California Politics, Stem Cells and Campaign Endorsements

A relatively obscure stem cell scientist last week one-upped -- sort of -- one of the more powerful lawmakers in the United States Senate.

It was not a direct, head-to-head contest -- just sort of a rough comparison involving Democratic politics in California.

The two individuals involved are Hans Keirstead, who is touting his involvement in the creation of the $3 billion California stem cell agency,  and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has served in the Senate for 26 years.

Despite her long track record, last week she did not receive the endorsement of the California state
Democratic Party for re-election, apparently because she was not right type of liberal for the activists who dominate the party. The party, indeed, did not endorse any Democrat in Feinstein's re-election contest.

At its convention this past weekend, however, the party did endorse Keirstead in a Southern California congressional race.  He is running to replace Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who was once described oddly by a fellow Republican as "Putin's favorite congressman." 

Keirstead campaigning earlier this month.
Photo by Andrea Adelson, LB Indy

In political terms, Keirstead is indeed obscure, having never run for office before. However, he has achieved some recognition within the stem cell world, but most of that population does not vote in his district.

Keirstead, who did much of his research at UC Irvine, is trumpeting his stem cell work as part of his campaign. Here is a sample from a campaign web page:

"Hans served as a lead scientific advisor for the California Stem Cell Initiative which established a $3 billion stem cell research fund to support medical innovation in California."

The two candidates who receive the most votes in the June primary election will face off in November, whether they are Democrats or Republican. Keirstead has seven likely Democratic candidates facing him, according to one report. However, the filing deadline to run is March 9.

Rohrabacher is widely regarded as vulnerable and Democrats nationally are hoping to remove him from office in November.

Feinstein is way ahead in the polls in her separate race and vastly better financed than her opposition. The Democratic Party's lack of endorsement gained considerable attention in the mainstream media, but her backers said it provided little tangible benefit for her Democratic opponents.

Politics and the Price of Defiance

The California stem cell agency last month had a bit of instruction in politics when directors chose a new chairman.

Both California Gov. Jerry Brown and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer made an extra effort – beyond their nominating letters – to assure the election of their man, Jonathan Thomas, a Los Angeles bond financier, as chairman. We noted a few days ago that such episodes are not uncommon when an enterprise is reliant on public funding.

Implicit in some of the lobbying by Brown and Lockyer was the likelihood that failure to follow their lead could endanger bond funding for CIRM.

Some might think that possibility was remote, that Tamany Hall tactics are just a part of the past. Those who favor that view might want to consider the case of Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Portantino. He voted no on the recently passed state budget in defiance of legislative leaders in his own party.

Now he is being punished. His staff is being sent home for a month of unpaid leave, and he is being threatened with a cutoff of both his mail service and office supplies, according to The Sacramento Bee. Such are examples are not uncommon in California politics in one form or another.

It is something to think about as readers ponder the wisdom of CIRM directors in electing Thomas as their new chairman.

Torres, Palin and Stem Cell Research

It was the first known public comment by a member of the board of directors of the California stem cell agency on onetime vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The remarks came Friday from Art Torres, recently elected co- vice chairman of the CIRM board,

The occasion was a tour of stem cell lab facilities at UC San Francisco and the Gladstone Institute involving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to an account by reporter Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Pelosi was asked about comments by Palin, attacking President Obama for his support for hESC research. Pelosi stoutly defended the research, declaring, "We need science, science, science, science, science."

Torres said that Palin's comments were "very disappointing...because it's such a blatant campaign move."

Marinucci wrote,

"He said she was 'playing to the crowd' for a 2012 run, but hasn't offered any alternatives to the major advances that might be made in biomedical research."

Readers left 124 comments on the Chronicle piece, but not one mentioned Torres' comments, as far as we can tell. However, one commentator said that Pelosi said science only four times – not five.

Stem Cell Snippets: Burnham's Reed, Politics, Roth and the Non-meeting Meeting

Burnham Receives $2.5 Million – Donald Bren, an Orange County developer, is giving $2.5 million to the Burnham Institute to support research by its president, John Reed, who sits on the Oversight Committee for the California stem cell agency. On the Burnham board are Bren's wife, Brigitte, and Gayle Wilson, a former member of the Oversight Committee and wife of former Gov. Pete Wilson. Both were added to the Burnham board earlier this month.

Lansing Covering Bets? -- Los Angeles TV station KNBC reported that Sherry Lansing, a CIRM Oversight Committee member, could be covering her presidential bets. The station says she has made the maximum individual contribution -- $2,300 – to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The station reported that multiple contributions are common among major contributors. Variety also reported she hosted a fundraising dinner at her home for Democratic Sen. James Webb of Virginia.

Penhoet and Bloomberg – CIRM Vice Chairman Ed Penhoet dined with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg shortly before the mayor renounced his membership in the Grand Old Party. Penhoet was at an affair at the home of technology financier Sandy Robertson, a partner in Francisco Partners, according to Kevin Maney on the Tech Observer blog. Testing the Silicon waters was how Maney described Bloomberg's foray.

Baltimore and Science – David Baltimore, former president of Caltech and a member of the CIRM Oversight Committee, is chairing the search committee to find a new editor for Science magazine to replaced retiring editor Donald Kennedy.

CIRM Director Has New Responsibilities – Duane Roth, a member of the CIRM Oversight Committee, has been named interim chairman of CleanTECH, a nonprofit group supporting environmental technology businesses in the San Diego area. Roth is also chief executive officer of Connect, a UC San Diego entrepreneurial program.

Meeting with No Business – The CIRM Standards Group has scheduled a meeting for July 27. Nothing is on the agenda.

Sacramento Bee: Curb Klein's 'Political Adventures'

"Nagging problems" persist at the California stem cell agency, including "political adventures" by its chairman, Robert Klein, The Sacramento Bee said today.

In an editorial, The Bee said that in addition to Klein's dabbling in politics, the problems include efforts by the biotech industry to weaken CIRM rules to generate revenue and affordable care and failure to disclose the economic interests of scientists who review applications for hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.

The Bee had some good things to say as well. CIRM is now "the nation's largest financier of embryonic stem cell research," which is what voters approved in 2004, newspaper said.

In its "memo" to CIRM, The Bee said:

"You've also hired a fine scientific staff to help administer grants and design a strategic plan. These employees will help your institute transition to new leadership, since President Zach Hall will be retiring in June and you are currently interviewing for his replacement."

But the newspaper said,

"Your board chairman, Robert Klein, continues to dabble in political adventures that don't comport with his responsibilities as a public official. Last year, he used a nonprofit organization to campaign against state Sen. Deborah Ortiz in her bid for secretary of state, after Ortiz had sought reforms in the stem cell institute. Klein's nonprofit also took sides in the lieutenant governor race. Rarely have we seen the head of a state agency create his own separate political apparatus to punish enemies and reward friends. These tactics have hurt the institute's standing and you need to put an end to them."

The editorial also said:

"So far, you've resisted public disclosure, claiming it could scare away qualified reviewers. Yet researchers make such disclosures all the time. As one of your reviewers, Rainer Storb, told The Scientist last year, such disclosures "are a bit of a nuisance. But I'm perfectly fine with things being made public."

The Pluripotent Presidential Candidate

From PajamasMedia, quoting political consultant Dick Morris:

"Obama is like a stem cell. He can become any part of the body he wants to be."

"He can become the new Democrat that Hillary wanted to be and that Bill Clinton was when he won the nomination."