Pete Aguilar is A “Phony Democrat” Says Howie Klein

  • Republican Congressman Gary Miller is easy pickings
  • Represents San Bernadino
  • Is a “lunatic” says our guest Down With Tyranny’s Howie Klein
  • DCCC hopes to challenge Miller by running “a phony Democrat” says Howie Klein
  • Elois Reyes should get the Democratic Party’s nomination say Klein.

Howie Klein is the founder and Treasurer of the Blue America PAC, which raises money for progressive candidates throughout America. He also writes the Down With Tyranny blog.

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David: Howie Klein, the mid-terms are this year. You write that the single most vulnerable, Republican Congressional seat in America is California 31, located right here in San Bernardino, California. Republican Congressman Gary Miller holds that seat.

Congressman Steve Israel runs the DCCC. Howie Klein says Israel is way too conservative and has no idea how to help the Democratic Party win back the House.

Congressman Steve Israel runs the DCCC. Howie Klein says Israel is way too conservative and has no idea how to help the Democratic Party win back the House.

Howie: Gary Miller is a very, very wealthy realtor from Arkansas, and he came to California to take part in Civil War reenactments. He plays a Confederate general in Civil War reenactments. He’s become very, very rich. He’s a really corrupt guy. He’s been a Congressman for a long time, although not in that district. He got redistricted out of his own district and thrown into this district. It’s a minority-majority district. So most of the people in the district are either Latinos, Asians, or African Americans. So you would think that a Democrat would win there.

David: You write on your Down With Tyranny blog that he’s a lunatic. Is he a lunatic because he reenacts Civil War battles as a Confederate soldier? Why is he a lunatic?

Howie: He’s in one of the most heavily Latino districts in America and is vehemently anti-immigration reform. He’s against Social Security. He wants to repeal Medicare. This guy is from another generation, from another decade, from another century. He’s very, very, very not California. I mean, I don’t even know that he belongs in a backwood district in Arkansas.

Congressman Gary Miller is a "lunatic" according to our guest Howie Klein

Congressman Gary Miller is a “lunatic” according to our guest Howie Klein

David: The DCCC, the more centrist Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, run by your good friend Congressman Steve Israel, is once again running Pete, is it Aguilar? How do you pronounce it?

Howie: Don’t worry. He wouldn’t be able to pronounce it anyway. He doesn’t speak a word of Spanish.

David: Your Blue America PAC is running Eloise Reyes in the upcoming primary. Who is Eloise Reyes?

Howie: She’s from Colton, California. She’s a community activist and the first woman Latina to start her own law firm in the inland empire. She comes from a large family. She and her brothers and sisters were literally picking onions with her family to go through school. And she put herself through law school as well and then started a firm in Colton. And now she’s running for Congress. She is a Progressive. That is in great contrast to Pete Aguilar. He would call himself a Moderate. I would say he’s a Conservative.

David: The DCCC in the primary will be running Pete Aguilar. I read the Cook Political Report, Howie. It’s the most trusted name in government. Pete Aguilar also, according to the Cook Political Report, he pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He’s Hispanic. He worked in the City of Redlands cafeteria and Redlands youngest elected councilman ever. So he obviously comes from poverty, according to the Cook Political Report, the most trusted name in government. He has a deep connection to working families. Sounds to me he’s a Democrat who can win. What’s your problem with Pete Aguilar?

The DCCC hopes to run Pete Aguilar even though Aguilar is a phony Democrat according to Howie Klein.

The DCCC hopes to run Pete Aguilar even though Aguilar is a phony Democrat according to Howie Klein.

Howie: So the Cook Report is really only good for one thing, and that’s for telling you what’s going to happen in an election that took place the day before. They really got the story wrong about Aguilar. I don’t even know where to start. You ask so many questions, and you are wrong, they are wrong about every one of them.

David: Okay. First of all, he’s the youngest councilman ever elected in the city of Redlands.

Howie: Well, let’s start with the fact that he wasn’t elected. He was appointed. The City Council of Redlands, which is all Republicans, needed a fake Democrat who would go along with all their crazy ideas, so that they could claim to be bipartisan. So they picked a bank lobbyist, Pete Aguilar. As a bank lobbyist, was giving money to Republicans and wound up helping to drive that bank, the Arrowhead Bank, into bankruptcy. So he was appointed to the City Council. And he also says that he is the mayor. Well, he is the mayor, but he was appointed as well. He is the frontman for these Republican real estate interests, who control the city council.

David: He must come from poverty.

Howie: His father is a somewhat wealthy, gas industry executive. So he does not come from poverty. And then you had also said something about him being Hispanic. Meanwhile, the DCCC is looking desperately to find a tutor to teach him Spanish, since he can’t speak Spanish and has been challenged to debate in Spanish and can’t do that.

David: DCCC ran him two years ago, correct?

Howie: That’s right, and he lost because he can’t relate to the people there.

Howie Klein's Blue Americas PAC wants Eloise Reyes to get the Democratic Party's nomination instead of Aguilar.

Howie Klein’s Blue Americas PAC wants Eloise Reyes to get the Democratic Party’s nomination instead of Aguilar.

David: You know, you’re being a little rough on the guy. According to the Cook Political Report, the reason he lost two years ago was he was mourning the death of his father.

Howie: Yes, he did tell that to the Cook Report, and it was confirmed to them by Steve Israel, the head of the DCCC. But guess what? There’s a guy named Herman Aguilar, who happens to be Pete Aguilar’s father, and is campaigning for him right now. He isn’t dead. He was never dead. You know what? Maybe he was dead. But if he was dead, he came back to life, because he’s alive now, and he’s doing fine.

David: So the Cook Report did correct that, right?

Howie: They did not correct it. Of course they didn’t correct it. Go to the Cook Report, and they report that he lost his election because his father died and he was too distraught to campaign. But his father is alive and campaigning for him right now.

David: Howie Klein, the most trusted name in government and politics. He is the founder and Treasurer of the Blue America PAC, and his Down With Tyranny blog is a must-read. Thank you, Howie Klein.

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