PALM SPRINGS — In the words of children’s author, Judith Viorst, Joy Silver has had terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
It was a week when the hits kept on coming.
First, the Democratic nominee for state Senate District 28 and a team of supporters walked into a highly sensitive meeting for the Filipino-American community and communities of color to learn more and give feedback about the Palm Springs Redistricting Process. Those familiar with her appearance said the group entered like a political “flash mob.”
Though she was invited, Silver got bad advice and did not thoroughly vet the invite. The Filipino-American residents gathered for the educational session were offended at her vote grab at their expense.
Then, event scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 16th, at 849 Restaurant in Palm Springs in support of Silver was abruptly postponed. Her campaign said it was due to a conflict of interest; others say she has bled the well dry in Palm Springs.
Silver was verbally pummeled by her Republican opponent’s campaign for loaning herself $50,ooo and spending more than $80,000 on campaign consultants.
It looked bad as she continues to tout how she has outpaced incumbent Sen. Jeff Stone in fundraising.
On Friday, a mailer surfaced referring to Silver as a “bankrupt business swindler.” The mailer encouraged voters, “Don’t be fooled by Joy …”
The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day did not end there for Silver.
Also on Friday, Stone released results of a poll that show he has a commanding lead over Silver.
Without hearing any information about either Sen. Stone or Silver, Stone was leading Joy Silver by more than 13 percent (36.8 percent to 23.5 percent), according to Stone Among the most likely voters, the initial ballot question showed Stone with an even larger lead — 16.2 percent (40.2 percent for Stone compared with 24.0 percent for Silver).
On its face, that’s bad news for the Silver camp.
After the initial ballot question was asked, voters were given information about the records of both Stone and Silver, according to Stone’s news release. After learning more about each candidate, Stone ended up with 52.3 percent of the vote compared with Silver’s 18.5 percent — a 33.8 percent lead.
The survey, conducted by the Lewis Consulting Group between Sept. 6, 2018 and Sept. 11, 2018, asked 400 individuals in the 28th Senate District about their positions on issues facing California as well as the upcoming election between Stone and Silver.
“It is clear that Sen. Stone is well-known in his district, and the voters are reacting to his positive work in Sacramento on behalf of taxpayers, crime victims and working families who struggle to make ends meet,” Stone’s political consultant Andre Levesque said in a prepared statement.
Other observations from the survey include the fact that housing and homelessness are leading issues (36 percent name this issue as the top issue of concern). Illegal immigration was chosen by 25 percent of voters as the top issue of concern followed by taxes and transportation.
“Jeff Stone has an aggressive campaign to reinforce his record of accomplishments in his years of public service and a plan to educate the people about his opponent’s record as a so-called expert of housing,” Levesque said. “We look forward to a spirited campaign where both candidates can talk about their records and results instead of relying on cheap rhetoric and tired platitudes.”
That’s what Viorst would describe as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
