Jason Wong

Tomorrow’s the Democratic Party State Convention. Neither Leland Yee nor Mike Nevin received a majority vote at the State pre-convention a few weeks ago, so they’ll be missing out on all the fun this weekend, and fighting it out on the ground, along with Lou Papan for the State Senate seat.

The main event in Sacramento will be Fiona Ma and Janet Reilly duking it out for the official endorsement of the Democratic Party, which is worth a TON of support. It’s going to be a rough fight for both candidates, jockeying for delegates and campaigning. They could save a lot of pain and heartache if they just ro-sham-bo’d for it.

The senator stopped in Silicon Valley to deliver a speech, and make visits. I was asked to drive him and his staff around, and jumped on the chance.

The day consisted of renting a Buick LaCrosse, driving to South Bay, and making sure the Senator, his staff, and myself didn’t get (too) lost. I heart GPS. When the day comes that we implant GPS and Google, the world’s average IQ increases 10-20 points.

I’ve never spent more than a few minutes with someone at this level before, and usually, “elder statemen” are in a crowd, so this was a great experience. I got a glimpse of how his operations work and how issues are thought through.

He receives a short brief before each meeting, and any time not spent prepping is spent planning future work or in communications with partners, associates, friends or family. The briefing consists of a summary of who will be at a certain event, and issues that will be pertinent. For example, a technology crowd would be interested in the recent Net Neutrality debate.

It’s fascinating to see his mind, and the minds of his staff coalesce. He and his staff are smart, strategic, and organized. They spend a lot of time together, so there’s a symbiosis between them – subtle references, phrases and jokes that someone who’s new to the group wouldn’t immediately pick up on.

Did I mention the Senator’s a runner? He took time out in the middle of his day to take a jog in the California sunshine. He’s lucky to have missed last month’s 29 days and nights of rain, flood and hail.

This posting’s late. I’m really, really hoping that this is the most tense week of the campaign. Top issues are:

• Message
• Fundraising
• Endorsements
• Doing all that work

I had a meeting with my steering committee on Sunday, and the message is experience, hard work, voter registration, and youth and asian outreach. Fundraising will consist of online donations, as well as putting together a letter.

Finally, we decided that we’d use www.jasonwong.org as the online home for the election. It’s going to take a couple weeks, and I’m going to need to take those chickens off my header :-) (Update – removed). A search for Jason Wong on Google yields my site as the top search, so it’s a natural fit for the election.

Hi Jason—

We, at the District 11 Democratic Club executive board, had a continuing discussion during our interviews of DCCC candidates that had to do with who would pass my Civics Class (I used to teach) and at what level. It became very clear to me and to my colleagues that you would be one of my A students!

Your enthusiasm and understanding of issues as well as your youth make you a compelling candidate. We will all be looking forward to great things coming from your leadership of the Asian Pacific Democrats, also. Hopefully, your leadership there will help spur membership and participation in many other clubs, as well.

As you know, District 11 has many Asian residents. We have been anxious to entice them into participating in our political activities but find it difficult to make inroads into those communities. We look forward to working with you to the mutual benefit of not only both of our clubs, but to the greater benefit of the Democratic Party.
Best wishes for a successful run for the DCCC.

In solidarity,

Claire Zvanski,
Issues Chair & immediate Past President
District 11 Democrats

So in my first public speaking engagement, I received my first endorsement! A club endorsement meeting usually consists of speaking in front of club membership for 1-15 minutes. You talk about your background, and what you plan to do for the Democratic Party in this position, and how your issues relate to those of the club. Sometimes there’s a question and answer period afterwards.

I didn’t get the endorsement for my public speaking skills. I am NOT a natural, and the West Wing makes it look easy. On the other hand, my campaign manager tells me there’s no such thing as the pity vote :-). I did however, receive a vote or 3 from nice ladies who thought I was cute.

Club members seem to vote on these dimensions:

1. Familiarity: Previous interaction and work with the club. If you have been part of the club, the members know you and like you, you’re a step ahead of the game. If they’ve seen your work or heard of you, it adds to your credibility.
2. General Likability: charisma, charm, smile, etc.
3. Endorsements: If they don’t know you, they need to know who’s supporting you. An endorsement from someone else lends credibility to your campaign.
4. Your speech: Does it make sense, is it polished?

If I’ve missed anything, do comment.

1 billion Chinese * $1 donations = Wong for America.

April Fool’s everyone. I’ll have about 3-5 posts in the coming week about the race, as I catch up on my new dual life, or lack thereof.