Parke's mutterings continue......, this time about "Pleitez for Congress"

Hey Parke,

You must love the column inches of newsprint being devoted to your latest missives about the upcoming election on May 19.

This latest will invite some slapback.

"I think he's doing a good job of mobilizing a nontraditional base," said Chu campaign consultant Parke Skelton, who said he thinks the likely low turnout would hurt, not help, Pleitez.

"He'll be a factor, but not a huge factor," Skelton said, adding that he believes that Pleitez could draw as many voters from Chu as from Cedillo -- an assessment most others interviewed did not agree with.

That is what Parke had to say in a LA Times story on Pleitez's crusade to upset both State Senator Gil Cedillo and State Board of Equalization member Judy Chu and replace now Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in Congress.

But despite Parke's spin on Pleitez, there is a growing buzz and momentum that is catching the attention of veteran political observers.

Jaime A. Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., said he saw no chance for Pleitez to win. "But the more he can identify himself as a young, smart Latino and appeal to young voters," Regalado said, the more "he becomes a wild card in terms of how he will affect a close race."

And from a republican observer.......

Allan Hoffenblum, a former Republican campaign consultant whose nonpartisan California Target Book tracks legislative races, said the expected low turnout, probably 20% to 25%, on top of the anti-incumbent sentiment afoot in much of the state and nation today, could work well for Pleitez.

"The lower the turnout, the more powerful grass-roots, personal contact campaigning becomes," Hoffenblum said. He stopped short of saying Pleitez could win.

"He's surely making a name for himself," Hoffenblum said. "I'll give him that."

........and with $202,000 to work with, either Chu or Cedillo will suffer on May 19, or maybe both ??

Your thoughts.............