Venezia: Political soft blows just keep coming

Last week I poked some fun by reading between the lines of political mailers I’d received over the past few weeks.

I found especially entertaining the recent mailers from 74th Assembly District candidates Keith Curry and Emanuel Patrascu.

Of course the war of words between the two had been pretty bland up until now.

Goodness knows that in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa we’ve seen hit pieces that were far more cutting than the one I mentioned from Patrascu — picturing Curry on a cartoon train and taking jabs at his stand on the high-speed rail project, which Curry has said he does not support.

And though many readers said they enjoyed the column, Patrascu called and took exception with some of my comments.

He also wanted to talk about Curry’s new hit piece on him.

In last week’s column, I questioned why in all of Patrascu’s mailers he never once mentioned that he’s district director for Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), which in my opinion would show that he knows his way around Sacramento.

Patrascu told me this week that he hasn’t mentioned his work for Allen because his duties would be too hard to explain in a mailer.

He also said I was off base when I questioned why he characterized himself as a small-business owner yet doesn’t say what kind of business he has or that he started it this year.

Patrascu said he has a long history of work as a paid campaign consultant and derives substantial income from his company, Summit Strategies — which, by the way, has no web presence, and he doesn’t feel it needs any.

Currently, Allen and Assemblyman Eric Linder (R-Corona) are clients of his campaign consulting biz.

Patrascu also said that because his consulting is cyclical, depending on campaigns seasons, substantial money had not come in yet for the 2014 cycle.

And the business isn’t new.

“I started Summit Strategies this year, but it is a continuation from something I’ve done the past seven or eight years,” he said.

He went on to explain that he incorporated this year.

I asked him how he was juggling campaign consulting work for Linder and Allen with his own Assembly effort.

Patrascu said he’s concentrating on his bid for office right now and after the June primary will focus on his client’s races.

Now, about that hit piece from Curry.

In it, there’s a darkened image of a man, who I guess is supposed to be Patrascu but doesn’t look much like him.

The dark, looming figure had a distinct vampire vibe, which I found intriguing.

Then again, I’m a “True Blood” fan.

And let’s face it, the difference between politicians and vampires isn’t a big stretch.

Patrascu’s name appears in big bold yellow letters, and the mailer asks what exactly do we know about him.

Patrascu called the piece “racially charged.”

“The whole point of it is to scare people of me and paint me as a foreigner and an immigrant,” he said.

I shared my vampire-overtone impression with Patrascu, who saw it too, though it didn’t seem to bother him as much as the scary immigrant thing.

In the mailer, Curry also claims Patrascu doesn’t own his home and runs his business from a tiny bedroom.

Patrascu told me the house pictured on the mailer is actually his neighbor’s. But that wasn’t the only error.

“I am 33, not 34. I have lived in Laguna Beach for over seven years, and I have never lived or worked in Sacramento, as the mailer implies.”

He told me he lives in a small cottage, not an apartment.

Now if Patrascu has consulted on campaigns in the past, as he said, then why is he surprised that Curry launched back at him after he struck the first blow with his cartoon train piece?

Patrascu said he has no problem with Curry hitting back as long as Curry sticks to the issues.

“We don’t need this kind of behavior in the Republican Party,” Patrascu said. “It makes everyone look bad.”

He went on to say the party has a hard enough time expanding its base and attracting minority voters without candidates sending out racially charged mail.

Patrascu’s most recent mailer depicts a cartoon of Curry in a baseball outfit swinging a bat. It says, “Meet Politician Swingin’ Keith Curry. More than 15 years of striking out for taxpayers.”

As oddly entertaining as this whole war of words between these two is, I’m looking forward to it being over in June.

BARBARA VENEZIA, whose column appears Fridays, lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com.