. . . and spends time with San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention (SD4GVP).
During his recent swing through Southern California, the Democratic presidential hopeful scheduled a campaign event at the home of Wendy Wheatcroft. Wendy is not only running her own campaign for San Diego City Council District 7, but she is co-founder of SD4GVP and state lead for Moms Demand Action. Michael Bloomberg co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns and later pledged $50 million of his own money to Everytown for Gun Safety, so for both candidates the overlap is compelling.
How many politically interested citizens can you fit in a back yard?
About a hundred, it turns out. And you still have enough room for camera crews from five local media organizations.
Speaking from a stage set up in Wendy’s back yard, Bloomberg stressed the need for sensible gun laws and talked about the work he did during his tenure as mayor of New York City. He’s pleased with the progress California has made in passing and enforcing laws that have kept the state low on the list of per-capita gun deaths.
The event drew attendees from SD4GVP and local chapters of Brady United, Moms Demand Action, Team Enough and San Diego’s Community Assistance Support Team (CAST).
It was a hurried afternoon of selfies, handshakes, hair-trigger timing and smiles for the camera (including the one with us, above). Bloomberg was unflappable, personable and on message through it all. You could say he did all the things that a typical presidential candidate does.
Except one: He didn’t ask anybody for money.
That was refreshing.
John White is a volunteer with San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention.
Photo credit: SD4GVP