アメリカ２党制政治と日常生活
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Even with Paul Ryan's visit, life in the Bay Area's most Republican place feels like a city of détente
By Josh Richman
Posted: 09/08/2012 12:49:23 PM PDT
DANVILLE -- GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's fundraising breakfast Saturday suited the Bay Area's most Republican town to a T: a low-key, deep-pocketed affair that got the job done without making waves.
Supporters gave or raised from $1,000 to $25,000 to attend the 8:15 a.m. event at the home of former San Francisco 49ers tight end Brent Jones and his wife, Dana. Local reporters weren't allowed in.
Ryan arrived at 8:45 a.m. and soon was seen posing for photos on the palatial home's patio with supporters who had given $10,000 or more. Later, applause and cheers were heard from behind the house.
The Wisconsin congressman left in a black Chevy Suburban about 9:45 a.m., waving to a few neighbors as he headed down El Pintado Road. He was scheduled to visit Google in Mountain View for an online "hangout" with swing-state campaign volunteers Saturday afternoon before attending a fundraising dinner in Fresno.
Retiree Chuck DeHont paused near Jones' house while walking his two dogs to see what all the fuss was about. He wouldn't say whom he's likely to vote for, but said he's mostly "apolitical."
He noted that Republicans know California is a sure win for President Obama. "It does spare us the ads, at least," DeHont said.
He wasn't surprised to hear that Danville -- where 43.1 percent of registered voters are Republicans -- is the reddest spot in the very blue Bay Area, but said the town doesn't wear this on its sleeve.
"There aren't many hot-and-heavy rabid types around here,'' he said. "Everybody's entitled to their opinion. At least most people here seem to be well-informed."
Sharon Carter, a Democrat who lives nearby, joked about running home to fetch some eggs to throw, adding that she doesn't believe the ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan "has anything to offer me."
Carter, a consultant for PG&E, said she moved to Danville three years ago and has never felt unwelcome.
"I had friends who grew up here, and I always loved the area -- not the politics, obviously," she said, adding that she's volunteering Tuesday at an Obama campaign phone bank. "I do plan to get some yard signs ... and we'll see if I get any repercussions as a result of that. I haven't tested it, but I plan to."
Another neighbor, who said she's a Danville native, felt "very proud" that Ryan was in town. "He seems very knowledgeable and quick on his feet. He knows his facts ... and he seems like a good, moral man to look up to."
"That goes for the whole ticket," her husband chimed in, adding he's confident Ryan "will help get the budget under control."
Yet they wouldn't give their names lest Bay Area employers and residents ostracize them for their views.
Indeed, to the Bay Area's GOP minority, Danville might look like an island of conservative sanity in the middle of a lake of liberal lunacy, a bastion where right-thinking humans hold off the lefty zombie hordes.
To liberal Democrats, however, Danville might look like a wildlife refuge where the one percent runs free in its gated, country-club-like habitat, feeding on Republican red meat and drinking working-class sweat.
But to Danville residents, it looks like a city of détente, a place that values getting along over partisan breast-beating.
Jerome Pandell and Michael Caporusso remain friends more than a decade after meeting as debate team rivals, even though Pandell now is a fundraising "bundler" for President Obama and a 2012 Democratic National Convention delegate, while Caporusso is a former Contra Costa County GOP director now helping to lead the local Romney-Ryan campaign.
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