Californians

[cos]

You probably know already, but just in case: Today is primary day.

I'd direct the same comment to Montanans but I think the only one who read my LJ moved to Seattle.
(But I wish Jon Tester the best of luck in his primary for US Senate.)

For Californians, I'd like to strongly recommend Deborah Bowen for Secretary of State. She's the only elected official in California who challenged the certification of the Diebold touchscreen voting machines, she authored the California Senate Bill mandating a voter verified paper trail, the grassroots groups in California I pay attention to all say she listens to them, and she's been endorsed by DFA. Apparently polls show her in a dead heat with her opponent in the primary, so it might be very close.

[ Update: Victory! Both of the grassroots-supported candidates I mentioned won. Jon Tester and Debra Bowen both started far behind their primary opponents in the polls (20 points or more), but reached to almost even in the week before the election, and both won with over 60% of the vote while their opponents were in the high 30's. Tester is now the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Montana, and Bowen is now the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State in California. I think both of them will win their general elections in November, and that this Tuesday's decision was the truly important one for both of those offices. ]

Comments

[griffinick.livejournal.com]

She got my vote.

Yay!

[cos]

Thanks.

Tell someone else who hasn't voted yet about her?

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

Heck yes!

FTR, I'm voting YES on 81 and 82 (libraries and universal preschool, respectively) and urge my fellow Californians to do the same. Only thus can we remake California into an intellectual juggernaut that will crush the world with the weight of our mighty brains.

If they let me have a Dem ballot (I'm registered indie), I'll reluctantly vote Westly for guv. I think both he and Angelides are twits, but Westly is the one who's NOT the party apparatchik.

[cos]

California has open primaries, though I don't know if "independent" means something different than "no party" over there... but I'm curious: Why did you register independent? Particularly if you're not sure if that lets you vote in primaries?

(P.S. from what I've heard, I'd probably pick Westly too)

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

Nope; what I'm calling "indie" is really "no party", California's largest political party. The poll workers SHOULD give me a Dem ballot if I ask, assuming they've been properly trained.*
I've thought for a while now that I should just bite the bullet and register Dem. (Except for a brief stint with the Greens, I've always been indie.) But I get enough poli-spam as it is, just from being on the "known liberal" lists. There's also inertia: if I get to vote a Dem ballot in the primaries anyway, why bother to change party affiliation?

*True Story (that you probably already know, but in case you don't): A few years ago, we had an initiative to move CA to open primaries. It passed. The Republican and Democratic parties promptly sued to block this, citing free association. They won, so we went back to closed primaries. And each party will still give unaffiliated voters a party ballot, if they ask for it.
Makes me wonder why we bothered...

[xthread.livejournal.com]

What's your math on Westly's electability v. ahnold?

electability

[cos]

I know you asked Nichole, but I'll interject: Electability is usually a trap. People start voting not for the candidate they prefer, but for the candidate they think other people will prefer ... often without really understanding how those other people think. Then when the general election comes around and it's time to convince those other people to vote for the "electable" candidate, you don't know what to say to them. You can't tell them "vote for this guy because I thought you'd want to". You have to have reasons why you like this candidate.

I think if primary voters forgot about "electability" in the sense we've come to know it in the past several elections, and instead voted for the candidates they feel best about, we would on average elect much more electable candidates.

Re: electability

[xthread.livejournal.com]

I agree broadly, I just like to make sure that people don't Nader themselves by accident.
The GOP is extremeley good at doing electoral math to gain narrow majorities, it's intensely frustrating watching the left chew itself to pieces over fine distinctions of identity politics that result in nobody we like getting elected.

And I agree with you, our models of other people's voting motivational structure generally suck.

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

I think that any Dem has a great shot in CA, provided that the party gives him the support he needs.
Ah-nuld rode into office on pretty much a single issue: saving California economically. He's done precisely bupkis on that front, and the voters know it. Also, as Republicans gallop further and further to the right, California gets bluer and bluer. Arnold can (and probably will) claim that he's a moderate Rep until he's hoarse--California is cottoning on to the reality that there's no such thing anymore.

[xthread.livejournal.com]

Excellent, excellent.

[tshuma]

I'm curious what you've heard about Angelides and/or Westly that would decide you to pick Westly.

[cos]

I think I just didn't follow that race closely enough.

[tshuma]

Independent lets you vote in a primary of your choice, either Democratic or Republican. (I am also registered independent.)

[kilroi.livejournal.com]

I couldn't bring myself to vote for 82.

It seems like a white elephant.

but I'll agree on Westly and Angelides.

[queen-of-wands.livejournal.com]

Can you tell me about 81 and 82? They sound good on the surface (yay libraries, yay education), but I feel not well educated about what they really mean.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

Ah, too bad, I actually voted yesterday. CA now has a much more welcoming, sane vote-by-mail policy. I didn't vote for anyone I didn't already know, but my sweetie said she voted for all the women she could. I'm not sure whether she voted for "Debra" or "Deborah" since the two were running against each other. sigh.

Tell your friends

[cos]

Do you know anyone who hasn't voted yet? I bet a lot of them want to vote for Governor and for some of the ballot questions, but haven't paid any attention to the Secretary race. If you say "I wish I'd voted for Deb Bowen but I voted early and didn't know, would you do it for me?" that might be compelling for some of them :)

[xthread.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pointer.

That reminds me, we should natter about practical politics the next time we're in the same space.