Post Election Musings

Hard to say if this last election was better or worse than the norm from a libertarian perspective. As far as local races go, no biggie. I'll admit enjoying the hair pulling and gnashing of the teeth by local lefties over Seidner and Clendenen's losses in the Board of Supes race.

Unlike many of them, I don't think the world would come to an end had the results been different. It will likely continue to be business as usual at the county courthouse with the newly elected supes.

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As far as ballot propositions go, some are ecstatic of Prop 28 passing. I see that one as six one way, half dozen the other. Eric Kirk claims this will help rural communities because it will allow rural legislators to gain committee positions due to seniority. Seems to me even with different time frames- shorter or longer- you still gain seniority.

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Prop 29- the tobacco tax- is still up in the air. They say it's going down if it's still losing at this point. I'll certainly be glad if it loses but the close numbers show we live in a very immoral state with close to half the people voting to tax a minority.

No reason to be all that excited about it losing, either. In a contest this close the results could well have gone the other way had the election been held a day earlier or later. That, and now we have some suggesting the legislature go ahead and add the tax to cigarettes, anyway. They never sleep.

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Another thing that gets me is they're saying it could take days to weeks for them to finish counting all the votes cast on Tuesday. This isn't the first time.

I'll never understand how they can count enough votes to declare winners on Election Night, yet take days to weeks to finish counting the rest of the votes.

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My biggest disappointment was the 2nd district, state assembly race. I was hoping Firenza Pini might get the percentage that Green Party's Pam Elizondo got. Last I looked Elizondo got something like 9%(!!!). As it was, my favorite only got 4%, coming in fourth out of four.

I'm wondering if that 9% Elizondo got might be a record for a third party candidate up here?

No surprise Chesbro came in first. Now I'll have to decide whether to support his opponent, Tom Lynch, or just stand aside and not vote in that race. I'm leaning toward voting for Lynch. We'll see how he stands on the issues as time goes on.

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No surprise in the U.S. Senate race, either. The authoritarian's choice, Dianne Feinstein, is always a shoo- in here. A little disappointed Libertarian Gail Lightfoot didn't get a higher percentage but that's par for the course when you're a libertarian. I'm used to it.

Only vaguely heard of the Republican gal, Elizabeth Emken, that took second place. A quick look at her campaign page gives the usual hints of the Religious Right. I'll give her a chance and see what she's got to say. We'll decide later whether we'll vote for her if only to vote against Feinstein.

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Damn! Almost forgot about the congressional race. No surprise that Huffman, as did Feinstein, took it. This is typical for me: I hate the guy's guts and he wins, with the press saying now just as they always have that he's got the election locked up. 

I was right that Dan Roberts would win if all the Republicans voted party line. I don't think he can win against Huffman, especially with the districts gerrymandered to favor Democrats. I'll probably vote for Roberts even if he does piss me off somehow. I really hate Jared Huffman.

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The Santa Rosa Press- Democrat says this new primary system is a "win for voters", as if having a Democrat vs. a Democrat in the general election is a win. They're probably referring to having Republicans out of the way but I don't see it. Looks like incumbents kept their advantage and most, if not all, seem to be heading to the November election.

Doesn't look like any change to me from the status quo and, with the Democrats having gerrymandered the districts even more in their favor, there's even less likelihood of any change. For better or worse, I guess that's what we call progress in California.