Slow news day today, so I decided to have a look at some of the other blogs here in the OC – my last stop was Red County/OC Blog, where Jon Fleischman/Pistolero was busy praising the work of his co-blogger Jubal/Matt Cunningham.
Apparently the latter wrote a column at Jon’s blog, Flash Report, wherein he announced that he was not sure he would be voting for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (pictured at right after his motorcycle accident) this fall. Huh? I know that Schwarzenegger has not exactly been all that conservative of late, but does it make any kind of sense to rip the one guy on our statewide ticket who is actually headed for a victory? Has anyone taken a look at the rest of our poorly-named “Victory 2006” team?
You would think that Tom McClintock who is campaigning for Lt. Governor, against Cruz Bustamante, would be headed for a victory in November, but as you will read below, he is not. Nor is Tony Strickland, who is running for State Controller – or even Bruce McPherson, the incumbent Secretary of State. Claude Parrish, who is the GOP candidate for State Treasurer; Chuck Poochigian, candidate for Attorney General; and Dick Mountjoy, who is running for the US Senate, round out our losing Republican ticket. The only guy that Schwarzenegger is pimping for is Clinton Republican Steve Poizner, and he is losing too.
An August survey revealed that Schwarzenegger is up by 52% to 38%, over Phil Angelides. An earlier survey conducted on August 1, showed Schwarzenegger at 47% to Angelides at 41% – so even as some Republicans are grousing, Schwarzenegger is widening his lead. I also came across an interesting article that indicated that Schwarzenegger is going after the Latino vote. That may not be necessary, as it appears that leading Latino Democrats, such as Democrat Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, appear to be ready to vote for Schwarzenegger in order to give Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa a chance to run for Governor in 2010. Angelides is toast. And now we know why Nunez and his amigitos did not back Steve Westly, who was a far superior candidate to the tax-raising Angelides.
What about the other races? The latest Field Poll, conducted on August 1, covered a few of them, as follows (if you are a Republican you might want to have a stiff drink before perusing these numbers):
- John Garamendi is leading McClintock by 48% vs. 38%
- Jerry Brown is trouncing Poochigian by 54% to 33%
- Bill Lockyer is way ahead of Parrish by 52% to 27%.
- John Chiang is also in front of Strickland, by 38% to 27%
- The closest race has Debra Bowen beating McPherson by 38% to 35%
- and, last but not least, Bustamante is ahead of Poizner by 43% to 39%
I am assuming that Cunningham/Jubal, who is a political consultant and political blogger, is aware of these numbers. So how in the world can he be wondering if he is going to vote for Schwarzenegger? At this point, everyone else is in the tank – shouldn’t the GOP try to win at least one statewide race in November?
Personally I think that the GOP should embrace Schwarzenegger wholeheartedly, but focus our efforts behind Prop. 85, the Parents’ Right to Know and Child Protection initiative. Democrats are very weak on this issue. Most parents want to know if their underage daughters are pregnant and are considering getting an abortion. Only the most flaming liberals are happy with the notion that their young daughters might be off getting illicit abortions without their permission. This is the issue that GOP candidates ought to be able to run with, even in Democrat-controlled areas.
I can understand why Cunningham/Jubal is upset at the Governor. But why waste time wondering whether or not to vote for him? Instead, get behind the other statewide candidates, and Prop. 85, and let’s take it to the Democrats. They should glean no easy victories in November.
Yes Art, now thats a winning plan. Lets get behind an initiative that the voters turned already rejected to propel the Republicans to victory! Is George Custer now leading your party?
By the way, I guess 53% of statewide voters are flaming liberals. Thats how much percentage voted NO on your centerpiece initiative that you feel will allow the Reps to make a comeback. Keep backing up the losing battles Art. That is why Arnold wins and the rest lose. He understands hard core religious radicalism such as the Traditional Values Coalition does not win elections in California.
Method Man,
You know damn well that the union voters in the special election were told to vote no on all the GOP-backed measures, and that is why this measure failed previously.
This time the unions are split – and there is no Paycheck Protection measure on the ballot to get them mad again. Prop. 85 should pass – and those candidates who embrace it should do very well.
This is not an anti-abortion measure – it is a pro-parent and pro-family initiative. Big difference…
Did aliens abduct Art and leave a Pod-Art in his place? Am I actually being criticzed by Art Pedroza of all people for criticizing another Republican?
Wow, Art — when did it become all about winning for you? I’ll have to bookmakr this post for easy referecne next time you preen about principles and denounce others for their lack thereof.
Art,
I guess you do not know your unions like you think you do..
Jubal/Cunningham,
You know as well as I do that the time for these intraparty fights is the primary, not the general. Besides, how are you machine guys going to get appointments from Schwarzenegger if you oppose him now?
Karen – this isn’t about unions. It is about parents having the right to know what is happening to their underage daughters. Besides, I am a member of the AFL-CIO, so there.
Art/Pedroza:
You know as well as I do Republicans don’t sign a vow of silence once the primary is over. Arnold is our nominee, he’s preferable to Angelides, and he’s going to win. But I have every right to voice my dissatisfaction if he is going to enact Democratic policies.
Art, your indignity over my post is hard to take seriously given your past promotion of a possible Republicans for Correa group before the 34th SD primary was over. And for a member of the OC GOP Central Committee, you expend a lot of pixels writing complimentary posts about Democratic candidates for local office.
You are turning out to be the biggest Kool-Aid drinker of all.
