s, on the voter registration form.

It is just as easy—and to some a lot more appealing – to check “decline to state” on that form.   By trying to impose party discipline in non-partisan races, Durfee risks driving nominal Democrats, of which there are many, into the ranks of such “independents.”

As we’ve reported before, the “bad blood” between Filner and Schenk goes back two decades when they were freshmen in Congress together.  Filner won reelection, Schenk, serving a neighboring district,  did not.  Since that time, they have made no secret of their distaste for each other.  By what justification should Schenk (or anyone else) be required to support someone whom she so dislikes?   Perhaps with that question in mind, Galinson told the VOSD that although he has supported Filner in the past, he believes Filner’s “personality” may make him a less able mayor than Dumanis would be.

In the Jewish community, some people may weigh the candidates’ respective stands on Israel, when considering a choice between their fellow Jews, Filner and Dumanis.   Although the San Diego mayor’s office is far from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is ever present in the minds of Jewish voters.  It may not be a first priority in choosing a mayor, but for the Zionists among us, it can indeed be a factor.   Filner put a lot of his fellow Jews on guard in November 2009 when he was the only Jewish member of Congress not to vote in favor of a resolution condemning the now discredited Goldstone report.   In January, 2010, he was among 54 Democrats signing a letter criticizing Israel’s blockade of Gaza – an issue that is now back in the news.

In the never ending worldwide propaganda battle being waged by anti-Israel activists to delegitimize the Jewish state, what a mayor believes about Israel can be quite important. In other cities around the world we have seen municipal
officials embrace pro-Palestinian calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel.   Where would Filner or Dumanis put the weight of the mayor’s office if such efforts were begun in San Diego?  We already have seen strong anti-Israel efforts on the UCSD campus, where there was an organized heckling effort to prevent Israel’s ambassador Michael Oren, from speaking, so such a question is not beyond the realm of possibility.

While Jews are unlikely to try to “discipline” Filner the way that Durfee would like to discipline straying Democrats, there are some who are more than happy to cast a vote for another Jew, who has never been associated with anything other than mainstream Jewish thought about Israel—that the United States should continue to support its one democratic ally in the Middle East while resisting Hamas, Hezbollah and other international terrorist groups aligned with Syria and Iran against Israel.

In an interesting side note, VOA reporter Dillon put to Dumanis a hypothetical question. As district attorney what would she do if one of her opponents in the race for mayor were arrested for a crime – perhaps, driving under the influence of alcohol?  Would she prosecute that person?  Dumanis responded that she would refer the case to the state attorney general’s office, and if it appeared that it had merit, would have it assigned to someone in the DA’s office and then recuse herself from decision making in the case.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com