So here I am last week, sitting in a local Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon.
At the end of the meeting the President says that he has one more announcement.
"This will be an opportunity for you to meet Republican presidential candidate..."A moderate chorus of "boos" rose up in the crowd, countered by a few brownshirts across the room saying "SHUT UP!"
"...MITT ROMNEY..."Now the boos got louder, and so did the brownshirts. Noticeable tension in the room.
The Chamber positioned it as "an informational event."
I kind of see it as "separation of church & state"...I'm offended by the notion of paying yearly Chamber dues that are used to schedule GOP infomercials.
Granted, they could have had representation from Democratic and Independent candidates for a more balanced "information evening," but Mitt?
The San Jose Chamber is one of two Silicon Valley Chambers that's participating in this. Apparently they didn't learn their lesson when they were handed their ass by Cindy Chavez
(see below).
What do you think?
Note: I've met Pat Dando, pictured below, at Chamber events. She's very charming.
:sarcasm:
When she wanted to get the crowd's attention so she could speak she yelled into the microphone "HEY! BE...QUIET...NOW."
She stood silent for a few moments, glaring at the crowd, then proceeded with her prepared remarks. She was late for the event. She neither apologized for nor acknowledged her lateness. She speaks in a nasal monotone drone and never once came near a smile. Oh, that Pat!
:grouphug:Ever Aftermath: San Jose Chamber of Commerce president Pat Dando says the legitimate content of COMPAC's mailers got lost in the subsequent finger-pointing.Between the Sheets
As the SJ Chamber of Commerce takes San Jose to federal court over their controversial fliers, the question becomes: How did we get here, anyway?
By Vrinda Normand
July 19-25, 2006
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/07.19.06/san-jose-chamber-of-commerce-0629.htmlTWO MONTHS ago, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce managed to incite the biggest fuss about "negative campaigning" in this year's entire election season thus far. In May, the Chamber's political arm, COMPAC, sent out 300,000 colorful fliers to San Jose residents, which critics from the labor movement condemned as "vitriolic mass mailings" and the "most massive violation of election law in San Jose's entire history." A hailstorm of indignant accusations rained down from the mainstream press and various groups supporting San Jose mayoral candidate Cindy Chavez. They attacked the fliers as "hit pieces" without disputing the actual content.
Meanwhile, Chamber leaders, including president Pat Dando, believe critics got lost in finger pointing and distorted the actual purpose of the fliers. Dando says that what people should have been asking is: "What happened to a fairly sedate organization like the Chamber of Commerce to inspire them to finally become more aggressive politically?"
Last week, COMPAC sued San Jose in federal court, claiming the city's finding that the fliers violated campaign regulations is unconstitutional. How did it come to this? We decided the best way to answer that question was to take a look back at how this widely misunderstood controversy actually played out. So we start our timeline in January, when the first seeds of the COMPAC campaign were planted.
Jan. 6
The board of directors for the San Jose Chamber of Commerce meets for a retreat at a classy, coastal resort in Aptos. While discussing a number of goals for the year to come, Chamber president Pat Dando brings up the San Jose mayoral race. She says she would like to see the Chamber take a more aggressive political role. In previous years, the organization's relatively timid tactics have not been successful in getting business-friendly candidates elected. Labor proponents back a majority of the current San Jose City Council, and Chamber spokesman Bob Hines says board members agreed with the need for a stronger influence in local government. Documents show that he and Dando had already begun communicating with their attorney, Russ Miller, about legal options for launching a campaign in this direction.