Elections Odds and Ends

It's a slow news weekend here at The Liberator, so I have a few odds and ends from the California campaign trail.

First, in my Congressional District (CA-53) Susan Davis is almost sure to beat challenger Michael Crimmins due to gerrymandering. I voted for Tea Party supporter C. Mason Weaver in the primary, after hearing him speak. However, I have to give credit to the Crimmins campaign. His campaign signs are everywhere in the district, especially on my drive to work.


His message is simple and spot on, taxes, jobs, spending are in fact the key issues facing Congress. I got an email from his campaign, that could have only been generated by an individual, not a program, scanning social media for like minded conservatives.

Dear Big Daddy,

Are you available to volunteer in the Crimmins For Congress Campaign Headquarters between now and election day?

We will be open at least from 10am to 4pm each week day and could really use your help.

Please e-mail me back and let me know.

Thank you,

LAUREN ZONZINI
HQ Office Manager & Deputy Finance Director Michael Crimmins, Republican Nominee For Congress (CA-53)

I was a little amused to be addressed as "Big Daddy" not B Daddy, since the B stands for something other than Big. I haven't replied, because I am more involved in other efforts, but I applaud the Crimmins campaign. He definitely has my vote, though.

I neglected to link to W.C. Varones guide to California candidates earlier, but after further review, I have to disagree with a few. It is a sad commentary on the state of the Republican party in California that Tea Party types can not find consensus on whom to endorse for statewide office.

So here are some reasons for disagreeing with a couple of his selections.

• I am supporting Meg Whitman for governor, holding my nose, perhaps. Here's why, the public employee unions are going all out to defeat her and they have clearly become public enemy number one. The enemy of my enemy...
• I cannot support Gavin Newsom ever, for anything, not dog catcher, to even to drink a glass of Lagunitas with. Abel Maldonado may deserve our scorn, but can one really vote for Newsom? As W.C. points out: "Yes, he screwed his best friend's wife. And yes, he has his own body count, having protected an illegal alien gang member who went on to murder a family in cold blood." And he will no doubt, raise your taxes if he can. I'll be voting Libertarian.

The conventional wisdom is that Carly Fiorina has only an outside chance of beating Barbara Boxer. I fervently hope for this to be a stunning upset. What gives me hope? Boxer seldom breaks 50% in any poll. I just can't see the undecideds breaking heavily her way. Fiorina has been running devastating commercials. Short on substance, but they hammer away that Boxer is part of the problem in Washington. It's true, but I hope she will have more to say.



BTW, as a follower of the IT industry, I was never impressed by her tenure as CEO of HP. However, I never thought that disqualified her from the Senate, governor maybe, but the Senate, not so much. She had a very successful career before HP, and took sensible positions on H-1B visas and other issues while CEO.


Meanwhile, Meg Whitman consistently trails that lying jackass, Jerry Brown. This drives me nuts, that people can't remember how incompetent he was as Governor last time, and what a bad job he did as mayor of Oakland.

Start getting those ballots in the mail, if you are voting absentee.

Primary Election Night

Watched some local TV and watched the election results and broadcasting from Golden Hall. A shout out to the Tea Party going on there. Had a friend over, the Lakers were beating the Celtics in Boston, and there was some cold Yellowtail Pale Ale in the fridge.

I am really disappointed that Chuck DeVore didn't poll better, but it was still good to have him in the race. I think Carly Fiorina is ready to run as a conservative as a result, and will give Barbara Boxer a tough run for it. If the Democrats are having trouble defending their senate seat in California, this could be a disastrous November for them. It would be better if the replacement Republicans were serious about reducing spending and income tax rates, but we'll see. Incidentally, Poizner, in his concession speech said the same thing; that his candidacy had moved Whitman to more conservative positions. In the governor's race, it is rumored that Jerry Brown will use social issues, the so called nuclear option, to defeat Meg Whitman. My sense is that such a strategy won't sit well with unemployment and anger over stimulus waste.

Locally, in the District 6 City Council race, Lorie Zapf, jumped out to a big lead over Howard Wayne, but clearly this is headed for a run off in November. District 6 is fairly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, so these results are surprising, I want to see if they hold up. The three Republican candidates are pulling down 56% of the vote in early returns; not sure if that is significant. Big dollars from unions are going to Howard Wayne. Also, these are mostly mail in ballots, right now.

I'm wondering if union support isn't over-rated. Not only is Wayne not getting help locally, in Arkansas Blanche Lincoln couldn't be ousted by a multimillion dollar campaign by unions in the Democratic primary. I saw headlines saying that she survived an anti-incumbent mood, but I think that is too facile. Bill Clinton campaigned for her and I think the public mood is turning very sour on unions.

In Nevada, the Tea Party candidate, Sharron Angle will be the Republican nominee. I think this is great news. Harry Reid may have thought he wanted to face her, but I think he is underestimating the enthusiasm of the Tea Party. We need some Republicans in the Senate to be radicals on spending reduction to make any progress on getting the country back on track.

Maybe some more commentary later tonight, if there is anything that changes my views of tonight's results.