Here’s why I support Michael Masuda over Rep. Tom McClintock | Opinion

For some 40 years, I was a center-right Republican. With the advent of the Tea Party Republicans and their progeny and successors, their lack of understanding of our Constitutional Democracy and their widespread vulgarity and incompetence, I am now not aligned with any party.

The Republican Party and our government from the top down are infected with far too many who will seek power by peaceful and lawful means, but resort to violence and unlawful means if they cannot get power that way. We saw this on Jan. 6, 2021. And we see it now in the constant attacks on the rule of law, outright corruption and a hardly veiled attempt to destroy the independence of the nation’s judiciary.

These people threaten dictatorship and are antithetical to this nation’s ideals. Many seemingly hanker for a return to a new Jim Crow.

Rep. Tom McClintock supports the administration’s agenda and stands by while the current regime threatens our constitutional system. He joins the chorus of false claims that voting by mail is rife with fraud. He is especially critical of California’s vote-by-mail system. Despite the massive financial resources of the Republican Party, they have never shown any proof of material fraud in that system.

The 5th Congressional District generally includes Fresno north of Herndon, much of Clovis, the eastern Modesto area, Riverbank and the nearby mountains. After 17 years in Congress, and after the massive Creek Fire in 2020 and other fires, McClintock downplays the human role in climate change.

By comparison, challenger Michael Masuda understands what my lumberman grandfather knew about responsible forest management and how common-sense government can help foster that.

Masuda grew up in the 5th District’s Amador County, playing baseball and basketball at Amador High School and working summer jobs delivering ice cream for Amador Creamery. After high school, he obtained an electrical engineering degree and worked as an engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

In 2021, Masuda was selected for a science and technology fellowship and joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Affairs Officer. As an experienced engineer with high-level government experience — and with his 5th District roots — he can offer practical ways to meet the district’s needs to protect healthcare, manage wildfires and water, target the causes of higher prices, support local businesses and jobs and protect the Constitution and the rule of law.

I met and talked at length with Masuda at a recent small gathering. We covered many topics. From this, I gathered that he is a sensible, moderate candidate. He is personable and concerned for the district’s future and the nation’s future, as well as the future of his two young children. He is someone who could have done other things but chose instead to heed the nation’s call for level-headed citizens to step up.

In his time in office, what has McClintock done to help lower the cost of gas and groceries? He voted against the resolution that would direct the president to end the Iran War unless Congress authorizes its continuance. Despite his skepticism about tariffs, he accepts the president’s tariffs.

What has McClintock done about rank corruption? He has looked the other way when President Donald Trump has corrupted the Justice Department and used it to self-enrich; when the president sold confidential Truth Social government information to Wall Street firms; and when he gave billionaire’s pay-for-play notice and access.

We need Constitutional Amendments to reverse the Supreme Court’s grant of immunity from criminal prosecution to presidents for “official” crimes, and to reverse Citizens United and the flood of billionaire money going to political action committees. Republicans — including McClintock — cannot be expected to pursue these changes. Instead, they ignore critical needs, enacting huge tax cuts that largely favor the wealthy, vastly increasing the national debt and curtailing funding for crucial services to protect people’s health.

In the summer of 1972, even though I was a Republican, I was invited to and served in Washington, D.C., as a volunteer intern for Democratic Congressman Bernie Sisk. His office was extremely well-run.

Despite the Vietnam War, there was great collegiality among members of Congress who widely understood the importance of reasonable compromise in the national interest. Our government was cooperative and competent under leaders of both parties who understood our Constitutional system. This is gone now and must be restored.

Masuda is the right choice for our district.

Daniel O. Jamison is a retired attorney and author of the forthcoming book from “The Birth of Jim Crow: Racism, Reconstruction and the Pivotal Supreme Court Cases of 1857-1908.”