More people voted no on Prop. 73 than they did on Prop. 75 in many Democratic leaning districts. Which means people were voting YES on 75 while voting NO on 73. A prime area this happened in was along the ORange Coast. You know those “flaming Liberals” of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
It even failed in Tom McClintock’s district. What do you say to that? Even the constituents of the most firebreathing conservative rejected this. And you know his district is not known for it left leaning views. Try again Art, keep up the suicide charge. Notice the three Republican statewide candidates either leading a Democrat or are within striking distance are social moderates. All the anti-choice nuts are going down in flames, even Mel Gibson loving Tommy McClintock.
Art, teenaged girls do generally tell their parents if they’re pregnant, but those who are unwilling to tell them generally have good reasons not to do so. Sometimes the girl is afraid one of her parents will physically harm her. Sometimes the pregnancy is the result of incest by the girl’s own father.
These kinds of situations don’t occur in families like yours or mine, so it can be hard to comprehend them. But that doesn’t make them any less real.
Reject Prop 85.
“Sometimes the pregnancy is the result of incest by the girl’s own father.”
How common is incest by the father Gila? In what community is that common? Do you have some statistics on incest?
Yep… Be careful what you wish for, Art.
California voters rejected Prop 73 last year because so many of them realized that this had nothing whatsoever to do with a “parent’s right to know”… And everything to do with threatening the safety of teen girls!
Of course, it also didn’t help that Ahhnold tied 73 to the rest of his unpopular initiatives. And once again, we’re all coming together against this horrendously dangerous prop. Even the CA AFL-CIO has officially denounced 85… And they stayed neutral last year on 73!
How common is it? Impossible to know, but it’s common enough that I’ve been acquainted with two Orange County women to whom it happened — one coworker, and one niece of a coworker.
Here are some references:
NSA case
A Comparison of Father-Daughter and Stepfather-Stepdaughter Incest
Acting Out the Oedipal Wish
Father-Daughter Incest
Books on Incest
My Father’s House
Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You
Victimized Daughters
Daddy Don’t
The Secret Trauma
Betrayal of Innocence
teenaged girls do generally tell their parents if they’re pregnant
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
those who are unwilling to tell them generally have good reasons not to do so
like not wanting mommy to know her little angel is preggers again.
Sometimes the pregnancy is the result of incest by the girl’s own father.
california has an abortion rate of
39 per year per 1000 women ages 15 to 44.
thats over 280 thousand abortions per the cdc.
how many of these were incest gila?
Republicans overwhelmingly support the Governor per the polls—but there wil always be an element in both parties who are more concerned with being “pure” then with making sure their party stays in power. So unless you have the Ralph Nader-Alan Bartlett philosophy( ” If we let the other fella get in then the public will see how bad they are and we will take back power in 4 years with a REAL (liberal)(conservative)”)you go with Arnold if you’re in the GOP.
As for 85, Art is right about this. From a political standpoint the battle for control over California’s political future depends on whether the GOP can significantly cut into Latino support for Democrats. The same data another poster cited shows that prop 73 passed in many latino democratic assembly districts. The issue, when separated from a ballot measure, is off the charts in the latino community(and strong elsewhere as well). So this will help the GOP in the long run.
By the way, 73 lost not only because it got grouped with the Governor’s other ballot blunders but because no money was spent in the campaign once it was qualified. This could happen again. The problem is that the Republican party talks the talk about wanting to reduce abortions but they don’t walk the walk. Even on something like this which has bi-partisan appeal. The GOP needs to put some money into it.
This is really about empowering families. You need a parents consent to treat a minor wound but not a major procedure like this? The ballot measure does have a provision to take care of another poster’s concern about incest–you can get a judicial waiver. In states where you have similar provisions Planned parenthood ensures that young girls who have legitimate concerns about parental abuse get to a judicial officer who grants the waivers.
problem for Democrats is they refuse to put any restrictions on abortions. Not for 11 and 12 year old girls, not for anything.
Jubal/Cunningham,
Don’t be so sensitive! Surely you must have known that your post re Schwarzenegger would be scrutinized, particularly after Flash/Pistolero bragged about it on your site.
Of course you have the right to rip the Governor – my point is that doing so is a waste of time. He is not going to change his ways. And he is going to be our last Republican Governor for a long time. So enjoy his tenure – believe me, Governor Villaraigosa will be an even bigger affront!
northcountystorm,
Bravo! Well said. Also, the Special Election had a lower turnout than is expected this November. This time the extra voters will be a huge factor.
Pedroza/Art:
Amigo, you have an amazing talent for missing the point, combined with a superhuman ability to leap to conclusions while arguing with straw men.
Of course you have the right to rip the Governor – my point is that doing so is a waste of time. He is not going to change his ways.
I’ll keep that in mind next time I read another of your posts ripping some politician who won’t “change his ways.” By that standard, much of Orange Juice is a “waste of time.”
Jubal,
Whether or not any blog is a waste of time depends on the priorities of our readers. With regard to your piece on Arnold – do you really think that he would change because of it? He got burned in the Special Election, and now all conservatives are paying the price. We failed to get people to the polls in that election, and he got bad advice when we focused on paycheck protection. We should not have run that measure, in retrospect. Instead we should have focused on parental notification. We should not repeat the mistake now. It is a winning issue if, as northcountystorm stated, the GOP backs it. That is where we should all focus our energies.
Art,
I know damn well what role the unions played in defeating Prop 73: NONE.
The unions did not even take a pro or con stand on 73.
The organization that busted its butt to stop the heinous trojan horse of an initiative that was Prop 73 was the Campaign for Teen Safety, a group closely allied with Planned Parenthood that I am proud to have worked with.
Californians understand that the State has no business meddling in our most private, personal matters – that it is up to us, not judges and bureaucrats, to decide how best to keep our daughters’ safe.
NO ON 85