First the hit and run and now placing signs without permission. What's wrong with this man?

"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."

Is it worth wondering why this was done to just Indian homeowners? Is there a list of Indian homeowners in Palo Alto that has been targeted? Just because someone is from the same ethnicity does not follow that all people of that ethnicity will support that particular candidate.

Call out the national Guard....

it's amazing at how the establishment machinery works. Anna needs to voluntarily retire and let smaller trees get some sunlight. Finding tactical issues with lawn signs and using it to slam a grassroot campaign. I know few people who asked for lawn signs and few said no. it's a simple issue. Anna please do better.

Running for office is a tough job. These attack strategies are part and parcel of politics. But if you need to put lawn signs, i welcome both Anna and Rishi to my home. And also Sriram Sankar’s if he plans to run for the office. Nothing in this world belongs to us. We are all brothers and sisters. God bless Anna Rishi Sriram Sankar and neighbours and families and their extended families. God bless America!

I have been a conservative all my life and am a registered republican. I am sick of this non-sense democratic establishment throws. They do not believe in doing real work. They would slam the president by impeachment when they can get their act together and defeat him (too much work , sic) or now slamming a democratic challenger with a non-sense issue.
I would be a democrat on my dead body but still vote for Rishi who cares about local issues like rapid transportation. Do I care for war in Syria, no. Do I care about federal funding for hyperloop in bay area. Yes.

> Do I care about federal funding for hyperloop in bay area. Yes.

What? Some fantasy drawn up on the back of a napkin? Did the definition of 'conservative' change overnight? That's a radical big government fantasy.

> They do not believe in doing real work

As a fellow conservative, even I have to belittle this attitude. Hours upon hours of testimony about corruption is our country's "real work". You and I loved the Hilary Clinton pre-impeachment hearings, but don't want to fight corruption when it's on 'our' side?

Web Link

Y'all need to re-calibrate your Partisanship over to Patriotism.

I would urge Anna to gracefully retire and let the best person get elected. We have 1 democrat, 2 Republicans and 1 Libertarian running. All great candidates and want to help the district.
Anna served the district for 3 decades and can guide whoever get elected to serve the district even better.

Some people need to practice close reading. Nowhere in this article did it say that Anna Eshoo had anything to do with the mini-scandal about Mr. Kumar's team putting up lawn signs without the residents' permission.

Obviously people have a right to run against Anna in the primary or as the candidate of another party. However, I dislike the insinuation that someone having been in Congress for many years needs to bow out. Years spent in Congress build up alliances and contacts that enable that member to get things done for our district.

8 lawn signs? What a huge story?

I asked Rishi Kumar if he was in favor of impeachment of President Trump at Palo Alto Farmers Market. Rishi said YES! Multiple emails were sent to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo asking why she was not in favor of impeachment. Never got any answers. Anna Eshoo will only follow what she is asked of her. Also Anna Eshoo does what the healthcare lobbyists tell Anna to do. We need independent leaders that will do the right thing for the people. We need 28 YEAR VETERAN ANNA ESHOO OUT, PROGRESSIVE RISHI KUMAR IN!

I LIKE RISHI THE CHALLENGER
Yes, Rishi’s team made a mistake with the lawn sign. But Rishi is showing character by not pointing blame. Is this much ado about nothing by Palo Alto weekly for 8 lawn signs? There are more important issues. Why haven’t they covered Rishi’s run since early last year when he is a serious challenger? Anna started hosting her town hall meetings after Rishi announced his run and I started receiving invitations. Huh?

oh boy, Dems in Disarray! Let me grab some popcorn! Maybe the poster above is a Bernie Bro who voted against Hillary and got President Trump elected. Good job!

> why she was not in favor of impeachment

She voted for impeachment. Her statement:



December 19th, 2019

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo voted to adopt two Articles of Impeachment:

Madam Speaker, I rise today to defend our Constitution and our democracy by voting for the two Articles of Impeachment.

