Morning Report: Silly Mailer Season

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Sometimes political consultants are too clever by half. We always talk about issues and policies and big votes but the political consultants have got local races boiled down to numbers and voting blocks so specific they just target them precisely with the campaign tool of choice: mailers. 

Yes, there’s TV and radio. Yes there is social media now. But the mailer reigns. 

Thursday, we came across a particular species we’ve been seeing more and more of the last decade: The reverse double fake dunk slam. The RDFDS for short. 

The RDFDS can basically be described as a mailer with a message like this: “Can you believe [CANDIDATE X] is [SOMETHING YOU REALLY ACTUALLY LIKE] and the guy you may like is actually [SOMETHING YOU REALLY HATE].” 

The most notorious example we always point to is the one attacking now County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher by putting out a mailer praising him on his supposed support of rights to access firearms. It was sent to Democrats who the quants decided would not actually like that message.

Wednesday’s example was a mailer from the Lincoln Club sent to Democrats appearing to champion to them that Dave Myers, who is running for sheriff, is a great Republican who likes guns and that “Liberal Kelly Martinez” wants to take guns and c’mon “Does San Diego Want Progressive Democrat Kelly Martinez?”

The idea behind the RDFDS species of mailer seems to be that the senders want the recipients to feel like they’re seeing something that wasn’t intended for them. 

The sender in this case: the Lincoln Club of San Diego. The leaders of the conservative business advocacy PAC sent this to Democrats because they actually want “Progressive Democrat” Martinez to prevail. 

Also: We highlight this because it gravely misleads the recipients about one of our own headlines. Under the picture of Myers, it says “SHERIFF COULD BE A REPUBLICAN AFTER ALL” in our headline typeface and our logo. 

But that headline was over a post about how now that a Republican was running after all, our previous headline that the next sheriff wasn’t going to be a Republican after many decades of Republican sheriffs was no longer true. Not that Myers could himself be a Republican. 

Anyway, that’s how politics really is still contested.

No Coastal Love for Lifting the Height Limit in Midway/Sports Arena 

We’ve been keeping track of what measures are going to make the cut for the November ballot or as some call it (insert Scott Lewis voice) “Bananas ballot.” But something sort of interesting came out of a recent debate among the candidates running to represent San Diego Council District 2. 

There are three Democrats running against Councilwoman Jen Campbell: Joel Day, a college professor who worked for Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s administration; Lori Saldaña, who previously represented the area as an assemblywoman and made several attempts for other offices; and Mandy Havlik, a member of the Peninsula Community Planning Board. Linda Lukacs, a dentist, is the lone Republican. 

Campbell did not attend the debate hosted by the Ocean Beach Town Council and the Point Loma Association at Liberty Station on Wednesday evening (though they left a space for her on stage). 

Four of the five candidates in the race said they are not jumping up to support a measure to overturn the height limit in the Midway/Sports Arena area. 

Here’s how it went down: The question from the moderator, “On this November’s ballot if there is a measure to overturn the height limit again in the Sport Arena/Midway area would you support it or oppose it?”

Day would only support it if the council has a plan for traffic mitigation. Havlik said she has always been against it and believes that the area could still be revitalized without removing the height limit. Lukacs believes the city shouldn’t even talk about a plan to develop that area because there isn’t the proper infrastructure in place. Saldaña would not support it — unless there is an environmental evaluation, and added traffic calming measures, she said. 

For those keeping track, we’ve written about the Midway redo and if it will even make its way to the ballot. The candidates’ takes might not really matter if the measure doesn’t show up on the November ballot. But if one of them who really doesn’t want it on the ballot wins, it may never go on the ballot again. 

Join Us For A Voice of San Diego Live Podcast June 9

Do you love to consume Brazilian beer and the dry humor and slick wit of Voice of San Diego’s editors on our weekly podcast? You can have both June 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at our live podcast event at Novo Brazil Brewing in Chula Vista, a city embroiled in a hotly-contested mayor’s race. 

Voice editors Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña will talk politics, key races we’re following and other news topics important to South County residents. Tickets are available here. 

In Other News

• San Diego is in for a hotter-than-normal summer, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. San Diego has a 40 percent chance of above-average summer temperatures. (Fox 5)
• A member of the San Diego’s Human Rights Commission may officially be forced out in the coming weeks for his stated religious beliefs against transgender and LGBTQ individuals. (Union Tribune)
• Some former members of San Diego’s Civil Service Commission are worried a proposal that gives the mayor more power over hiring police officers, firefighters and other vacant city positions would increase avenues for corruption. Proponents say the change would help accelerate the filling of those vacancies. (Union Tribune)
• The city of San Diego is suing multiple companies over decades-long water contamination from a toxic chemical found in firefighting foam called PFAS. (CBS 8)

This Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, Scott Lewis and MacKenzie Elmer.

Correction: This post has been updated with correct information about summer temperatures. San Diego has a 40 percent chance of above-average summer temperatures.