Showing posts with label Election 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Election 2009. Show all posts
November 19, 2009
Loser
Doug Hoffman, the conservative in the special election drama of upstate New York, is un-conceding the loss, two week after election day. Now the vote margin did tighten from the election night count, but Hoffman is still going to lose. Remember, its not like concession are legally binding. The vote count is what it is. Whining about imaginary ACORN plots will not change that.
November 4, 2009
Results Show
Big Republican wins in the two Governor races last night, but let's be honest, is losing New Jersey really a loss? Gay marriage lost in Main, close. The electorate just isn't there yet. Closer every day, but not yet. Bloomberg stayed mayor of New York.
In a local note, the good people of Davis just will not allow any development. Ever.
The drama in upstate New York played out to the end, with the Democrats picking up a seat that they haven't held since the Civil War. Together with John Garamendi winning his special election, there are two more vote for health care reform today then there were yesterday. Keep that in mind when watching the GOP victory dance.
Actually, best possible outcome of these odd odd-year elections would be for conservatives to take the NY-23 "model" nationwide. Nutty Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin conservative knock off electable moderate Republicans in party destroying fights, then lose to Democrats in the general. That's something I could get used to.
In a local note, the good people of Davis just will not allow any development. Ever.
The drama in upstate New York played out to the end, with the Democrats picking up a seat that they haven't held since the Civil War. Together with John Garamendi winning his special election, there are two more vote for health care reform today then there were yesterday. Keep that in mind when watching the GOP victory dance.
Actually, best possible outcome of these odd odd-year elections would be for conservatives to take the NY-23 "model" nationwide. Nutty Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin conservative knock off electable moderate Republicans in party destroying fights, then lose to Democrats in the general. That's something I could get used to.
November 3, 2009
Election Day!
Well, kind of. For a lucky few. If you live in New Jersey or Virginia. New York Mayor. Upstate New York has a little soap going. John Garamendi is going to get himself a seat in Congress today. Just a little action to get the political junkies their fix. While I am grateful that fix, I have to say that odd-year governor and mayoral races are a bad idea. They kill turnout and cut a huge part of the electorate out of local government. The Presidency being what it is, you are just always going to get the best turnout for that election. But governor and mayor are really important jobs! Everybody should put their 2 cents on smaller races. I say put as many gigs on the ballot as possible and then get everyone out.
November 1, 2009
Quiters!
Two very notable exits, with San Fransisco Mayor Gavin Newson dropping out of the California Governor's race, and the moderate GOP candidate in the NY-23 also giving up the ghost.
Newson I'm pretty disappointed in. The other leading Democratic governor candidate is Jerry Brown, and I was looking forward to a good old verses new, great hair verses no hair primary match-up. I've got real doubts about Brown, and now it looks like we are stuck with him.
Republican Dede Scozzafava's exit is the latest chapter in the GOP morality play I've been keeping an eye on lately.
The lesson of this play is pretty simple: Do not be even the slightest bit moderate in today's GOP. Scozzafava was mostly conservative with just a few heresies, like gay rights and card check, but that was enough for a full blown right-wing mobilization. And in a conservative district, the right can win. But the Country is not a conservative district in up-state New York. The tea party wackos will not beat Obama and will not stop health care reform, but they may just succeed in driving the few remaining moderates from the GOP. Which makes for a very united party. The GOP doesn't have to worry about moderates going rogue and fouling up legislation. But it also makes for a very small party.
UPDATE: Wow. Scozzafava just endorsed the Democrat in the race. To be clear, the official GOP nominee just endorsed the official Democratic nominee in a House special election three day before election day. That's insane.
Newson I'm pretty disappointed in. The other leading Democratic governor candidate is Jerry Brown, and I was looking forward to a good old verses new, great hair verses no hair primary match-up. I've got real doubts about Brown, and now it looks like we are stuck with him.
Republican Dede Scozzafava's exit is the latest chapter in the GOP morality play I've been keeping an eye on lately.