The words of our sacred oath define our duty, and those words must be kept. Our Founders’ primal fear was that powerful members of our government would become, in Hamilton’s words: “mercenary instruments of foreign corruption.”

President Trump abused the powers of the presidency by ignoring and injuring national security and other vital national interests to obtain an improper personal benefit. He also betrayed our nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting democratic elections.

Article Two I agree with because it details the obstruction of Congress by the President by directing unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by this House of Representatives and [abusing] the powers of the presidency in a manner subversive to the Constitution.

Posted by LAWN SIGNS...NOT IMPEACH

>> Multiple emails were sent to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo asking why she was not in favor of impeachment.

You are extremely uninformed about the issues and candidates. Do you think that CAPITAL LETTERS help?

You also seem to suffer from ageism. Issues, candidate character, and judgement are what count, not age. Anna Eshoo has an excellent record on supporting human rights and political freedom. Rare in today's political climate.

I agree with other posters. Democratic party establishment is a joke. I think what the person who posted about impeachment meant was, that Anna was not for impeachment until she was. Basically she has no independent thinking but just follows Nancy. If Nancy asks her to jump ....
Btw I like Phil Reynolds, a grassroot neighborhood activist from Campbell.

Anybody but Anna. 700,000 Opioid related deaths in America and our elected leaders did not do a thing. Anna chairs the House Health Subcommittee. She could have done a lot. But she kept increasing the price of drugs with her legislation, and protecting Big Pharma revenue. Yes, that is the elected leaders we need...for sure. Anna please find a new job

I love this theater between democrats and republicans. I am a hardcore libertarian and I would vote for Bob Goodwyn. I do not stand for Anna, I stand for Ayn Rand. Love that in this race: two democrats and two republicans will fight and libertarians will prevail.

> and libertarians will prevail

When's that last time a libertarian got over ten percent?

I liked Ayn Rand until I realized the russian spoke against big government but then gladly took medicare and social security benefits from the taxpayers.

But that's cool. We know libertarians are solid republican votes when it matters*. Libertarians are just selfish republicans that don't want to pay taxes, obey traffic signs and want weed legalized. They grow up eventually.

Welcome to the big red tent.

(*and it never matters in CA anymore, anyway.)

I am looking for a good reference which provides comparison of what the 4 challenger candidates have done so far in their public life i.e. Rishi, Bob, Phil, Richard. It would be good to make an informed choice coming primaries. Good news is that we have choice to choose best 2 out of 4 not 1.

If Rishi is for impeachment then he is out from where I sit. There is no legal basis for impeachment. You can't make it up no matter how hard you try - and how much taxpayer money you waste on it. The people who get most excited about all of this are first generation Americans who come from very troubled countries that are awash in internal bickering. Those people come here and continue their bickering because that is all they know. The D party has allowed the Squad to dominate their political outlook. Look at how much money is spent on foreign support - all of that blows back with people promising things/money to other countries at a low level with no congressional approval. Anna knows her roots and works within her ability to work real issues for America.

Anna is definitely for impeachment who has the power and platform. Hope dems focus on defeating Trump (Mission Impossible) rather than impeachment (Mission impossible).

The leader of impeachment sits in an LA congressional district that has the most residents from former soviet countries. Anna knows that. What their biggest fear is that DT is focusing on reducing foreign aid and blocking the transition of relatives between the former soviet states and the US - Burbank, Glendale, etc. Your other congressional leaders who are first generation Americans whose parents came from troubled countries also understand that - Jackie Spier. If you want to know who the Russian Connection is then go no further than the Burbank Congressman who does promotional ads for their charities. Foreign Aid is the underlining torch lighting their fires.
You can also look at Santa Clara County where the city of Milpitas had a major conflagration between the North and South Vietnamese - whose flag would be outside the city hall. They gave up on that - no foreign country flags on US government properties.
Then you can look at the conflagration concerning Visas to bring in people from foreign countries who displace American workers. So many fires going on that are the result of misplaced people. Start asking your D candidates about that topic.
What needs to happen is to promote growth in troubled countries so that the residents want to stay and build their own countries up.

