SFist Interview: Jennifer DePalma

Name:
Jennifer DePalma

Introduce yourself in one sentence:
I am a big tent Republican running for Congress against Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Age and Occupation:
30, attorney

Home Town:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

How long have you lived in the Bay Area and Where:
2 years, Nob Hill and Western Addition

Favorite website:
www.depalmaforcongress.com (I couldn't help myself.)

Favorite dot com or local business:
Craig's List

What I'm currently Reading:
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Best Deal in San Francisco:
Mangia Mondays at Giorgio's Pizzeria

Favorite mode of transportation:
Bike

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area:
Phil Lesh

Favorite local hangout:
The Pig and Whistle Bar and Restaurant

SF has the BEST:
Neighborhoods, nature and spirit

You've never lived in SF until:
You have had your neighbors assume you were a Democrat!

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present:
Fellow Princeton graduate Secretary George Schultz

Best solicitation from a pan handler:
I once had a pan handler try to convince me he was an undergraduate majoring in poetry.  I was all set to give him money . . . until I asked him who his favorite poet was and he came up blank.

You can tell someone is a local here IF:
They haven't seen a Republican since their last venture south.

SF would be soooo much better if only:
In the political arena, people did not judge a book by its cover.  The Republican Party encompasses a wide range of viewpoints.

Best Burrito:
El Faro

Best Restaurant:
Brother's Korean Restaurant on Geary

Best movie scene filmed in or about SF:
Hard to choose from all of the great Hitchcock scenes.

I want all the SFists out there to know:
That they deserve a choice in elections.  All sides have something to bring to the table and serve as checks and balances to each other.  Competitive politics encourages our elected officials to be accountable to us.

Tell us a San Francisco Story:
I won't bore you with the details but I lost quite the bet once due to my incredulity that there were buffalo in Golden Gate Park.  Always expect the seemingly improbable in San Francisco!

Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview:
How is Nancy Pelosi dropping the ball as Representative of San Francisco?

Special Election Week Grilling of the Candidates:

In a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Edward Epstein wrote that "...DePalma opposes Bush in his support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. In fact, she says, she'd like to see California allow such unions." Do you see same-sex marriage as a state's rights issue or as a civil rights issue?

Same-sex marriage is both a states' rights issue and a civil rights issue.  Marriage has historically been in the purview of the states.  That being said, no government should discriminate against any two people who commit to love and support each other for the rest of their lives.  Marriage is a state licensing power.  Government should not discriminate in its use of such power.  Religions are free to discriminate, governments are not. 

The more viable political course in the current climate is arguing the states' right issue.  As some states begin to allow same-sex marriage, the rest of the nation will grow more comfortable with this particular advancement of civil rights. 

For an interesting take on the issue see the following by Professor Richard Epstein: http://www.cato.org/research/articles/epstein-040713.html.

For my response to the San Francisco Chronicle article mentioned in the question above see http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=10489&catcode=10.

On another important major issue, especially to the biotech industry which many say could revitalize the economy in the Bay Area, you are on record as supporting President Bush's position on stem cell research. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, on the other hand, recently endorsed proposition 71, which would pump $3 billion of bond money into research that can't receive federal funding under Bush's plan. Would you be willing to break with your party to fight for an issue dear to San Francisco?

First, we should remember that President Bush is the first president to pass federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, opening the door to an extension of the lines funded.

I pause when considering federal funding for other lines of stem cells for two reasons: (1) we should always pause before increasing government spending, particularly given the federal deficit and the budget struggles in California, and (2) without consensus on the morality of stem cell research it is unjust to fund such research with the taxpayer dollars of those who believe it is immoral.  Many Democrats do not want taxpayer money to go to faith based charity groups no matter how effective such groups are at helping people.  This is a reverse of sorts, some Republicans do not want taxpayer money to go to research that they believe is immoral. 

The private sector should be free to conduct stem cell research and I am for incentives for companies and universities that conduct such research.  It is the federal funding my instincts of fiscal restraint resist.  That being said, I understand that as a Congresswoman representing San Francisco my foremost responsibility would be just that, representing San Francisco.  If the issue is truly "dear to San Francisco" and I was convinced that the private sector could not fund such research on its own I would be willing to break ranks with the Republican Party. 

SFist is so happy to see that you're a fellow blogger! As a fellow blogger, what is your stance on intellectual property reform in the digital age? Specifically, would you feel that the Supreme Court would be justified in overturning 1984's "Betamax decision?"

In the Betamax decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Sony could not be prevented from distributing the Betamax VCR simply because the VCR could be used to pirate videos.  The Court also found that the taping of an entire television show for watching in the home with no economic gain is a "fair use", i.e., not copyright infringement.  I do not think we need stronger copyright laws.  Stronger laws might discourage free circulation of the work of aspiring writers, musicians and other artists.  Personally, as long as I am given credit for my writing and am not plagiarized, I am more than happy to have others cut and paste my work onto their sites or print numerous copies for distribution.

The Betamax decision supported the pro-Napster side.  A good friend of mine, Jesse Walker, writes eloquently on this topic in the Napster context.  See http://reason.com/0010/fe.jw.music.shtml.

At one time in your life you worked for the office of Senator Rick Santorum, R-PA. Are you familiar with syndicated columnist Dan Savage's "smear campaign" against Senator Santorum? And if so, do you have any comment?

Dan Savage's smear campaign certainly gets its point across.  Of course, Senator Santorum is also not shy about getting his points across.

I would like to add that I find the reaction to my internship with Senator Santorum interesting.  Any student interested in politics would do herself a disservice turning down an internship with a U.S. Senator of any stripes.  Such internships are few and far between.  Looks into the inner workings of the system are invaluable regardless of how liberal or conservative the particular Senator with which one works is. 

It strikes me as unfair to associate a learning experience one had in college with one's personal beliefs.  Fear that we will be found "guilty" of the beliefs about which we choose to learn makes it difficult to explore other belief systems, an integral part of sorting out for oneself what one believes. 

I would also like to state that I support same-sex marriage and am pro-choice.