California Predictions

[The Duke]

73 will pass strongly
74 will fall just short
75 will squeek by
76 will get demolished
77 will get demolished
78 will get demolished
79 will get demolished
80 will get pwned
John Campbell will win big in CA-48
Jerry Sanders will win small for SD Mayor

[The Duke]

Ford how has Villaraigosa been as Mayor so far?  I know you werent a fan of his at first.  Has he won you over at all?

I actually ran into Antonio Villaraigosa at City Hall yesterday.  Whe I get the pictures back I'll post them (and by that I mean I'll email them to someone who knows how to post them for me).

He's been mixed.  He's got a program to fill 35,000 potholes, so I'm happy about that.  He's joined some other City Officials in asking Sacramento to end the restrictions that prevent traffic relief on our main West Side freeway 9the 405).  So those are good things.

On the negative side, he still kisses La Raza's rear end endlessly.

The next big issue is going to be homelessness.  Chief Bratton has a plan to reduce homelessness in LA, modeled on what he did in New York.  I saw this coming up in my last days in the Council Office, when some homeless who live in the Hollywood Hills started a wildfire.  They're everywhere in the Hills, and the Hills are extremely flammable, nothing but sage and $5 million mansions.  A bad combo.  They're in the parks at night sleeping on benches.  They panhandle like crazy now.  Bratton is smart to stamp it out, but I think he'll need Antonio's backing to pull it off, because theere's a lot of opposition from ACLU types.  If Antonio comes out and supports Bratton's efforts, I'll probably vote for him just on that alone.  But I doubt he will, he's been fairly silent so far.

Big test for the Mayor in the next year on this issue.

[The Duke]

Sounds good so far.  I agree the homless plan is a big next step.

Why is the ACLU bitching about a plan to help clean up the homeless?  Its not like the city is going to put them on trucks and dump em' in the desert.

Many people believe that:

1. The homeless have a right to live as they choose, and if they choose to be vagrants what business of it is the City's?

2. Homelessness is society's fault, therefore the police cannot ever solce the problem, only mask its symptoms.

3. Because homelessness is society's fault, it is wrong to "punish" the homeless when they are not in the wrong.

It's common in some of the bigger cities in America to have people that think like this.  I bet dazzleman and MarkDel can tell you about New York, which had the same kinds of complaints when Bratton instituted a nearly identical program there.

[The Duke]

Should add:

Campbell will win special election with 51% of the vote.

Only 51%?  He almost got 51% in the primary.

[The Duke]

I worked at the final So Cal bus stop on Arnold's tour.  It was a good event, but it started late.  I had to leave and take one of the campaign strategists to the airport, so that was kind of cool.  I'll be at the after-election party in Beverly Hills.

I might get to be one of the people on TV who stands behind the Governor when he gives his victory/concession speech at night.  So watch out for that.  Then again, I might not get to do that.

[The Duke]

I worked at the final So Cal bus stop on Arnold's tour.  It was a good event, but it started late.  I had to leave and take one of the campaign strategists to the airport, so that was kind of cool.  I'll be at the after-election party in Beverly Hills.

I might get to be one of the people on TV who stands behind the Governor when he gives his victory/concession speech at night.  So watch out for that.  Then again, I might not get to do that.

How devistating do you think it will be if all of his prop's fail?  Or if only prop 73 passes?  Ive read a couple articles that state he's doomed in 2006 if doest 'win' in 2005.  What do you think?

That seems a little hyperbolic to me.  If all the propositions fail, then the world will only be different in one substantive way: The Unions will be bankrupt.  They've spent so much money on this campaign that they're under a crushing level of debt and will not be able to put up much of a fight next year.

[The Duke]

It'd be nice if the redistricting one passes. Don't think it will though.

77 is good as dead.

[The Duke]

76 is not really a school funding reform, it is a general budget process reform.

[The Duke]

It'd be nice if the redistricting one passes. Don't think it will though.

77 is good as dead.

So that means that people are going to vote to keep this?



Why? Lead in the drinking water or... ?

Republican legislators told Republicans to vote no, Democratic legislators told Democrats to vote no.  So both will obey the command from the mothership.