> in an LA congressional district that has the most residents from former soviet countries.

Cool stat - Link? Seems like we can look at a LOT of CA congress members and find their districts are flooded with people of non-California origins.

> the Russian Connection is then go no further than the Burbank Congressman who does promotional ads for their charities

Interesting. Is any of this covered in the Russian section of the DOJ report? Any other IC reports?

Charities are a big scam, right? We see it all the time.

As a Saratoga Resident you should first examine Rishi's playbook there where he is on the Council and it is not a pretty sight. An upstanding individual would not stoop so low. That is the pattern he has established. In 2015 he touted that he raised $10,000 for the Saratoga Senior Center and then gave a check for $500. Where did that money go? He never responded to our inquiries. Then, in 2016 he obtained the Registrar of voters list for Saratogans and created a database of those who did not opt-in. Many requested to be removed and were ignored (including my daughter). Recently he was involved in a vehicular hit and run in which he plead not guilty but then was found guilty by the court for his negligence. Now, he is placing lawn signs on residents' property without their permission. WHEN SOMEONE SHOWS YOU WHO THEY ARE, BELIEVE THEM. He apparently works under the mantra that forgiveness is easier than permission.

@ Been In Palo Alto, Seen It All - Rishi blamed his volunteers for the lawn sign mistake. That is clearly stated in the article. He also blamed local students for the 95% discrepancy in the donation to the Saratoga Senior Center in 2015 after claiming he raised $10,000 and then giving $500. Its his pattern. You just don't know him yet.

[Post removed due to same poster using multiple names]

[Post removed due to same poster using multiple names]

I am a saratoga resident. If you want to know the true color of Rishi, please ask anyone from Saratoga.

From Rishi’s previous elections, “putting up his sign without informing home owners” happened every single time! For someone like Rishi who ran two city council elections in the past still made mistakes like this, it’s really unbelievable! It’s his excuses/tricks to put blame on his student or inexperienced volunteers when something happens. Without Rishi’s permissions, do you think any volunteers dared to do this??

Of course, people make mistakes. We all deserve second chance. But how about the person (Rishi) who always make ‘the same mistake’ during election seasons?? Is this an unintentional mistake or not? The answer would be up to you.

In response to "Local Level Info".
I found Rishu's posting on nextdoor that explains everything.
I really like Rishu's effort to help Saratoga Seniors.
He has actually contributed more than $10k in 4 years of the fund-raiser.
From this line below is Rishu's email response.
Saratoga's got Talent 2015:
What is Saratoga's got Talent? It was a fundraiser for Saratoga Seniors I launched in 2012, to help the senior center which was having financial issues based on discussions with President Mark Chapman then

The revenue number I had stated (for 2015) was $7874. Here is the break out that I had sent to at least a board member or two back in 2015/2016 based on questions
Total Revenue: $7874
Total Expense: $7352
Total Profit: $522 - this was the check handed out to SASCC

The senior center was not happy as we had handed out a total of at least $10,000 (don't have the exact number) from the Saratoga's got Talent we ran in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Given the strong expectations and unhappiness from the Saratoga Senior Center with the $522 contribution, I decided to terminate the Saratoga's got Talent annual competition.

