Jackie Speier: From a Constituent

Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger reader Kevin in San Mateo has sent in a ringing endorsement of Senator Speier:

Hey Gray,

I ran across your blog asking for information about Jackie Speier and I felt that I should get back to you on it since I'm such a huge fan of the Senator. I'm one of her constituents and have followed her for quite some time and will definitely be voting for her on June 6th.

First thing that I like about Jackie Speier is her personal character. I've met her personally as one of her constituents and she seemed to generally care about what you have to say. She serves with a sense of duty and honor that simply cannot be faked (although many have tried). Her background going back to Jonestown in Guiyana where she was shot five times as a young Congressional aide has definitely made her into a woman who will stand with courage and an aura about her that eludes confidence.

Her accomplishments as a state legislators also speak for themselves as she has fought hard to increase the public's financial privacy by keeping banks from selling people's personal information. She's made incredible advances in health care, as she has been named National Legislator of the Year by both the American Medical Association and Insure the Uninsured. Also she has a near impeccible voting record on environmental legislation and she's is the most active candidate in respect to women's issues.

I'm also excited to find that she has become the leading candidate, overtaking John Garamendi as the frontrunner and has the best shot of all three Democratic candidates to beat Tom McClintock in the general election. I base this information on several newspapers articles I've read from around the state that predict that McClintock supporters would have the most trouble with a Speier nomination.

Finally everyone I have ever talked to who knows about Jackie and her record absolutely loves her and are turning out to vote despite all these negative ads we see in this campaign. (Nice note: Jackie is the only Lt. Gov. candidate not running attack ads and has called for Garamendi to stop his negative tactics.) She is truly a rare candidate indeed in that she is likable, competent, and competitive. I just hope that she'll run for governor next time around.

Kevin from San Mateo, CA