Not Midterms Again!

Well, the midterm elections are just six days off, and the left has reason for some guarded optimism. Depending on whom you consult, Democrats are expected to win somewhere between 7 and 230 new seats in the House and between 3 and all 55 Republican seats in the Senate.

The GOP is clearly reeling from the Foley page-fishing scandal, the failure of their Iraq policy, the strong* economy, the effects of the Abramoff scandal, the harsh light that Hurricane Katrina shed on the woeful socioeconomic and racial gaps in this country, the fiscal disaster of their economic policies, the woeful cynicism and outright lack of respect for the intellect of the electorate as embodied in their political advertising, their nearsightedness on international diplomacy and environmental issues, the hypocrisy of their stance on 'family values', their shameless plays on racial sensitivities both in campaign speeches and ads, their small-minded view on immigration, and the foul stench of sleaze, hatefulness and small-minded fear mongering that generally follows them wherever they go.

Meanwhile, the approval rating of the Republican-controlled Congress falls somewhere between the numbers for Dick Cheney and Idi Amin. The Republicans are trying to distance themselves from the increasing obvious failures of their Commander-in-Chief, but even the notoriously lazy American electorate is just conscious enough to realize they've given these guys six years to try out their ideas and have gotten nothing back but excuses and pleas for patience. The cynical plays on peoples' fears and the less-than-accurate attacks on anyone or anything that threatens them are no longer producing the desired effect. The people have finally realized that when the baby answers to Damien and has three sixes emblazoned on his scalp, it make sense to throw it out with the bathwater. And with that realization, we may finally be turning a corner. Hopefully not the same corner we thought we were turning back in 2004.

That having been said, here's the current list of Bossman's Nov. 7 endorsements:

National Offices
The Bossman did not punch his ballot (or more accurately, connect any arrows) for the Senate and House primaries as the woefully uninspiring Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi were running unopposed. Now that there are a few choices, I'll take the Greens, Todd Chretien for Senate and Krissy Keefer for House District 8.

State Offices & Propositions
Governor -- Phil Angelides (as Michael Dukakis was to GHW Bush, Angelides is to Schwarzenegger); Lt. Governor -- John Garamendi (Don't really care about Lt. Governor, we learned how much they really do from watching Benson, but I'd rather not see Tom McClintock one heartbeat away from running the state)

1A -- no; 1B -- yes; 1C -- yes; 1D -- yes; 1E -- yes; 83 -- no; 84 -- yes; 85 -- no; 86 -- no; 87 -- yes; 88 -- yes; 89 -- yes; 90 -- no

We only disagreed with The Bay Guardian on two State Props: 1B and 86. 1B is a costly bond measure aimed at repairing roads. The Guardian thinks it is too much cost for too little long-term benefit. I think it's better than waiting in vain for Sacramento to come up with a truly forward-thinking alternative. Prop 86 is a tax on cigarettes that The Guardian admits is regressive (meaning it disproportionally affects the poor). They argue that the money raised will go to programs that benefit the poor, so that makes it worth it. That argument doesn't fly for me. We should be funding those programs with the financial support of all taxpayers, not just the poor. Sounds like a classic case of we know how to spend their money better than they do.

Local Measures
Yes to All (A-K)


*Does not reflect the realities of some subgroups of the American electorate including: the poor, the lower middle class, the middle class, the upper middle class and the marginally rich.