****INCOME
Ticket Revenue from paypal $1,872
Sponsorships $2,000
Cash collection at door (food + tickets) $744
IN-KIND INCOME
*Tech Museum Voucher $100
*Guitar Showcase Vouchers $935
*Free SASCC Rental based on SCF's 4th year contribution $787
*Perfect Click In-Kind Contribution $500
*Flyer design Cheng-Chi-Lee In-Kind Contr $200
*Water by Alameda Funeral Cremation $80
*Gift Cert from Businesses given as awards $656
****TOTAL $ RAISED $7,874

****EXPENSE
Trophies $502
INSURANCE + BOD Insurance $2,066
Food expenses $647
Sound management company $550
Facebook ads $119
Plaques for Certificates $10
FIRST PRIZE 13+ award Check $200
IN-KIND EXPENSE (TO BALANCE OUT IN-KIND INCOME)
*Tech Museum cert to winners $100
*Guitar Showcase Vouchers to winners $935
Community Center Rental $787
*Perfect Click Pictures $500
*Cheng-Chi-Lee Flyer Design $200
*Alameda Funeral Cremation Water $80
*Gifts for judges + Prizes to winners $656
***TOTAL EXPENSE $7,352

It's funny Anna attack machine is calling a stop sign violation level incident Hit and Run. Someone who took over $7M pharma money and is responsible for 700,000 opioid deaths will obviously do these silly things. San Jose insider is a prime example of yellow journalism. They wrote two news articals but never explained the final outcome.
read this article:
Web Link

I am a Saratoga resident. You should all know that Rishi last year beat the Saratoga mayor in the election. The most votes in city election history. He is the only council member who does any work of substance. He challenged the water company and 10 rate increases were rejected. He came to my neighborhood to discuss crime. He dropped Saratoga burglaries by over 50 percent. Talk to anyone in Saratoga (except Anna's stooges), we all love him here. I can guarantee, once he is elected, he will do great things for the congressional district.
I am not sure why he is being attacked. Just because he is David, the underdog.

[Post removed due to same poster using multiple names]

I am a Campbell resident and I agree with "Democrats no more". Democrats have trashed the state of California.
I have seen Phil Reynolds's work and how passionate he is.
My vote is for Phil and I urge you to do the same.
I am happy Anna and Rishi's supporters are squabbling. Let's turn this district red.

Republicans know they are pushing Americans into policies that no one supports, and they do not have popular support. So they have swarmed the Internet with bots and trolls worldwide ( search for propaganda on the Australian fires ), they are taking voters off the voter roles, and playing all manner of dirty tricks.

They are even enlisting establishment Democrats to take down their more Progressive members with surreptitious means. Since Republicans get nowhere because they are the ones who cause the huge deficits, they move into the Democratic Party if only to make it look bad and hobble it so they can continue to the government is bad meme.

This guy is a fake candidate aimed at smearing the Democratic party with things like this. Who else would employ such tactics? Certainly do not vote for him, but the fake meme that all the problems in California are caused by Liberals has been disproven again and again.

I love Rishi’s candidacy. He is running for the people. Congresswoman Eshoo has accepted the most Pharma money in the United States and persists in passing legislation that increases the price of healthcare. Rishi is a Progressive, he believes in Medicare for All, No PAC money which Congresswoman Eshoo does not. That is the reason I am going to vote for RIshi. Who the **** cares about 8 lawn signs there are bigger challenges in our district and America.

I have been a Palo Alto resident for more than 20 years, and I've followed this forum for over a decade. I can count on my hand the number of times I have seen screen names written in all caps. PA Online allows anonymous posts because they spur debate, but undisclosed electioneering by the Kumar campaign is exactly what I would expect given the content of this article. Deny, smear, and whataboutism seem to be the orders of the day, but no progressive with an ounce of self respect would engage in this kind of dishonest behavior.

There's nothing wrong with sharing your opinion here, but if you've been asked to do so by a political candidate, you ought to say so. If you are employed by a political candidate, you ought to say so. It really is that simple.

@Hmmm, excellent observation about all caps screen names. Since PA Online knows and calls out when a poster is using multiple names, they must be tracking IP addresses or whatever. Along with clicks on the "Like" button. A few of the early anti-Eshoo comments here have hundreds of "Likes". Must be an interesting distribution of where they all came from. I'll respectfully and carefully refrain from speculating here, abiding by the site's Terms of Use.

