Photograph by Sebastian Widmann
Rep. Tom Campbell opened his campaign headquarters in Campbell last week. He is challenging Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the race for U.S. Senate.
Tom Campbell opens campaign headquarters in city of Campbell
Challenger introduces his campaign team
By Steven Raphael
Opening his new campaign headquarters in Campbell last week, Rep. Tom Campbell joked that the similarity in names was a nice touch. "People know the name," Campbell said. "Now they can know the address, too."
Campbell, who is not related to city founder Benjamin Campbell, was at the kickoff event on July 18 with a small crowd of supporters and campaign workers. The campaign is moving its offices from its former location in Redwood City to a modest strip mall office, where it will be neatly sandwiched between two real estate agencies on Bascom and Apricot avenues.
Campbell said that he chose to move the headquarters from its previous location in Redwood City to Campbell in order to win the campaign. "Campbell is the center of California," he said. "Right in the heart of Silicon Valley."
The new location provides the campaign with a larger facility and more opportunities for volunteers, according to Campbell. "He wanted to be near his base of support," said campaign manager Andrea Brown. Campbell still has his present legislative office on Campisi Way.
People of all ages were present at the event, with both teenagers and senior citizens showing their support. Several teenagers proudly called themselves, "Teens for Tom." Campaign staffers wore shirts emblazoned with the words "Team Tom."
Campbell introduced fellow Republican Sue Jackson, the current mayor of Monte Sereno. Explaining his ideal result for the upcoming elections, Campbell said that Jackson would replace Jim Cunneen in the District 24 Assembly seat, Cunneen would inherit Campbell's U.S. House seat, and Campbell would replace Dianne Feinstein as Senator.
Campbell introduced key members of his campaign. He said that Jones, his campaign manager, had worked with John McCain on his recent presidential bid. "She's the reason why he did well," he said.
Also introduced was the youngest member of the German legislature, Carsten Schneider. The blond-haired young man is on his first tour of the United States, and said that he was interested in seeing how a political campaign is run in the United States.
"And the State Department sent him here," Campbell said, joking that he planned to tell Schneider all about the War Powers Act and the delegation of authority between the President and Congress--a reference to his vocal opposition to American involvement in Kosovo.
"The State Department will be very careful about ever sending anyone to us again," he said.
Campbell said he's trying to reach out to first-time voters. He emphasized the fact that he does not accept campaign contributions from political action committees. He said he realizes that this means that he will have less money for his campaign, but that it's more important to stick to his principles.
However, Campbell and his supporters remained unfazed by this dilemma. "The campaign is doing very well," Campbell said. "We're building up a huge network of volunteers, and we're raising money." Campbell said that his plan is to unleash the full force of his campaign after the upcoming conventions.
"So, we're just about a month away from the explosion," he said.
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