The Field Poll released its final ballot measure polls over the weekend, and the most contentious issues
appear to be going down to the wire. To recap and to
allow you to finish your election polls, we revisit
the numbers.
Proposition 1A (high-speed rail bonds)
Yes: 47%
No: 42%
Proposition 2 (farm animal confinement)
Yes: 60%
No: 27%
Proposition 3 (children's hospital bonds)
Yes: 54%
No: 35%
Proposition 4 (parental notification for teen abortion)
Yes: 45%
No: 43%
Proposition 7 (renewable energy generation)
Yes:
39%
No: 43%
Proposition 8 (ban on same-sex marriage)
Yes: 44%
No: 49%
Proposition 10 (alternative fuel vehicles bonds)
Yes: 49%
No: 39%
Proposition 11 (redistricting)
Yes: 45%
No: 30%
Proposition 12 (veterans bonds)
Yes: 58%
No: 29%
George Skelton reminds readers that Proposition 12 isn't just an
ordinary general obligation bond, but rather the continuation
of a program providing home loans for veterans that is designed
to pay for itself. "The best buy on the ballot, by far, is Prop. 12 for California veterans."
Jim Sanders looks at the money behind Proposition 11, the redistricting measure.
"Donors with strong ties to the GOP are bankrolling
much of the measure's $14.4 million campaign, roughly 10 times the sum raised by opponents, primarily from
Democratic groups, records show.
"The Republican governor is leading the charge, contributing
$2.9 million in campaign funds to Yes on 11."
Track the dough on ElectionTrack...
"Democrats arguably have the most to lose if the system
changes because they control both the Assembly, 48-32, and the Senate, 25-15.
"Paul Hefner, spokesman for No on 11, calls the measure a Republican power grab.
"'It's a way to change the rules to help one party,' Hefner said.
"Nonsense, counters Jeannine English of Yes on 11.
"'The truth is that this is a bipartisan measure that's getting rid of (legislative) gridlock,' said English, state president of AARP."
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura looks at the future of nuclear power in California, which is being advanced as a new green alternative
to fossil-fuel plants.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now pushing that notion,
suggesting that nuclear plants could help the state
meet its aggressive long-term goals of reducing carbon emissions.
After previously dismissing nuclear power because of
waste storage problems, the Republican governor this
year has said it should be considered a serious option
among alternative fuels.
"'I myself think that nuclear power has a great future,
and I think that we should look at it seriously again,' Schwarzenegger said at a Santa Barbara conference
in March. 'I know there are people who are scared about it, and
I know there are certain environmentalists that put
the scare tactics out there, and they frighten everyone
that we're going to have another blowup and all of those things.
But I think technology has advanced so much.'
"State lawmakers imposed a moratorium on building new
nuclear plants in 1976. While Schwarzenegger believes California should study
nuclear power, he does not propose lifting the ban,
said spokeswoman Lisa Page."
"The heated Assembly race between Democrat Joan Buchanan and Republican
Abram Wilson will result either in a first or a last," reports Shane Goldmacher in the Bee.
"If Wilson wins, he will become the first black Republican
to serve in the state Assembly in 75 years.
"If he loses, the Republican Party will lose its last
toehold on a partisan office in the Bay Area.
"But the stakes are higher than that in the sprawling
15th Assembly District, which spans four counties and
stretches from Livermore to Elk Grove.
"Outside special interests have poured more than $1.5 million into the race – the first Assembly campaign in the state to reach
that plateau – as both parties have tagged it as one of the top contests
of 2008.
"'A real tossup,' said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book, which analyzes
state campaigns."
Capitol Weekly's John Howard writes on the Capitol troops being deployed to the Ventura-area Senate seat that's up for grabs.
"If the Capitol looks a bit deserted this week, there's a good reason:
Some 200 staff workers have headed into the Ventura area for
the hottest legislative battle of the year, pitting
two former Assembly members for the Senate seat held
by Tom McClintock, who is running for Congress.
"Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson and Republican Tony Strickland are neck-and-neck in the 19th Senate District, a Republican stronghold that has
experienced a recent surge in Democratic registrations.
Political pros say the race is too close to call, and
Senate leaders this week began pouring personnel into
the zone to buttress the local campaigns.
"Personnel in both houses are working on other campaigns,
too, but the 19th Senate District contest is getting the largest single
infusion of staffers."
Meanwhile, as a shout out to our friends reading this
at the Super 8 in Brawley, the Bee's Aurelio Rojas looks at all the "volunteers" who have left their legislative jobs to work on campaigns
for the final stretch.
"Many are political junkies, who like getting out of
the building and engaging in the retail politics of
working in phone banks and walking precincts.
