April 23, 1999
An unexpected outcome of term limits is how the losing of one's political seat effects the centers of the brain which govern such things as HONOR, INTEGRITY, and RESPECT. Assemblyperson Denise Ducheny of the 79th Assembly District, a predominately Mexican American District, is a clear example that demonstrates the level that a desperate person will sink to.
Faced with term limits, Ducheny has in quiet desperation, looked for a political seat that she could run for. For reasons not yet clear, no openings have been made for her. Perhaps it has been because of her disloyalty to the Lt. Governor, Cruz Bustamante, the Chicano Caucus, or to the Speaker, Antonio Villaraigosa. As an elected Democrat, it behooved Ducheny to support the ticket. Perhaps because she was being advised by someone unfamiliar with the art of politics, Ducheny supported Republicans against the Lt. Governor and the Speaker. Quite frequently her positions were at cross purposes with those of the Chicano Caucus.
In her District, Ducheny got the reputation of not being accessible to her constituency. The word was that unless a heavy contribution to her showed up in the computer listing of donors, there was little time for the local voter. She forgot that in politics the most important lesson is that... "All politics is local."
When the time came to seek a seat, for when her term ends (2000), none surfaced for her. For every available seat, there were other more important Democrats available to run for them. Her one White hope is the Governor for whom she did yeoman service for during his campaign for the Governorship. Desperately hoping for a profile appointment to maintain her in the political arena from the Governor, Ducheny has tried to impress the Governor with her importance and viability.
As appointment after appointment was made and none had her name on them, it became clear that Denise Ducheny had no IOU's with the elected Democrats. She had no sponsors of importance to promote her either in Sacramento nor in San Diego. Now, in a last fit of desperation she has thrown her people, the Mexican American community, to the wolves by publicly, in a commentary in the Union Tribune, siding with the Governor in his position not to drop the appeal to the onerous Prop 187 as he promised to do in his campaign. Evidently, the Governor feels that "because PROP 187 received a majority vote, that he is obligated to support it." When an Initiative is unconstitutional no majority vote matters! We shall see how the Governor acts on a number of other contested Initiatives such as Prop 5.
The Governor and Assemblywoman Ducheny's actions are a betrayal of the Mexican American people of this state.
IS ANY POLITICAL POSITION WORTH LOSS OF HONOR, INTEGRITY, AND THE RESPECT OF THE MEXICAN AND AMERICAN PEOPLE OF THIS STATE? WE THINK NOT!
Return to Frontpage