The motivation of Otto Bade

Republican Otto Bade just joined one of the tightest, closest watched races in California—the 34th State Senate Circus—as a write-in, and it has ruffled a few feathers. Many bloggers are already talking about Bade’s motivation.

Matt Cunningham wrote at The Flash Report:

Since Otto has a snowball’s chance in hell of actually winning, the only impact he can possibly have is to hurt Lynn Daucher’s campaign.

So why is he doing this? Is it purely retaliation against Lynn Daucher — and by extension Dick Ackerman — for their lack of support for his doomed 2004 campaign? Or are extra-party factors involved?

Cunningham thinks that when Otto ran for State Assembly two years ago, Dick Ackerman didn’t give him enough support as the GOP nominee. Cunningham even writes at the OC Blog that Ackerman’s lack of support comes from Bade’s seedy past.

And you may remember that Lynn originally endorsed Bade in 2004, and withdrew her endorsement after learning about Bade’s legal woes.

And then Art Pedroza at The Orange Juice has his own speculation:

So why is Bade running against Daucher? He told me today that he likes Correa, and that he feels that the 34th should be represented by a Latino. I stood up for Daucher, but his mind was made up. I heard from other sources that apparently Bruce Matthias might be involved. Matthias ran against Daucher in 2000, for the 72nd Assembly District. It was his bad luck to be running during the short-lived Open Primary. Democrats joined moderate Republicans in electing Daucher. Apparently Matthias held a grudge against Daucher.

Art and Matt both believe that Bade’s decision to run as the write-in stems from a dislike for Daucher.

And now my speculation:

Otto doesn’t hate Lynn Daucher as much as he loves Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante.

I’m guessing that Bade joined this race to steal a few votes from Lynn, and as a result he is helping to get Lou elected to the State Senate, opening up a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. And we all know that Bustamante has had a hard-on over the BOS seat since last spring.

It’s possible.

Another possibility is a hybrid of all of the Orange County Bloggers’ theories: perhaps Bade is pissed at Ackerman and Daucher for not supporting him in 2004, so it was easy for Matthias to convince Bade to join the race, and he’s happy to know that he might help his friend Bustamante get a stab at the BOS seat.

[Matt Cunningham’s Flash Report Post]
[Matt Cunningham’s OC Blog Post]
[Art Pedroza’s Orange Juice Post]

2 Comments

  1. Hook, line and sinker… nice job Matt Cunningham over at the Flash Report! My instinct tells me to watch out for distractions.

    Republican leadership is under the gun right now nationally. The Foley crisis in Congress plays second or third fiddle to corrupt GOP leadership, hell bent on absolute unchecked power!

    We have six Congressional races, five of the incumbents can be tied directly to Republican cronyism AND the failing George Bush. Ed Royce in the 40th, Gary Miller ca-42, Ken Calvert ca-44, Dana Rohrabacher ca-46 and John Campbell in the 48th. These are the most powerful reps in Orange County, yet their absentee canidacies speak volumes of their character.

    We have incumbents who will not debate there opponent, that is flat out BullSh!t.

    The Liberal OC is the first-stop-shop for angry leftists. Crush these guys, and don’t ever let them back!

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