The Coast News Group
49th Congressional District Democratic candidate Mike Levin speaks to a crowd at a meet and greet in Oceanside. Photo via Twitter
CarlsbadCitiesCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityCommunityDel MarEncinitasEscondidoNewsOceansideOceanside FeaturedRancho Santa FeRegionSan MarcosSolana BeachVista

Enthusiastic Democrats rally around Mike Levin at meet and greet

OCEANSIDE — On Aug. 13, more than 70 voters and activists attended a meet and greet for Mike Levin, the Democratic candidate in the all-important race for the 49th Congressional District. Joan and Mike Bullock, co-vice president and second vice president, respectively, of the Democratic Club of Carlsbad and Oceanside hosted the gathering at their home in Oceanside.

Joan Bullock spoke first, telling attendees that it was her idea to host the gathering because “ … Mike Levin’s campaign gives us hope.” Then Bob Spencer, former president of the club and self-described “senior volunteer” for the campaign introduced Levin.

“No one works harder than Mike Levin,” he said. “It’s so easy to work for a candidate that works this hard and I know that he’s going to work just as hard in Congress.”

When Levin took the mic he immediately got everyone pumped up by opening with a comparison between himself and Diane Harkey, the Republican challenger. “There couldn’t be a clearer contrast between what we believe is important,” he said. “We believe that truth matters. We believe that science matters. We want good health care, good schools, income equality. We don’t want dirty water and dirty air.”

Levin spoke at length about issues important to voters: specifically, taxes, health care costs, education, living wages, consumer protections, immigration and the environment. The crowd applauded when he mentioned his endorsements, including the recent Aug. 1 endorsement from former President Barack Obama.

“Fundamental decency will be a deciding factor in this election,” Levin said. “Americans are better than what we’re seeing now.” He went on to speak fondly about his grandmother, who he said always taught him that Americans appreciate our differences.

Following his remarks, Levin took questions from the audience that ranged from immigration policy to how his campaign will turn the Independent/Undecided voters to vote Democratic.

Levin described the administration’s immigration policy as being “ … nothing short of hateful.” He said that the DACA issue is a “No brainer. Right now we’ve taken the American dream and turned it into the American nightmare. When I get to Congress we will fight to pass the Dream Act.”

Levin expressed his confidence in garnering the Independent/Undecided vote. “We received 62 percent of the Independent vote in the primary. Just look at Trump’s popularity with Independents.”

But Levin made it clear that he is not taking anything for granted, saying that his campaign is working hard for every single vote and will be working hard right up to Election Day. “We’re at a crossroads in our history,” he said. “We must reject the tribalism and unite behind the principles we’re for.”

He ended the evening by telling the upbeat crowd: “We’ve got two elections to get this right. I tell my two children every day that these are the rules we live by: don’t bully, don’t discriminate and be prepared. We now have a bully in the White House who discriminates and is never prepared for anything. My opponent supports the president. We don’t. I will continue to talk about our values and what we stand for. Ultimately we represent the people.”

For more information on Democratic candidate Mike Levin, or to volunteer for his campaign visit: www.mikelevin.org.

For more information on Republican candidate Diane Harkey, or to volunteer for her campaign, visit: www.harkeyforcongress.com

1 comment

Peter Martin August 25, 2018 at 7:44 pm

My wife and I live in San Diego and did a short stint at canvassing for Mike in Oceanside. We would be interested to know if similar canvassing is planned for Solana Brach/Del Mar and vicinity.

Comments are closed.