From the website of the California Secretary of State.
Propositions:
State Ballot Measures
95.9% ( 22173 of 23109 ) precincts
reporting as of Feb 6, 2008, at 7:30 a.m.
91 N Transportation Funds.
2,654,316 41.9%
3,674,380 58.1%
92 N Community Colleges. Funding. Governance. Fees.
2,783,544 42.6%
3,738,241 57.4%
93 N Limits on Legislators' Terms in Office.
3,071,170 46.5%
3,522,645 53.5%
94 Y Ref on Amd to Indian Gaming Compact: Pechanga
3,727,990 55.8%
2,959,696 44.2%
95 Y Ref on Amd to Indian Gaming Compact: Morongo
3,725,141 55.8%
2,953,405 44.2%
96 Y Ref on Amd to Indian Gaming Compact: Sycuan
3,707,573 55.7%
2,956,192 44.3%
97 Y Ref on Amd to Indian Gaming Compact: Agua Caliente
3,708,824 55.7%
2,952,036 44.3%
So, as you can see, the state pretty much agreed with me regarding the state propositions.
Well, except for proposition 91.
And for propositions 94 through 97.
But other than that, I am part of the political mainstream that can unite the people.
Which brings us to the Democrats, the contest that is probably of most interest to Californians. Here are the results that the networks didn't want you to hear - or, more accurately, didn't care about.
Joe Biden (Dem) 15,087 0.3 %
Dennis Kucinich (Dem) 19,857 0.5 %
Barack Obama (Dem) 1,686,517 42.4 %
Bill Richardson (Dem) 16,469 0.5 %
Hillary Clinton (Dem) 2,064,590 51.9 %
Chris Dodd (Dem) 6,570 0.1 %
John Edwards (Dem) 167,226 4.2 %
Mike Gravel (Dem) 6,467 0.1 %
I remember reading something yesterday from someone (I don't think the person was in California) who either voted for Kucinich or strongly considered doing so. Well, Kucinich did come in fourth place here, which I guess shows something. Although when you look at California primary results, you have to remember that a large group of Californians voted absentee, which may partially explain Edwards' strong showing.
Let's compare the Democrats with the Republicans:
Mike Huckabee (Rep) 260,447 11.6 %
Duncan Hunter (Rep) 12,046 0.5 %
Alan Keyes (Rep) 9,265 0.4 %
Sam Brownback (Rep) 1,975 0.0 %
John H. Cox (Rep) 2,574 0.1 %
Rudy Giuliani (Rep) 114,888 5.1 %
John McCain (Rep) 952,409 42.1 %
Ron Paul (Rep) 96,300 4.2 %
Mitt Romney (Rep) 765,355 33.9 %
Tom Tancredo (Rep) 3,225 0.1 %
Fred Thompson (Rep) 45,426 2.0 %
At some point I'll do a web search to see how the Baba Booeys explain the fact that Ron Paul got fewer votes than John Edwards. Or, for that matter, fewer votes than Rudy Giuliani.
The other interesting thing, considering the political climate here in the last few years, is how few people cast protest votes for Tom Tancredo.
And I'm happy that Cox got over 2,000 votes. Hey, 10th place is better than 11th place.
But that's not the end of the story. The American Independents have an interesting race going on:
Mad Max Riekse (AI) 11,384 30.2 %
Diane Beall Templin (AI) 12,512 33.3 %
Don J. Grundmann (AI) 13,727 36.5 %
I'm sorry that Riekse came in third; I want to vote on a ballot in which someone named "Mad Max" is listed.
No hope in getting such a candidate from the Greens:
Kent Mesplay (Grn) 564 2.0 %
Jared Ball (Grn) 444 1.6 %
Jesse Johnson (Grn) 506 1.8 %
Kat Swift (Grn) 843 3.0 %
Ralph Nader (Grn) 16,835 61.1 %
Elaine Brown (Grn) 1,259 4.6 %
Cynthia McKinney (Grn) 7,124 25.9 %
And as long as we're talking about Nader and McKinney, let's look at Peace & Freedom:
Stewart A. Alexander (P&F) 282 5.4 %
Gloria E. La Riva (P&F) 1,057 20.4 %
John Crockford (P&F) 292 5.6 %
Stanley Hetz (P&F) 87 1.6 %
Brian P. Moore (P&F) 279 5.3 %
Ralph Nader (P&F) 2,090 40.2 %
Cynthia McKinney (P&F) 1,114 21.5 %
So, adding up the votes from the two primaries, Cynthia McKinney received 8,238 votes. This means that Alan Keyes (9,265) is more representative of black America than Cynthia McKinney. Sounds about right.
This leave just one more party, the Libertarian Party:
Michael P. Jingozian (Lib) 652 4.7 %
Bob Jackson (Lib) 1,211 8.9 %
Steve Kubby (Lib) 2,333 17.0 %
Alden Link (Lib) 442 3.2 %
John Finan (Lib) 584 4.2 %
Barry Hess (Lib) 739 5.4 %
Dave Hollist (Lib) 562 4.0 %
Daniel Imperato (Lib) 590 4.2 %
Robert Milnes (Lib) 599 4.3 %
George Phillies (Lib) 689 5.1 %
Wayne A. Root (Lib) 1,896 13.8 %
Christine Smith (Lib) 3,453 25.2 %
Which leads to an interesting issue. It may be too late for Ron Paul to qualify for the Libertarian Party nomination for President, unless the delegates are free to vote for anyone after the first ballot. And the Libertarian Party desperately needs Ron Paul at the head of their ballot to have any chance of success in state and local elections. I'll have to research Libertarian Party convention rules at some point.
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4 years ago
2 comments:
barack obama mike huckabee vs machine
huckabee obama:
we understand your disgust.
subversion of democracy.
know this:
gravel kucinich paul nader
will fight any ticket
with clinton or mccain on it.
your eyes & ears are open...
Mike Gravel Dennis Kucinich Dr Ron Paul Ralph Nader
united by truth elicit fear smear blacklist.
Too many lies,
democracy rising democracy now.
Rage against the machine.
Honesty compassion intelligence guts.
No more extortion blackmail bribery division.
Divided we fall.
It may be a stretch to claim that Gravel, Kucinich, Paul, and Nader are "united" in any realistic way, other than the fact that they want their voice to be heard, and that there's no difference between a Republican or a Democrat as far as they're concerned.
In either 2000 or 2004, one of the cable networks hosted a debate between the third party Presidential candidates. Their views diverged dramatically - imagine a debate between a Peace & Freedom candidate and a Constitution Party/American Independent Party candidate.
Yet their views are valuable to help keep today's political oligopoly a little more honest. And don't forget that in American history, third parties have sometimes made great differences in public policy, most notably the Populist Party and the Republican Party itself
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