Posted on 10/29/2006 2:03:02 PM PST by calcowgirl
If she weren't running for secretary of state, Debra Bowen might consider Santa Cruz native Bruce McPherson the best fit for the job.
As state senators, both traveled to Iceland to study geothermal energy; when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed McPherson to fill the secretary of state post last year, Bowen was part of the unanimous vote that confirmed him.
"I consider him a friend," said Bowen, D-Redondo Beach. "When the governor nominated Bruce, I told him that I thought he was the second best person for the job."
This November, Bowen hopes voters will agree with her.
Bowen and McPherson, a former state assemblyman and senator from Santa Cruz, are locked in a tight fight to oversee California's elections. The race is one of a number of competitive statewide battles in which Republican candidates are bucking California's blue-state tendencies. Some speculate the race is close because McPherson, like other Republicans on the ticket, are riding the popular governor's "coattails." But the former Sentinel editor said he thinks voters like him because he's turned his office around.
"I am a moderate Republican like Schwarzenegger is, and I think people recognize that," McPherson said.
But that's not the only thing people look for, he said.
"If I do the job and do it well, I'll be re-elected," McPherson said.
Lieutenant governor candidate John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, agreed with McPherson's assessment. Some candidates, like Garamendi's opponent Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, could benefit from Schwarzenegger's popularity, he said. Despite clashing with Schwarzenegger on popular issues such as environmental protection and abortion rights, McClintock has aired television ads touting him as Schwarzenegger's "running mate" and is running close in the polls.
"Arnold Schwarzenegger's coattails, no doubt," Garamendi said of McClintock's appeal. But he stopped short of lumping McPherson into that camp.
"This is not Bruce McPherson, he does not fit this mold," Garamendi said. "Bruce McPherson is a very competent, capable person."
Those opinions could prove difficult for Bowen, who didn't know when she took out papers in 2004 for this year's election that she would be competing against a moderate Republican respected on both sides of the aisle. At the time, Democrat Kevin Shelley had yet to resign as secretary of state in disgrace after allegedly misspending federal election funds and McPherson was about to be termed out of the Senate.
The largest issue that has emerged in the secretary of state race is the use of electronic voting machines.
After his appointment, McPherson visited registrars in each of California's 58 counties, established some of the tightest standards in the country for controversial electronic voting machines and drew praise from federal officials for turning his office into what they called a model for the nation.
While McPherson has her respect, Bowen said if she was elected, she would do even more.
"Voters are very concerned about the Diebold voting machines," Bowen said, questioning McPherson's decision to certify two Diebold models. "There's just an increasing awareness that there are potential security issues and accuracy issues with these voting machines."
McPherson counters that he approved the machines after sending them back to Diebold for improvements, and did not certify the models that have had security problems.
The candidates also differ on requiring an audit to be done using the paper trail from the voting machines. Bowen recently wrote legislation requiring recounts to use the paper record printed after every voter casts an electronic ballot. While McPherson agrees with keeping a paper trail, he said recounting printouts can be problematic if the printer jams.
But some poll watchers, like Zach Friend with the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee, say the vote in close races might not come down to name recognition or coattail riding. Instead, it may lie with who turns out to vote.
"If we don't turn out Democrats in general, that's when all these races are swung by independents and decline-to-state and such," Friend said.
"The hard-core Republicans and hard-core Democrats all side on their side. Then there's a lot of people that are in the middle that make the race close," he said.
What no McClintock PING yet? You are back from getting your car washed, and there's nothing on your personal calendar.
Bruce McPherson hasn't been doing his job in fact he is going out of his way to subvert the voting process, one in which he is under oath to uphold;
In the Nguyen letter sent to CA Spanish speaking residents living in district that has 50% or more illegal immigrant residents, and after local media boasted a campaign this year of registering thousands of new voters, with the slogan "no human is illegal" and "today we protest, tomorrow we vote" it was stated:
" If you are a U.S. Citizen, I urge you to participate in the democratic process of voting. Be advised that if your residence in the United States is illegal or if you are an emigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that can result in incarceration, and possible deportation for voting without the right to do so. "
But Secretary of State Bruce McPherson in a follow up letters notified recipients , saying that if your residence in the United States is illegal it is not a crime to vote because the first letter it did not accurately reflect their voting rights!!!
Also, Bruce McPherson joined Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion and La Raza, in hopes of getting 150,000 "eligible" new voters the polls in November, by sending out registrations in Spanish, in LA districts where if one does speak Spanish there is a greater probably than not they are an illegal immigrant.
So what wrong with getting legal immigrants to vote?
Nothing, but it was reported that recipients of the letters in Spanish that voters only need to present a bank statement or utility bill to verify voting status , while the English version of the same letter listed a photo ID as method to prove authenticity, but only of first time voters.
I hope these accounts are not true, but sadly no body seems to refute these allegations.
ROFL! Is there a rule book for "ping" protocol?
As a general rule, I only use the McClintock ping list when the article has him as the primary subject or he is the author (the latter being the reason I set up the ping list in the first place).
For some reason, Garmamendi's mindless-Rat comments praising McPherson and slighting McClintock didn't hit my "ping radar". LOL.
Now... back to waxing the car....
The thing that was most disturbing from those letters was the letterhead itself
(although the entire Tan Nguyen lynching should have California citizens screaming, expecially Republicans).
At the bottom of these official California State letters, he included the logos and names of the following organizations:
http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/2006/06_161.pdf
• National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
• Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)
• National Association of Latinos & Appointed Officials (NALEO]
Also see this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1725866/posts
CA: Sec of State and Major Latino Organizations Send Official Letter Refuting Intimidation Letter
I think I'm going to hurl.
---
McPherson just might lose this election just because of his stupid pig-headed support of paper-trail-less electronic voting machines that Bowen is all too eager to take advantage of. And of course it is all ironic since it was the scheming Democrats who demanded electronic voting machines since they claim their voters were unable to figure out a simple punch-hole ballot during the Bush-Gore debacle.
Isn't it a bit early to be "calling" any election just yet?
Maybe we need a movement banning polls within 60 days of an election.
Seems the media uses them to manipulate undecideds towards Dems, all too often.
You know... Here's another Republican that I no longer care if he wins or loses, as a matter of fact!!! He thinks he's being such a "coy" moderate! Phhhhhht!!!
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
I got a recorded message from his opponent today. Nothing impressive. I'm not really impressed with either candidate. He says he's a moderate, just like Schwartzenborrowerspender and he doesn't impress me one iota!!! In fact, he DEpresses me!!!
Spoken just like Gomer Pyle!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.