Voice of OC Pledged Feature on DPOC After OCGOP Article: Where Did it Go?
Posted by Chris Nguyen on September 6, 2012
On Thursday, August 16, with great fanfare, the Voice of OC published the OC GOP’s candidate endorsement questionnaire under the headline “Just What is an OC Republican?”
The article notes, “While the questions are intended to vet local candidates for local offices, many focus on ideology as well as on national issues.”
It also states:
While party leaders insist the questions are not a “litmus test” for candidates, they are illustrative about what central committee members want to see in elected officials.
“It’s designed to philosophically reveal where a person is coming from,” said local GOP Chairman Scott Baugh. “There’s no litmus answer sheet that has the perfect answer.”
…
Despite Baugh’s comments, county Democratic Party Chairman Frank Barbaro had his own opinion of the Republican questionnaire. “If it looks like a litmus test, smells like a litmus test and tastes like a litmus test, it is one,” Barbaro said.
Barbaro said county Democrats are issuing their own questionnaire for candidates. Voice of OC will feature that questionnaire Friday.
Let’s look at those last two sentences again: “Barbaro said county Democrats are issuing their own questionnaire for candidates. Voice of OC will feature that questionnaire Friday.”
Friday, August 17 has passed…so has Friday, August 24…and Friday, August 31. No one has seen the DPOC questionnaire on Voice of OC. They haven’t published an article on it. Where is the “feature” they promised? Why would they promise that and not deliver?
Best-case scenario, they just plain forgot. Worst-case scenario, the article got spiked. Either way, an organization that bills itself as “Orange County’s Nonprofit Investigative News Agency” has not exactly acted as a news agency should.
Will Voice of OC ever publish the DPOC’s questionnaire?
Many people have referred to Voice of OC as Voice of OC[EA] in light of its funding by Orange County labor. Do they really want to add fuel to the fire behind that nickname?
OC Political 
Vern Nelson said
Fair question guys. If Norberto won’t put that up, I’ll find a copy myself and put it on the Orange Juice. Then we can compare the two questionnaires…
Chris Emami said
That sounds like a great idea. Thank you Vern.
Greg Diamond said
Did anyone think to perhaps CHECK OUR WEBSITE?
Click to access DPOC+2012+Candidate+Questionnaire+-+City+Council+and+Mayor.pdf
It’s been up there, as I recall, for a while — as are other versions, available through this page.
http://www.ocdems.net/endorsements
Honest to God — if we’re trying to be secretive we’re doing an absolute TERRIBLE job of it! Please leave this story up so that it can be a future object of sport.
Vern Nelson said
Thanks Greg, you were gonna be the first person I was gonna ask where to find that.
A good story would be (except what objective writer to do it?) comparing how long and burdensome each list is; how absurd the questions and/or expected correct answers are to your average joe on the street; how relevant the questions are to offices like school board, water board, etc; and how strictly incorrect answers lead to rejection.
Chris Nguyen said
I wasn’t going after the DPOC. I was going after Voice of OC.
In fact, I’ll praise DPOC right now for publishing their questionnaire.
I still want to know when/if Voice of OC is going to write the article, especially since the DPOC made it easy by publishing their questionnaire.