Summary: yesterday’s election was historic. In returning Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States, voters resoundingly rejected the lascivious blandishments of the rabid right. Here in Cathedral city, congratulations are due to councilmember Greg Pettis, councilmember-elect Stan Henry, and Mayor-elect Chip Yarborough, whose election has broken the heretofore unassailable power of outgoing mayor Kathleen J. DeRosa, who was done in politically by her penchant for bridge-burning and antagonizing just about every constituency imaginable. Of course, it was a good night all around the country, as Raul Ruiz took away Mary Whitaker Bono Baxley McGillicuddy’s seat in Congress, Tammy Baldwin became the first out lesbian ever elected to the U.S. Senate, Alan Grayson of Florida came back to Congress, and voters in four states gave the green light to marriage equality. It was a good night for progressives all the way around.
By: Paul S. Marchand
Yesterday’s election may have been one of the most historic in a generation. Not only did American voters give President Obama a resounding reelection victory, but it was a good day for progressive candidates and causes all of the country.
Moving outward from Cathedral City, permit me a few observations about last night.
Let me start by congratulating my friend Greg Pettis and former police chief Stan Henry on their council wins last night. Though I myself ran for council, the numbers were not there. To those who offered me their support and encouragement go my deepest thanks.
Let me also congratulate Mayor-elect Chip Yarborough.
After eight long winters of Kathleen J. DeRosa, Cathedral city residents were clearly ready for change in the mayor’s office. At the risk of seeming to indulge in schadenfreude, it really was time for DeRosa to go. Her reputation for divisive politics, bullying, and stab-in-the-back tactics finally caught up with her. In the end, DeRosa’s reputation as a bridge burner militated fatally against her political survival. On the other hand, Chip’s ground game was first rate, and created a momentum that brought down the heretofore unassailable DeRosa machine, an alliance between herself, Cathedral City’s Chamber of Commerce, and other local interest groups.
Perhaps the most significant irony of the Cathedral City elections was that of three members of the DeRosa slate, only one, Stan Henry, managed to get elected. Mr. Henry also ran an effective retail politics, and in running, knocked off longtime reliable DeRosa ally Bud England, who had widely been regarded as a controlled second vote for Ms. DeRosa. As one particularly savvy Cathedral City political operative suggested to me some months back, “if DeRosa goes, England goes.” In short, not only did DeRosa not get her trifecta, she wound up well and truly hoist on her own political petard.
With DeRosa and England gone, the makeup of the Council should change significantly. A formerly center-right body now has an opportunity to adopt a more progressive politics. Nonetheless, adopting such a politics will not necessarily be easy. The challenges for Mayor-elect Yarborough will be formidable. He will need to work swiftly to get Cathedral City’s financial house in order, as well as mend fences with constituencies the outgoing mayor often seemed to go out of her way to antagonize.
It is certainly open to question whether, having been in power through eight winters, DeRosa will accept with equanimity the result of the election. Will she follow the lead of George Herbert Walker Bush, who, after being defeated by Bill Clinton in 1992, resolved to go out like a “class act”? Or will she seek to cast blame on her supporters and the electorate, and try to delegitimize the new mayor, as those who had opposed the election of Barack Obama in 2008 sought at every turn to call into question the president’s legitimacy and basic Americanness?.
Having spent much time contemplating the change in Cathedral City’s political dynamic, let me now congratulate the Congressmen-elect from California’s 36th and 41st Districts Dr. Raul Ruiz and Riverside Community College Trustee Mark Takano, both of whom took on the challenge of running in districts that had been considered reliably Republican for decades.
My particular shoutout goes to Dr. Ruiz, who managed to reverse the perception that this district represented a GOP “safe seat” that the outgoing congresswoman would have as long as she wanted it. To borrow an observation from fellow Democratic activist George Zander, “it’s not their Valley anymore.”
Finally, let me congratulate Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the first out lesbian ever elected to the United States Senate. Similarly, congratulations to Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill on her reelection, and to Senators-elect Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on their election, and to once and future Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida, returned to the House of Representatives after a two-year hiatus.
Finally, yesterday was a very good day for civil rights. The long string of electoral defeats for marriage equality has been broken in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and -- presumptively -- Washington State. Four more American jurisdictions will now allow Ruth and Naomi or Jonathan and David to get hitched. While same-gender wedding bells may not be ringing throughout the land, these four victories represent important harbingers of progress to come. In all four states, there was a direct correlation between age and opposition to marriage equality; the older the voter, the more likely the voter was to oppose marriage equality. Yet, as certain age cohorts begin to diminish in number through natural attrition, they will inevitably, ineluctably be replaced by those younger voters for whom the idea that Jonathan and David or Ruth and Naomi should be able to marry one another is simply “not strange.”
Speaking last night at a GOP gathering, Riverside County supervisor John Benoit bemoaned the night’s results as a so-called defeat for “conservative values.” To the extent the late William Buckley once famously defined a conservative as someone “standing athwart history, yelling ‘stop!’,” Supervisor Benoit certainly appeared to be that person last night, standing athwart history, yelling “stop!” For what the supervisor may bemoan as a defeat for so-called conservative values actually represents a great victory for the basic values of progressiveness and decency for which millions of Americans rose up and fought in this election season of 2012.
To the President, to the progressive victors, to the fighters for civil rights, and to all those who resisted the lascivious blandishments of the rabid right and their moneyed backers, congratulations and thanks. America and Cathedral City are better places this morning than they were just 24 short hours ago.
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Paul S. Marchand is an attorney who lives and works in Cathedral City, California, where he served two terms on the city Council. He welcomes the election, after eight long winters, of the new mayor. The views expressed herein are his own, and are not necessarily those of any organization or entity with which he is associated. They are not intended as, and should not be construed as, legal advice.
