Republicans and Democrats Prove That They Love to Party

By John Harlow | Editor-in-Chief

The fervent waves whipped up during the recent presidential convention season were felt in the Palisades last week.

The Palisades Republican Club held their Summer Bash at the home of Christine Martinez on Monument where members sipped light cocktails and enjoyed an opportunity to meet two local candidates for the November state elections.

These were Kenneth Wright, a pediatric eye surgeon and “Progressive Republican” from the Palos Verdes area standing for the 33rd Congressional District. He has criticized the incumbent, Congressman Ted Lieu (D), for being soft on “sanctuary cities,” which protect illegal immigrants, and urges visa reforms. But he does not propose building a wall across the Mexican border.

Matthew Craffey, an Ojai-born Log Cabin Republican and candidate for the 50th Assembly District, which stretches from Malibu to Beverly Hills.

He is standing on a platform of cutting corporate taxes, to keep businesses in California, and lowering state income taxes. He also wants more financial aid for vocational training and higher education.

The candidates were introduced by Nancy Cohen, president of the Republican Club.

Meanwhile, at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Palisadian Bernie Sanders supporter Susan B. Haskell was fighting for a new generation of activists, largely millennials,  that she did not feel were represented at the gathering.

But Haskell, a Democratic Party activist for many years, said last week that at the end of the convention, where a record 100,000 balloons descended, she decided she would vote for Hillary Clinton as president.

“What is the alternative?” she asked, perhaps rhetorically.