Memo to Rep. Doris Matsui - Next Time, How About a Camry?

One of the more stinging comments made during the Saturday, January 17 Democratic Party of Sacramento candidate forum came from Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, who is challenging Rep. Doris Matsui for California's 7th Congressional District.

In her opening statement, Ms. Vang acknowledged that she did not take lightly challenging the longtime Congresswoman and understood the difficulty of her task. But she also bookmarked her opening statement, with a central theme of her campaign: it is time to have a Representative who is not part of the entrenched special-interest establishment and can relate to constituents' struggles.

"My opponent is a millionaire who has represented us for 20 years. Here is her record," Vang said. "Voting consistently to increase the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) for over 20 years, and it has tripled under her watch. Seventy percent of her donations come from Corporate PACs."

During the rest of Ms. Vang's and Ms. Matsui's speaking presentations, they answered questions that generally played well with the Democratic audience.

Towards the end of the forum, Vang and Matsui were last among the three groups of Congressional candidates, many in the meeting room started filtering out, including me. After lingering in the lobby for a few minutes, I went outside the building, and as luck would have it, so did Rep. Matsui and her entourage.

I always find it interesting to watch politicians glad-handing, and Matsui did not disappoint. The Congresswoman chatted warmly with a woman accompanied by her granddaughter, and before you knew it, her ride pulled up to take her to the next event.

The fact that Ms. Matsui had an entourage of well-dressed, professional-looking aides and that she was driven was not surprising. Given that she hasn't spent much time in Sacramento over the last 50 years or so, much less in this part of South Sacramento, she may not be familiar with the area, so a driver might be best for the safety of other motorists and pedestrians.

Furthermore, she may need a security person to assist her, given the current political climate. And she could be doing work as she is driven from event to event during her visit to the district. Fair enough.

What was surprising, particularly after hearing Ms. Vang's claims about Matsui's wealth, was the vehicle the entourage was driving. It was a large, late-model black Chevrolet SUV, most likely a Suburban.

What a statement. Here you have a member of the Democratic Party, supposedly in favor of fuel efficiency and environmental causes, driving one of the most fuel-inefficient vehicles available.

But it was a GM product, presumably made in America. That could score some points with President Trump and, we suppose, even with energy concerns, so it had that going for it.

As I walked to my fuel-efficient, reliable, and 10-plus-model-year-old Toyota, it really drove home the point Ms. Vang had made in her presentation and, in general, about the older insider Democratic Washington D.C. establishment being out of touch with voters. Ms. Matsui probably does have wealth far exceeding the wildest dreams of most of her constituents.

Furthermore, given that her vehicle choice may have been a rental paid for by us taxpayers, it reveals her sense of self-importance and privilege. Living in that Washington D.C. bubble since 1979, as Matsui has done, will do that to you.

It validates Ms. Vang's and other younger candidates' assertions that establishment Democratic elected officials in Washington, D.C., are tone-deaf to what is happening to constituents.

If Ms. Matsui does not have a vehicle in Sacramento for her visits back to the district, a rental is needed, and it may be a government-owned vehicle. And we are cognizant that, notwithstanding Ms. Vang's viable challenge, well-financed, corporate-backed Congressional incumbents are always overwhelming favorites, so Ms. Matsui probably doesn't need to care about appearances anymore.

Regardless, next time, Congresswoman Matsui, is it too much to ask for you and your entourage to be more modest and show up in a Camry?