Anyone else suspicious of the pro-Rishi comments on this article and think they might have been created by Rishi's campaign? They all appear incredibly fishy, and I would encourage the Palo Alto Online staff to look into them.

Why, I can't imagine how some posts get so many likes so darn fast...

It's a wonder.

I guess it must be all the voters that powered Trump to victory in Santa Clara county in 2016.

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gaming of clicks is going on in here!

(serves me right for not being -- musical)

One thing I know is that anything Rishi Kumar does, he does not deserve it. How dare he is running against an establishment candidate. He is colored. He does not have (pretending to be) mainstream media like san jose insider on his side.
If you guys have problem with his demographics then say that.
We are talking about diversity at the white house. How about diversity in CD18. I know, I know. You would say white house is OK, tech companies are OK but at home we need the choice we are comfortable with, who looks like us, talks like us. A colored candidate who practices different faith, no way.
Wake up folks. Look inside your heart what you are doing.

Ahhh, the Embarcadero facade of anonymity slowly falls a away to reveal that @musical is, in fact....

Claude Rains.

Rishi's campaign put up a sign on my lawn without my permission. They said they texted me twice, I did not see those texts. When I asked them to let me know the number they sent the texts to .. they ignored me. They need to realize that getting a text may incur charges for the recipient .. they ignored that

I took the sign down immediately and contacted them to take the sign away. They ignored it. After two weeks, the sign found its way into my recycle bin on the trash collection day.

Good riddance.

A wink is as good as a nod, eh? I am sure that many of you have been targeted with the same paid political advertisement by the Kumar campaign on Facebook. Referencing this thread, he lists some of the "most liked comments." Unsurprisingly, he does not include Fast Index Fingers Make Fast Clicks' comments therein.

When asked in a comment on the advertisement to confirm that his campaign was not involved in comments on this article, he responded thus:

Private Citizen:
"Hey Rishi Kumar for Congress 2020, could you confirm that these posts were not made by someone connected with your campaign? There are some other comments on the article pointing out that the screen names and talking points are all very similar and appear to have been made by the same poster."

The Kumar Campaign:
"...our campaign team has been directed to do 2 things: #1. Canvassing and #2. Phone banking. Hundreds of our volunteers are focused and pushing hard with these 2 objectives as we run up towards March 3rd. Time is of the essence and we are ignoring all attacks that are directed to us."

I guess placing yard signs on private property without permission is what passes for 'canvassing' in Mr. Kumar's opinion. Still, the larger issue is this:

It is my experience that generally only the guilty view a request for comment as an attack. If they could have truthfully denied it, they had every opportunity to do so. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the Kumar campaign is attempting to manipulate discussion on this thread. Frankly, that's absolutely shameful, and I am sure that Palo Alto Online is but the tip of the sordid iceberg.

Astroturfing is the practice of feigning a grassroots movement for political gain. It is dishonest, duplicitous, and morally bankrupt. Campaigns that engage voters with these tactics perpetrate a fraud on the public, and affront our democracy.

I note that Mr. Kumar has not taken a position on campaign finance reform, or on laws which would ban astroturfing, among other deceitful campaign practices. Perhaps this would be a prudent time for him to do so--he can announce his policy right under his denial.

WOW - Did someone accuse this district as lacking diversity? On one blog we are discussing languages taught in the school system, on other is the past the number of people on work visas. And now in the school system blog they are reporting on the number of Russians living in the district. And they used to teach the Russian Language in the school system? Now that is relevant since the Russian Connection is alive and well in CA. You don't have to go to Russia - you can sit in your home and blog away.
As to Rishi he is becoming to sound like the Squad. The Squad ladies come from struggling countries and are first generation Americans who cannot assimilate in to the US culture - they keep fighting what ever war their home countries have been fighting for centuries. That appears to be a part of their DNA.
We need to know more about Rishi's background to make him worthy of comment and political progression..

Resident 1-Adobe Meadows

It sure seems like most of you posts include Hillary, Obama or the 'Squad', no matter what the subject of the post. As the kids say: "they're living rent-free in your head" - you should talk to someone about that!