The lesson of this play is pretty simple: Do not be even the slightest bit moderate in today's GOP. Scozzafava was mostly conservative with just a few heresies, like gay rights and card check, but that was enough for a full blown right-wing mobilization. And in a conservative district, the right can win. But the Country is not a conservative district in up-state New York. The tea party wackos will not beat Obama and will not stop health care reform, but they may just succeed in driving the few remaining moderates from the GOP. Which makes for a very united party. The GOP doesn't have to worry about moderates going rogue and fouling up legislation. But it also makes for a very small party.
UPDATE: Wow. Scozzafava just endorsed the Democrat in the race. To be clear, the official GOP nominee just endorsed the official Democratic nominee in a House special election three day before election day. That's insane.
October 27, 2009
Special
Normally, I don't pay that much attention to up-state New York special elections, but what's happening in New York's 23rd congressional district is pretty fascinating. The incumbent Republican has joined the Obama administration as Army Secretary, and a free-for-all has broken out to replace him. Normally this district would be a easy win for the GOP, but in this case a three-way race has developed. There's a wishy-washy Dem, a wishy-washy GOPer and a hard-core conservative spoiler. All the notable right-wingers, such as Palin, Rush, and Beck, are lining up with the right-winger. With the right side of electorate split, the Dems could pull out a win in a place they should have no right to.
Who says you can't find a good election in an off year? Here comes November!
Who says you can't find a good election in an off year? Here comes November!
May 20, 2009
We Suck
Well, every proposition went down to defeat yesterday, except for the measure to limit legislator's pay when the budget is late. That will show 'em. So now we have an even bigger budget deficit to deal with, which means even more cuts, which the voters of California will also hate, even though they caused it.
I highly recommend this LA Time piece pointing out the obvious - voters are to blame for the budget mess:
In the Proposition 13 tax rebellion of 1978, Californians voted to require a two-thirds approval by the Legislature to raise taxes, a major obstacle to budget agreements. Over the last couple of decades, voters have also passed a patchwork of ballot measures directing billions of dollars to favorite causes, among them public schools and transportation projects.
On Tuesday, Californians showed they were unwilling to scale back their demands in tight times: Voters turned down propositions that would have freed up money that they set aside years ago for mental-health and children's programs.
...
The public's contradictory impulses were laid bare by a recent Field Poll. It found that voters oppose cutbacks in 10 of 12 major categories of state spending, including the biggest, education and healthcare. Yet most voters were unwilling to have their own taxes increased, and they overwhelmingly favored keeping the two-thirds requirement for tax hikes.
The voters of California vote themselves tax cuts and spending increases every chance they get, then blame the elected for not meeting their impossible demands. Someday they will have to chose, but that day wasn't yesterday.
In the words of the great Mo Udall " The people have spoken, the bastards."
I highly recommend this LA Time piece pointing out the obvious - voters are to blame for the budget mess:
In the Proposition 13 tax rebellion of 1978, Californians voted to require a two-thirds approval by the Legislature to raise taxes, a major obstacle to budget agreements. Over the last couple of decades, voters have also passed a patchwork of ballot measures directing billions of dollars to favorite causes, among them public schools and transportation projects.
On Tuesday, Californians showed they were unwilling to scale back their demands in tight times: Voters turned down propositions that would have freed up money that they set aside years ago for mental-health and children's programs.
...
The public's contradictory impulses were laid bare by a recent Field Poll. It found that voters oppose cutbacks in 10 of 12 major categories of state spending, including the biggest, education and healthcare. Yet most voters were unwilling to have their own taxes increased, and they overwhelmingly favored keeping the two-thirds requirement for tax hikes.
The voters of California vote themselves tax cuts and spending increases every chance they get, then blame the elected for not meeting their impossible demands. Someday they will have to chose, but that day wasn't yesterday.
In the words of the great Mo Udall " The people have spoken, the bastards."
May 18, 2009
Voter Guide 09
Or Craig contemplates a shit sandwich.
