I’m not too sure if this headline applies 100 percent to the early days of the 74th Assembly race among, so far, Costa Mesa Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, Newport Beach City Councilmember Leslie Daigle, and Huntington Beach attorney Keith Carlson, but when I heard that term used on the radio this morning, for some reason, I automatically thought of them … so … let’s take another look at this Carnival of Clowns as we are less than six months away from the Primary Election.
Looking at the candidates’ websites, apparently Leslie Daigle’s (votelesliedaigle.com) is the only one with anything current, even including my Dec. 30 column. However, it’s obviously not completely up to date since it has no trace of her most recent Press Release dated Jan. 3, 2012, which announces her impressive second consecutive Top 10 finish in the Daily Pilot’s 103 Most Influential list.
Because the Daily Pilot covers Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and, recently, Irvine, I would consider Daigle’s inclusion on the 103 Most Influential list as pretty important, but even more important was Costa Mesa’s former Mayor and current Assemblyman Mansoor’s omission from it. Considering a couple of High School football coaches and the Balboa Carousel Pony made the Top 103, either the Daily Pilot hates Mansoor, or they made a serious mistake leaving him out.
Either way, Daigle in the Top 10 and Mansoor out of the Top 103 makes some pretty interesting news and actually gives Daigle some crowing points … but it’s buried on her website under a pretty innocuous title.
Mansoor’s campaign website (allanmansoor.com/) hasn’t been updated for the 2012 election. It even includes Daigle’s endorsement, so … maybe website updates aren’t a priority right now …
The website of Huntington Beach attorney Keith Carlson (who under full disclosure, I’ve endorsed) is at keithcarlson2012.com and is directed at the 2012 election, but hasn’t been updated since July 2011, so … apparently website updates aren’t a priority for him either right now.
So, apparently, I and maybe Daigle are the only one looking at websites right now. But if I’m looking at donating to or finding out who’s endorsing who, I guess I would have to wait, since Daigle’s website doesn’t not list any endorsements, and Mansoor’s and Carlson’s lists are seriously outdated.
Although the funniest part of Daigle’s website is the opportunity to donate online with the “NO REFUNDS” disclaimer at the bottom of the form. So buyers beware … if you donate to Leslie and then change your mind, you won’t be able to get your money back. Funny huh?
As I mentioned in a previous column, the attacks back and forth between Carlson and Mansoor are continuing, now spreading to each side’s supporters calling each other to detail why one as opposed to the other should drop out, and citing Daigle as the main reason. Those phone calls have been somewhat frustrating to say the least.
I just hope once both sides realize that neither Carlson nor Mansoor are going to drop out of the race, then they’ll start going after their REAL threat, Daigle.
But in the meantime, all Leslie needs to do is to continue raising money, continue gathering endorsements (there’s a quote of support on her website from Irvine City Councilman Steven Choi), and just let these two Carnival Clowns continue to posture, feathers raised, at each other in a futile effort to chase each other out of the race.