"Others resent – privately, since airing displeasure could spell career
suicide – the personal sacrifices they feel compelled to make,
including time away from their families.
"But Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said aides are not pressured to volunteer."
No, of course not.
"'Most people in politics love politics, so they take
a job in politics knowing full well that working on
campaigns is part of being in politics,' said Maviglio, who has been on leave since September
to work on Kevin Johnson's campaign for Sacramento mayor."
..not to be a nit-pick, but isn't Maviglio being paid for his services? Not exactly
the same as using your accrued vacation
time to hang out in Hanford...
Dan Walters writes about the mysterious appearance of a $10 billion budget shortfall over four weeks, and that it may have been hidden to help sell the
revenue anticipation notes in a rocky market.
"So officials are adopting what one might call a limited-hangout posture – that when they made their initial deficit estimate
a month or so ago, they based it on straight-line projections of revenue shortfalls to date, but
that a more sophisticated analysis of the revenue data
after $5 billion in notes had been sold tripled the projected
gap.
"That's their story, anyway, and they're sticking to it. Regardless, the new deficit numbers
will make it very difficult, perhaps impossible, for
the state to peddle the remaining $2 billion in notes unless Schwarzenegger and the Legislature
enact an emergency budget fix, presumably sharp cuts
in spending and/or new revenues."
The Union-Trib's Jim Sweeney looks at ways our lame ducks may opt to fill that aforementioned hole.
"As the state's fiscal condition continues to
deteriorate, Schwarzenegger will ask lawmakers to tackle
many of the
same tough issues they could not agree on during months
of tortuous
negotiations over the summer.
"'You're not going to solve those problems we've
been talking about for a year in a few weeks,' said Sen. Denise
Ducheny, D-San Diego, chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Fiscal
Review
Committee.
"Also, the state's unemployment rate is close to
8 percent, its unemployment insurance fund is running
low and a federal
judge has demanded an immediate $250 million payment to upgrade health
care in prisons.
"Lawmakers are expected to convene this week and
then scatter, leaving leaders and a few others to negotiate.
Any votes
would have to be taken before Nov. 30, when lawmakers'terms expire.
"Already, Schwarzenegger has warned schools and community
colleges that they can expect midyear cuts of $2 billion to $4 billion.
"The Republican governor urged education leaders
to join him in a renewed push for a sales-tax increase that – for lack
of Republican votes – he couldn't deliver earlier. Democrats dominate
both houses of the Legislature but lack the two-thirds majority
required to raise taxes."
And though California's 55 electoral votes are not in question tomorrow, the McCain campaign may still be looking to Ventura
County, reports Tim Herdt.
"If John McCain is to pull off a come-from-behind presidential victory on Tuesday, he had better
carry Ventura County. Winning in Ventura County likely
would not help him with
California's 55 Electoral College votes, since polls indicate Barack
Obama is poised to carry the state in a landslide. But if
McCain can
win here, it will mean he might have done well enough
across the nation
to make it to the White House.
"Only one president in the past 64 years has made it there without
carrying Ventura County, one of the most reliable bellwether
counties
in America.
"Voters in Ventura County have backed the winner in
nearly every
presidential election since 1924. The only time they got it wrong was
in 1976, when they went with Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter. In the most
recent election, in 2004, not only did county voters go for George W.
Bush over John Kerry, but they did so by the exact same margin by which
Bush won the national popular vote: 51 percent to 48 percent."
And finally, from our Silver Lining Files, many in
Utha apparently believe Barack Obama's likely election is a sign of the apocolypse. And apparently, this is A1 news in the state's largest paper.
"For eons, Christians have
believed the world is hurling toward oblivion. But
with the current
economic downturn, the war in Iraq and the likely election
of Barack
Obama, many think it has picked up speed," reports the Salt Lake Tribune's Peggy Fletcher Stack.
"'Economic hardship is the mother's milk of prophetic
progression,' said Todd Strandberg of Bellevue, Neb. 'It always brings
about change, and it's what is helping Obama get elected.'
"Strandberg, founder and editor of raptureready.com,
the
largest Christian prophecy site on the Internet, spends
his days
linking current events with biblical passages. He created
a Rapture
Index, modeled after the Dow Jones Industrial Average,
which consists
of 45 categories of prophetic indicators from the occult
to inflation
and the crime rate. Each is assigned a value of one
to five depending
on the level of activity in that category. The numbers
are adjusted
weekly, and the higher the number, the faster the world
is moving
toward its end. Just before the time known as the Great
Tributional,
some believe there will be a "Rapture," where Christ takes the
righteous to heaven without their tasting death. "
Hey, maybe that's why so many people in Utah are spending so freely
for the Yes on 8 campaign...
