Squidfry 02.04.16: Double Vision…

DOUBLE VISION… Squid has spent the past few days scratching Squid’s head trying to make sense of the latest round of campaign finance reports. The font is small, true, but even harder to make out is the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Take Dem Jimmy Panetta, who’s running for Congress: The career prosecutor is up against vegan, pro-choice Republican Casey Lucius and Panetta’s donors read in part like a who’s who of GOP bigwigs. There’s a solid agribiz backing from higher-ups at Driscoll’s and Ocean Mist Farms; there’s a small $500 from Stewart Resnick of Los Angeles, founder of POM Wonderful and an agribiz billionaire, whose net worth Forbes reports as $4.3 billion.

In another race, ex-Cuddly Hero of the Masses Dennis Donohue, former Salinas mayor and radicchio mogul, is challenging County Supervisor Jane Parker, both Dems. He out-fundraised her with just 22 donors, compared to 100-plus donors to Team Parker. Donohue also hired Christian Schneider to work on his campaign. (Yes, the same guy behind Sheriff Steve Bernal’s extra-nasty campaign; he notoriously strong-armed UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta into endorsing Bernal. She later reneged.) According to Steve Thomas, Donohue’s campaign manager, Schneider is doing a small amount of field work for Camp Donohue. Sure, if small equals $19,000, the amount Donohue’s campaign paid Schneider’s Pivotal Campaign Services for campaign consulting (plus another $6K for office expenses and travel).

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS… Squid was hunkered down in the lair, ink dribbling down a tentacle, watching the spectacle that was the Feb. 1 Iowa Caucus that marks the start of the race to Super Tuesday. Bill Clinton stood with his mouth agape as Hillary claimed her share of the delegates in the neck-and-neck race with Bernie Sanders. Sanders gesticulated wildly as he claimed his delegates – and fundamentally changed the Democratic Party for-evah. Donald Trump (burnished to a strange orange glow, hair flip flopping) said he was honored to come in second behind Ted Cruz, the guy he refers to as a Canadian anchor baby owing to his birth (to an American mother) in Calgary.

One local GOP chieftain is undoubtedly thrilled the junior senator from Calgary came in first in Iowa. Paul Bruno, famous for using a cable to try to round up Black/Brown Lives Matter protesters who blocked Highway 1 last spring, is one of Cruz’s biggest fans. Bruno is the only Central Coast GOPer to hold a position on the Ted Cruz 2016 leadership team – he’s the Central Coast regional chair. Squid looks forward to the California convention; Bruno is in the running to be a Cruz delegate.

Squid hopes The Donald doesn’t get in Cruz’s way in California. Bruno is polishing his cable, just in case.