Jim Dantona This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Welcome to BAD

   www.Bad.org/BAD/index.html - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/27/2006   Last Visited: 10/19/2007

   If you met Jim Dantona on the baseball field, you might never know that that he makes his living in the political arena as one of the most sought-after governmental consultants in California, even working as an advisor to two U.S. Presidents,. FULL STORY >>

2. 2. Ventura County Star: County News

   www.staronline.com/vcs/county_ - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/24/2002   Last Visited: 9/24/2002

   Jim Dantona knew he had arrived when the party invitations from the Clinton White House came in the mail.
   
   Dantona, 54, a self-described "yellow dog" Democrat -- one so loyal to the party line he would vote for a Labrador retriever if it ran as a Democrat -- met the then-governor of Arkansas in 1987. Clinton was eyeing the Democratic presidential nomination and sought Dantona's support. Clinton asked Dantona, well known in political circles as a consultant and lobbyist, to find him some speaking engagements.
   
   "I was so impressed by his speaking abilities, charisma and charm," Dantona said. "Did he make some mistakes -- yes. But the economy was tremendous, people were working and people had hope."
   
   Dantona is a longtime legislative consultant in public affairs and politics working out of his office, Governmental Impact, in Simi Valley. He has a lengthy resume that includes a decade as chief of staff for then-state Sen.
   ...
   In 1986, Dantona served as chief consultant for the congressional campaign of Joseph P. Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy.
   ...
   Dantona acknowledges an ability to bring both sides to the middle to talk. His robust enthusiasm for life, combined with a raucous sense of humor and knack for storytelling, puts people at ease. He counts local Republicans among his friends. Assemblyman Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, describes his relationship with Dantona as one where both can "agree to disagree" and find a common ground.
   ...
   But for all his career success, Dantona remains proudest of being a full-time single father to his three children. After a divorce in 1985, Dantona put family first, coaching baseball and attending school open houses, sometimes taking multiple flights in one day between Sacramento and Simi Valley. Still close to his kids, Jim, 28, Bob, 27 and Jenny, 23, Dantona prefers their company over all others. Politics, Dantona said, is hard on relationships and he has never re-married.
   
   After family and work obligations are met, Dantona's life is baseball. In 1969 Dantona was with the Chicago Cubs. But while a professional baseball career did not work out, the game has remained a primary focus in his life. Dantona is founder and chairman of Baseballers Against Drugs, a nationwide nonprofit organization that brings current and former major league players to run anti-drug, anti-gang baseball clinics for at-risk kids. At a recent event in Detroit, 580 kids showed up. Politics is strictly forbidden, Dantona said, when he is at the organization's events.
   
   "When I see these kids having a ball and working themselves into a frenzy, I'm in another world, " Dantona said.

3. 3. www.vcrcc.org

   www.vcrcc.org/press/index.cfm/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/8/2008   Last Visited: 2/20/2008

   Averting an expensive and potentially divisive Democratic primary, Simi Valley political consultant Jim Dantona announced Monday he is ending his campaign for the 19th Senate District.
   
   His departure from the race leaves the field clear for former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara, the only other announced Democrat.
   
   Dantona announced in August he would be a candidate for the Senate district that stretches from Simi Valley to Santa Barbara and includes most of Ventura County. After Jackson later announced that she, too, would run, it set up the possibility of a Democratic primary that could have split the district along east-west geographic lines.
   
   On Monday, Dantona said such a primary would have given an advantage to Republican Tony Strickland of Moorpark, the former assemblyman who is the only announced GOP candidate.
   
   "My thing was to keep the peace," Dantona said. "It was never my intent to bring on a huge primary in which Democrats divide themselves. I played sports way too long in my life, and I've always been considered a team player. I wish Hannah-Beth only the best in her race."
   
   Dantona, who played briefly for the Chicago Cubs during his professional baseball career, ran unsuccessfully for Ventura County supervisor in 2006, narrowly losing to Peter Foy.
   ...
   His ability to run a close race in a district heavily dominated by Republican voters led many county Democrats to encourage Dantona to run for the Senate, in the belief that he could fare well in the GOP-heavy portions of the district in eastern Ventura County.
   
   Jackson, who represented much of western Ventura County in the Assembly from 1998 to 2004, will have a strong base in Santa Barbara and Ventura but is relatively unknown east of the Conejo Grade.
   
   "Jackson and I would have to spend a fortune against each other," Dantona said. "Tony Strickland would have been loving it from the sidelines.
   ...
   Dantona estimated that had he stayed in, he and Jackson would each have had to spend an additional $500,000 in the primary.