So some group that supports Mrs. Ma mailed out a flyer recently and let drop some info sure to raise the blood pressure of your average SF Soccer Mom and SF Progressive-type, that the Reilly's send their daughter to a "an exclusive private school." Quelle horreur! How can the Reilly's claim to be down with the common folk if they send their children to a private school!
Well, it turns out that the eldest Reilly daughter goes to not just any private school, but a Catholic one. So in retaliation, Reilly supporters stepped up and took it to the next level-- Ma hates the Catholics. It's oh so simple, actually: Ma attacks Reilly for sending children to a private school, private school is Catholic, so Ma is really an anti-Papist bigot who thinks the Janet Reilly will call the Pope before every major vote, wants to burn heretics at the stake, and sings "Every Sperm is Sacred" every night before dinner. Says a mailer handed out after mass on Sunday: "All of us hoped that this anti-Catholic attitude ended in 1960 with the election of President John F. Kennedy. It is appalling that it still exists here in San Francisco in 2006." As far as we know, the flyer was not ripped off from somebody else.
Of course, this is all silliness, but considering Catholics in the city feel a little beleaguered, it might be something. And didn't Tori Janet accuse Fiona of being the anti-abortion candidate? Whatever. Either way, it's much more entertaining than playing the Help Janet Reilly Find a Costume That Fits Game.
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It's not silly at all. This has been a problem with Democratic party strategists for some time now. There are a lot of people in the Democratic party who really have a problem with Catholics, and don't mind dusting off some anti Catholic codewords to help their cause.
It's like what happend to Dave Ross when he ran for Congress in Washington State, and was routinely berated by NARAL and some liberals for being all things evil simply because he was Catholic - never mind his progressive positions on the issues and the fact as a radio talk show host he was pro choice as a matter of public policy.
It's silly to suggest that someone by sending their kids to Catholic School as Janet does (and by the way unlike a Republican or a conservative, does NOT ask for government money to do so!) they can't also be supportive of good public education. After all, plenty of people (including liberals voting in SF) send their kids to public school and would just as soon see the whole system abolished.
This mailer got more than a few laughs from Sunset parochial school parents. Rather than anti-Catholic, the mailer just reinforced what many parents - Catholic and otherwise - already knew. Janet's out of touch.
Many Catholic and non-Catholic parents struggle just to send their children to "middle-class" parochial schools. For many, parochial school isn't so much a decision as the only educational option in SF (just check out the series in this weekend's Chronicle). Is it silly to assert that a woman with no district political experience and who has little in common with its people, living in Seacliff with a child in an exclusive (not just any Catholic) school, is out of touch?
As a Catholic mother in the race's assembly district, I struggle at the prospect of sending my child to parochial school in a few years. Had I the option of public school, undaunted by the horror stories of the lottery system, I would likely take advantage of free schooling (gasp! what a concept).
I'm insulted by the Reilly campaign's efforts to politicize Mass and to think the city's Catholics are ignorant enough to rally behind her cry of anti-Catholicsm. Sure social justice issues like immigration rights are common topics within the Church, but only because they are relevant to the Church's core values. Janet Reilly is not, and should respect her fellow Catholics by not insulting their intelligence.
You are shocked about politics at mass, you must not attend frequently. Let's be upfront. This mailing was a blunder on the part of the Ma campaign. This is giving Janet Reilly a chance to connect with Catholic voters in this district in a way that is impossible for Ma.
As a graduate of SI, I was angry when I heard about this, and I am voting for Janet Reilly even though her positions on most issues are a little liberal for my taste.
Hmm...these charges of Janet being out of touch, that she's "too wealthy" and whatnot sound a LOT like the charges hurled at Nancy Pelosi when she ran for Congress in 1987. She had never run for office before, and the Guardian and her main opposition, elected officials, derided her as the "party girl of the Democratic party".
Years later, we see she ended up becoming Democratic Leader in the House of Reps and most Democrats seem to like her quite a bit, nationally and locally.
Now I don't know if Janet Reilly is another Nancy Pelosi, but it's just funny to hear all these charges, and see how much they echo the ones hurled in 1987...and it's also intersting how we in SF don't seem to mind men who don't have a lot of "experience" run for office, whereas women seem to be judged by another standard.
Speaking abut charity I think that there are many ways of giving direct help to people who are in need at the very moment and not giving funds to some institutions that may be fake.