Chronicle Attack Machine Targets Ron Dellums

The Chronicle’s pro De La Fuente campaign began on Sunday, April 30, when the paper endorsed De La Fuente nearly six weeks before the June 6 election. The paper argued that De La Fuente “had the best feel for the pulse of the city,” and better understood the role and limitations of government.

In contrast, the Chronicle charged that Dellums is “pushing a utopian vision.” The editorial specifically disparaged Dellums’ support for inclusionary housing and his promise “of bringing universal health care to his ‘model city.’”

The Chronicle concluded that while Dellums would be a fine “college president, secretary of state, or Washington lobbyist, ” De La Fuente is the “type of fully engaged, roll-up-the sleeves, answer-your –calls, prod-the-bureaucracy, pitch-the-city” mayor that Oakland needs.

The April 30 editorial laid out the basic themes for future news stories: De La Fuente is a guy who gets things done, while Dellums has his head in the clouds. Future news stories have careful followed these same themes..

In Christopher Heredia’s April 30 story (“Oakland Mayor Rivals each woo voters in own particular ways”), the candidates’ strengths are contrasted between “Dellums’ ability to inspire a crowd” and “De La Fuente’s nuts-and-bolts municipal know-how.”

The story then repeats the editorial’s view that Dellums is standoffish and utopian, saying “early on, Dellums recoiled at reporter’s questions, preferring to describe from podiums his vision of Oakland as a model city.”

Here’s some other excerpts from the Chronicle’s “news” story:

“While some have wondered whether Dellums really wants the job….there’s no doubt that De La Fuente wants to be mayor.”

“That plays well with some voters who aren’t convinced that Dellums’ experience in Congress means he knows how to run a city.”

“De La Fuente’s candor stands in contrast to Dellums…”

Two weeks later, Chronicle columnists Matier & Ross joined the Dellums-bashing. Their May 1 column, “Brooks’ city funds helped spur Dellums run,” implied that Oakland taxpayer dollars had been illegally used to benefit the Dellums campaign.

In truth, Brooks funded a series of concerts in an Oakland Park, and at these public events members of the Oakland Black Caucus staffed a “Draft Ron Dellums” table. Brooks can be criticized for how she spends her office accounts, but Ron Dellums name has been injected into the story solely to taint his candidacy.

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