I never hear about them except from you and Fox. At least Fox doesn't outright lie about them like you do.

"The Squad ladies come from struggling countries" They are living in the heads of a lot of xenophobes, aren't they?

Three of the four were born here in our great country.

And quit the con - you'll never vote for Rishi, or any Dem. Loser.

As a fellow conservative, I've never understood why we are so concerned about 'the squad'.

We should be patiently explaining conservative principles and offering substantiated facts, not get caught up on some Fox conspiracy about unimportant people. Fox tends to treat it's viewers like they're in 6th grade - oh look, mean girls!!! Be afraid of the bullies!!!

Ideas matter.

I'm not Indian and have been receiving emails from Rishi, never signed up for them, finally unsubscribed.

Lydia Kuo did the same thing with posting signs in front of houses without permission.

If politicians don't have the brains to realize that this angers people, they don't deserve my vote.

I sincerely doubt Lydia Kuo planted unrequested signs on people's lawns.

In fact, her people were rigorous in telling people it was illegal to put signs on the lawn strips next to the street and to move all their signs onto the lawns on the house side of the sidewalks.

As with the ADUs, Lydia tries to do the right thing, get people answers and educate us. She doesn't toss around unsubstantiated claims and accusations.

@Online name - You think I'm lying? The sign was on my property, yes, next to my house side of the sidewalk, still ON MY PROPERTY WITHOUT CONSENT.

That still doesn't mean Lydia or her staff put the sign there. Her staff clearly explained the law re why they were moving my signs from my parking strip to my lawn.

@Online Name - So who put Lydia Kou's sign on our property? An opponent to upset people? Nice conspiracy theory. It was on my property without consent. Moot point anyway. I think Lydia is worn down, will not go another round.

...like someone putting a bumper sticker on your car representing a candidate you do not support or detest.

Posted by the horrors...., a resident of Barron Park

>> As a fellow conservative, I've never understood why we are so concerned about 'the squad'.

I guess by "conservative" you mean the streams of thought that converged with, say, Edmund Burke? Web Link

That stream more or less dried up with conservatives like Eisenhower. Starting with William F. Buckley, Jr., and Barry Goldwater, "conservatism" began to incorporate Right-Wing Authoritarianism more and more, culminating with Donald Trump, who is pretty much the opposite of a Burke-style conservative. Trump loves "the squad" (as a target) because Trump's base does not like freedom or diversity. "Conservative" is basically an obsolete word from the political science standpoint now, because it means the opposite of what it used to mean.

Rishi is a NIMBY. Sorry, anyone who doesn't want to solve the housing crisis won't get my vote.

Having an "opt-out" process for putting up lawn signs on private property is unacceptable.

To the Conservative posters in this group who keep blah blahing about an illegal impeachment - Too bad Trump got caught, blackmailing a foreign president to interfere in the most sacred exercise in our democracy - the Presidential elections. It's unfathomable that you would trust this pathological liar, and bully-in-chief. Were you sleeping when he crawled before Putin and could not look him in the eye and call him out for election meddling despite all our intelligence agencies categorically comfirming that Russia did meddle? His own chief of staff and UN ambassador confirmed the quid pro quo. You actually believe Trump over all those career civil servants with years of distinguished service? If Trump was innocent why was Bolton not allowed to testify? Let’s see Trump’s history for his credibility

- Trump who ran a fake university preying on poor people, and settled for $25M When sued.

- Trump who hounded Obama for years claiming he wasn’t born in the US, only to suddenly declare that he WAS without any explanation as to why he lied.

- Trump who boasted about grabbing women’s genitals without permission.

- Trump who is being accused of rape by 25 women.

- Trump who publicly asked Russia and China to meddle in our elections.

- Trump, who has an extra-marital affair with a porn star, then paid her off to not talk during his campaign.

There's plenty more..