Campa-Najjar for Congress; Nader for Judge

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – I remember many years ago when I was a student at UCLA (1962-66), we occasionally would debate which is a better metaphor for the United States: Is our country a “melting pot” or a “chef’s salad?”

The difference is that the former metaphor envisions melting all the individual ingredients together, forming an undifferentiated, homogenous mixture.  On the other hand, a chef’s salad would include various recognizable ingredients, which together would work to make a tasty mixture.  Being a proud Jew, I believed then and now that we all can retain and be proud of our individual heritages, while at the same time contributing in concert with others to the greater whole.

In America, I believe, people of various ethnicities can and should set aside whatever differences may have caused enmities between their forebears in the lands of their heritage.  In other words, here in America, among others, the Irish and the English should be able to be friends, so should the Greeks and the Turks, the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis, the Japanese and the Chinese, and the Arabs and the Jews.  Here we all have a common purpose as Americans.

So, it should not be a surprise that, upholding that principle, San Diego Jewish World today is endorsing two Arab-American candidates for election to important offices.

In the 50^th Congressional District, after much reflection, we have decided to support Ammar Campa-Najjar, the Democratic candidate of Palestinian and Mexican heritage, over the Republican candidate of Lebanese ancestry, former Congressman Darrell Issa.

For the Superior Court, we are happy to support the candidacy of former Chula Vista Mayor and current Southwestern Community College Trustee Tim Nader, who also is a California deputy attorney general.

There was in the Jewish community considerable wariness about Campa-Najjar owing to the fact that his grandfather played a role in the horrible 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.  Just what that role was is a bit murky, but whatever it was we believe in the adage that the “sins of the father shall not be visited upon the son” or in this case the grandson, who was born  16 years after his grandfather’s death.  Campa-Najjar, who was raised by his Mexican-American Christian mother,  has on more than one occasion disassociated himself from his grandfather’s actions and has pledged himself to work for peace in the Middle East.  We believe him.  So too do many other Jews, including the candidate we endorsed in the 53^rd Congressional District, Sara Jacobs, and our current congresswoman in that district, Susan Davis.

Beyond that issue, we are impressed that Campa-Najjar, who lives in Jamul, is intimately familiar with the back-country district and had the courage in 2018 to announce his candidacy against the then sitting Republican Congressman Duncan D. Hunter in the heavily Republican 50^th District, even before Hunter’s conviction for fraudulent misappropriation of campaign funds.  Campa-Najjar fought a close battle against the incumbent, and since then has continued to work in the district, while offering ideas in line with most other Democratic candidates.  He favors action to deal with climate change, believes more must be done to fight the scourge of the coronavirus, and favors a more just immigration system.

Darrell Issa, then based in Vista,  had represented the 49^th Congressional District but after registration numbers there seemed to favor a Democratic candidate, he bailed out and “retired” from Congress, clearing the way for Democrat Mike Levin’s election there  President Trump obligingly nominated Issa to serve as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, but his nomination stalled in the U.S. Senate.  That career course closed to him, Issa decided to jump districts following Hunter’s indictment and try to return to Congress.  One cannot help but conclude that whereas for Campa-Najjar possible service in Congress is a passion, for Issa it is simply a fall-back position.  I believe the East County district would be better served by the candidate who has proven his commitment to the position.

Concerning the judicial race, we are impressed that Howard Wayne, a former state Assemblyman who works with Nader in the state attorney general’s office, has given Nader his enthusiastic endorsement.  Nader faces a fine man in his opponent Paul Starita, who has served honorably in the Marine Corps as an officer and as a judge advocate, and now serves as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  While both men have served as government lawyers, we believe Nader’s added experience as a mayor of Chula Vista and as a trustee of the Southwestern Community College District gives him a broader perspective on the legal issues facing our community.  We are certain that he will be a well-rounded judge, who will be a credit to the bench.

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