What junkets are for

That delegation of state lawmakers that made the rounds of federal bureaucrats in Washington DC the other day and which included termed-out Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi pumping out a press release as if she were single-handedly meeting with “the nation’s leaders,” does pay dividends. As one can see from this video produced by the Assembly access channel, it provides pols such as Hayashi—who’s running for Alameda County supervisor with a shoplifting conviction on her back—to cut what’s essentially a campaign commercial with the nation's capitol as a backdrop.