patrick.net

It’s time for the Democrats to stop bashing President Trump.

It’s not going to be easy, given his policies and personality. It might even mean checking into a 12-step program. But setting a winning agenda is like maneuvering an aircraft carrier. It takes time to change course. And if they want to be on target for the November midterm elections, the Democrats need to start changing course now.


MOST POPULAR
In this Friday, April 13, 2018 photo, Patrick Arbore, left, talks to Corazon Leano as he conducts an anti-bullying class at the On Lok 30th Street Senior Center in San Francisco. Nursing homes, senior centers and other places older adults gather are confronting a problem long thought the domain of the young: Bullying. A surprising bullying battleground: Senior centers President Trump’s policies remain popular with many Americans, which means Democrats need to find a campaign strategy beyond just bashing him. Trump is more popular than Dems want to admit Aimee Navarro, 10, holds up a sign during a January hearing on rental housing legislation in Sacramento. New studies show deepening inequalities in housing and wages in the Bay Area. Editorial: The Bay Area’s housing crisis has become an emergency The Central and Wolfe complex, an office park under development, occupies 700,100 square feet in Sunnyvale. Apple has reportedly secured office space in the buildings. The scramble for Sunnyvale: Tech companies in ‘arms race’ for office space One person injects another with a syringe along Market Street last month outside an entrance to Civic Center BART Station, where drug us is common. SF police may start helping BART officers patrol troubled Civic Center Station Greg Gerstenberg, California Department of Fish and Wildlife senior biologist, picks up a trapped nutria at China Island. Eradication of invasive rodent off to a slow start in California Chinatown’s Sam Wo Restaurant opened shortly after the 1906 earthquake and soon became a staple. SF’s legacy restaurants hang on amid changing tastes
Like it or not, a significant number of Americans are actually happy these days. They are making money. They feel safe, and they agree with with the president’s protectionist trade policies, his call for more American jobs, even his immigration stance.

The jobs growth reports, the North Korea summit and the steady economy are beating out the Stormy Daniels scandal and the Robert Mueller investigation in Middle America, hands down.

MORE FROM WILLIE BROWN
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he arrives at Dallas Love Field Airport on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images Trump’s only hope is to keep quiet and dodge Mueller The Governor of California, Jerry Brown, speaks at a meeting with the Prime Minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, at the New Palace in Stuttgart, Germany, on November 7, 2017. (Sina Schuldt/DPA/Abaca Press/TNS) How Jerry Brown pulled a fast one on Trump FILE- In this Wednesday, April 11, 2018, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Zuckerberg repeatedly assured lawmakers Tuesday and Wednesday that he didn’t believe the company violated its 2011 agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to overhaul its privacy practices. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Facebook’s Zuckerberg smooth-talked Congress
So you are not going to win back the House by making it all about him.

Rather than stoking the base by attacking Trump, Democrats need to come up with a platform that addresses the average voters’ hopes and concerns. Not just the needs of underdogs or whatever cause happens to be the media flavor of the week.

Democrats need to look like the adults, not like another pack of screaming kids on the playground.

And they need to start now.

Besides, when it comes to bashing Trump, Donald is doing just fine on his own.

Who’s No. 2? Despite an $8.5 million helping hand from charter school advocates, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s gubernatorial run has yet to gain the momentum needed to land him in one of the top two spots in the June 5 primary and put him in the fall runoff.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to have a lock on first place, and I still think Villaraigosa will come out ahead of the two other Democrats in the race, state Treasurer John Chiang and former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin.


But I’m not sure he can garner more votes than the two major Republicans who are running, businessman John Cox and Assemblyman Travis Allen.

Given Newsom’s high name ID and multimillion-dollar campaign fund, Villaraigosa was always going to have a difficult time of it. Charter school supporters tried to help by spending millions on TV commercials promoting Villaraigosa’s record in Los Angeles on jobs and education. Unfortunately, the result was a five-point drop in the latest polls.

Meanwhile, Allen and Cox appear to be rising. If either one can unite conservatives before the primary, Villaraigosa is done.

Sing out: The Oakwood University Choir gave a spectacular concert the other night at the Third Baptist Church in the Western Addition.

After the concert, the Rev. Amos Brown was talking about a problem: The city Department of Elections had decided to close its polling station at the church for the June election. It seems that the church’s parking lot is at such an angle that wheelchair access has become an issue.

That’s certainly a problem. Still, it’s not a great idea from a PR standpoint to close any polling station in the black community when one of the candidates running for mayor is African American.

So they came up with a solution. The community anti-violence group United Playaz will staff the parking lot and assist anyone with a mobility issue.

Later, I attended an event hosted by the Playaz at which founder Rudy Corpuz Jr. introduced five of its members.

“Together they represent a combined 100 years in jail,” Corpuz said. “For murder.”


He added, “But they aren’t murdering anymore.”

I suppose that qualifies them for volunteering at the polls.

Movie time: “Bad Samaritan,” good movie.

I loved this film. It’s about a pair of valet parking attendants who burglarize customers’ homes, until things go very wrong during one break-in.

No romance, no big-name stars, lots of high-tech intrigue. If promoted, it could be a winner. At the screening I attended, I had the place to myself.

For art’s sake: Former City Attorney Louise Renne tangled with Dede Wilsey on the Fine Arts Museums board, but it was all peace at the lunch to raise money for the school of the arts being planned at the old Commerce High School on Van Ness Avenue.

The divas and donors gathered at Piperade to come up with a plan to raise the final $100 million to make the arts school a reality.

I already have a plan: Her name is Dede. You may not like how she does it, but she does get the job done.

Cruise control: Got into a taxi the other day, and the cabbie promptly introduced himself as “Cadillac Jack.”

“I’ve owned 29 Cadillacs, all of them new,” he said, and proceeded to tell me about each and every one of them as we drove across town.

Finally I had to ask.

“How old are you?”

“Sixty,” he said.

“How did you manage to go through 29 Cadillacs?”

“Well, you know, if you don’t pay for them, they take ’em back.”

Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com