In California we throw special elections and pass around ballot measures with the smallest excuse, and the current budget is certainly good enough. All the ballot measures are budget related, and none of them are good. They are all “bad” or “worse” kind of choices. There’s no “the lady or the tiger” choices. More like “the jackal or the tiger”
Here we go:
Prop 1A- Here’s the heart of the matter. Budget spending caps and a bigger rainy day fund in exchange for revenue, i.e. taxes. Look, California is in the hole, budget-wise. You can fight a lot of things, but you can’t fight math. And don’t give me that crap about how we can just target waste. Cutting the budget means cutting cops, prisons, schools, and firefighters. It means fewer teachers, longer response times and more criminals on the streets. Or you can raise taxes. Remember what I said about no lady being available. That’s what we have to pick from. The budget is going to get cut. Sure as sunrise. But with this measure, your taxes go up and we don’t have to cut as much. Suck it up. The Chant recommends Yes.
Prop 1B – More ballot bugeting of the same flavor that helped get us into this mess. More money to teachers. Not a bad thing, but not what we need right now. The Chant recommends No.
Prop 1C – Sale of Future Lottery revenue. No, No, No. This is basically a deal to borrow against future earnings from the California Lottery. More trouble down the road. We could use the money, but its like eating your seed corn. The Chant recommends No.
Props 1D and 1E – Stealing candy from babies. Or rather, taking money locked up for children’s health care and mental health services by previous ballot measures and giving it to the general fund. A small way out of the handcuffs the ballot measure process has put us in. Ugly, but needed. The Chant recommends Yes.
Prop 1F- Limits on legislator’s pay if a budget isn’t passed. Because the original idea, that we take one legislator at random each day the budget is late and beat them in the public square wouldn’t pass Constitutional muster. Look, if the California Assembly and Senate were filled with 120 angels straight from heaven, pure of heart and noble of intention, we would still have late budgets and a mess. This is a bad system. The 2/3rd vote requirement, all the restrictions the props put on the process – it’s a bad system. The legislators are only human. The Chant recommends No.
In California we throw special elections and pass around ballot measures with the smallest excuse, and the current budget is certainly good enough. All the ballot measures are budget related, and none of them are good. They are all “bad” or “worse” kind of choices. There’s no “the lady or the tiger” choices. More like “the jackal or the tiger”
Here we go:
Prop 1A- Here’s the heart of the matter. Budget spending caps and a bigger rainy day fund in exchange for revenue, i.e. taxes. Look, California is in the hole, budget-wise. You can fight a lot of things, but you can’t fight math. And don’t give me that crap about how we can just target waste. Cutting the budget means cutting cops, prisons, schools, and firefighters. It means fewer teachers, longer response times and more criminals on the streets. Or you can raise taxes. Remember what I said about no lady being available. That’s what we have to pick from. The budget is going to get cut. Sure as sunrise. But with this measure, your taxes go up and we don’t have to cut as much. Suck it up. The Chant recommends Yes.
Prop 1B – More ballot bugeting of the same flavor that helped get us into this mess. More money to teachers. Not a bad thing, but not what we need right now. The Chant recommends No.
Prop 1C – Sale of Future Lottery revenue. No, No, No. This is basically a deal to borrow against future earnings from the California Lottery. More trouble down the road. We could use the money, but its like eating your seed corn. The Chant recommends No.
Props 1D and 1E – Stealing candy from babies. Or rather, taking money locked up for children’s health care and mental health services by previous ballot measures and giving it to the general fund. A small way out of the handcuffs the ballot measure process has put us in. Ugly, but needed. The Chant recommends Yes.
Prop 1F- Limits on legislator’s pay if a budget isn’t passed. Because the original idea, that we take one legislator at random each day the budget is late and beat them in the public square wouldn’t pass Constitutional muster. Look, if the California Assembly and Senate were filled with 120 angels straight from heaven, pure of heart and noble of intention, we would still have late budgets and a mess. This is a bad system. The 2/3rd vote requirement, all the restrictions the props put on the process – it’s a bad system. The legislators are only human. The Chant recommends No.
April 1, 2009
Moral Tie
The Democrat picked up a 65 vote "win" last night in the special election to determine who replace the lady who replaced Hillary in the Senate. Wait for the recount. But, considering the district is overwhelmingly Republican and the Dems only picked up the seat last cycle with the aid of a well-time domestic abuse accusation, I think we can safely say the public still hates Republicans.
Recount! Recount!
Recount! Recount!
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