2020 Hindsight

The "news suppression" story that isn't

Glenn at Instapundit mentions some story (written by someone on east coast) that talks of news media sitting on the news of their polls about CA election results, and Glenn lumps it with other "the media is sitting on the real story" issues. Codswallop. Fine. let them sit on the story, withholding it from the rest of you people in Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern time zones.

We in GMT+8 have been burned too many times by being 3 hours behind the east coast in matters of electoral politics. I remember watching President Carter concede on the dormitory TV set. To my left, in the big multi-purpose room, people were still casting their votes. To hold off on their news because people are still voting is an instance of news suppression? I don't think so.

so far, more votes for Schwarzenegger than against the recall

The front page of the LA Times (subscription required), or from two vote results pages: recall Gray Davis? Who succeeds as Governor? shows that Arnold's getting more votes than Gray Davis is getting.

Recall?

Yes: 1,877,080

No: 1,522,186

Schwarzenegger: 1,562,360

That's with 43% of precincts reporting.

(for comparison of overall voter turnouts, here are the election results from last November)

funny candidate statement

I'm sorta following the court case stuff about whither recall or no, but I had to mention (for outta state readers, let's see, maybe that makes one person of my five readers?) Kevin Richter of Manteca, California, the candidate whose statement about himself in the voter information pamphlet is simply this:

I breathe

He's got a web site, whowantstobeagovernor.com.

Ueberroth drops out

today at 1pm he announced he's no longer running.

"I'm going to continue to work hard. I'm going to work very hard to keep jobs in this state and to create jobs in this state, but not as a candidate for governor," Ueberroth said at a news conference at his campaign headquarters.

"So I'm going to offer my services to the next Democrat or Republican governor, if he wants, to be part of a bipartisan group to work on the budget and to keep jobs in the state and bring new jobs to the state."

Recall Debate: Only the CASE was changed to protect the reader

THE CONTRA COSTA TIMES POSTED TRANSCRIPTS OF THE RECALL DEBATE, ONE WITH GRAY DAVIS , AND ONE WITH THE CANDIDATES (WELL, MINUS ARNOLD). ALAS, THE TRANSCRIPTS ARE IN ALL-CAPS, WHICH IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO READ.

So, thanks to BBEdit's Change Case feature, and some judicious find and replace, I offer you the same transcripts, only they're now readable by humans.

Part 1: Recall Debate with Gray Davis

Part 2: Recall Debate with the Candidates

UPDATE: I sent a message to the Contra Costa Times, offering them my cleaned up version, and they said 'yes.' So you'll probably see it there after a bit.

Gruener's internet campaign

Via California Insider, a mention of Garret Gruener, founder of askjeeves.com. He's plunked $3/4 million of his own funds into his campaign, created a website, and has a weblog on (on Typepad)

I'm running for Governor with one goal in mind: to ignite a citizens' movement that forces Sacramento to get the state back on track. By using the full power of the Web, we can bring millions of Californians together to demand change.

His education whitepaper examines Maine's one-laptop-per-student results and a similar program in Michigan, and the good results of online assessment engines.

Other Gruener-related stories:

• SF Gate: Venture capitalist to use internet to aid recall run
• Oakland Tribune, (8/27): Tech mogul backs tax hike, big cuts
• Tri-Valley Herald, (8/26) Tech mogul wants Sacramento to tell the truth (no 30-second sound bites from this guy)

I've got my eye on Peter Ueberroth

Though I didn't mention it here, I waited for him to declare his candidacy. I remember the 1984 L.A. Olympics, how delighted we were that things worked, and worked well. I played a part in history (I ushered at the Equestrian events).

Peter Ueberroth was Da Man. He's done it before. So I'm glad to see the press start picking up stories about him. This LA Times story (reg. required) got picked up by the Contra Costa Times (no reg. required):

This Laguna Beach Republican and former sports czar says that what sets him apart from the other 134 candidates on the Oct. 7 recall ballot is that he has done it before: brought together squabbling factions and made them sort out their problems. And he's not running to stake out a political future, he says: Should Gov. Gray Davis lose the recall vote and Ueberroth succeed him, he plans only to finish out the term, and without pay. (emphasis mine)

Ueberroth says he will make up for lost time with substance. Next week, he says, he will offer details on how he would repair the state's finances.

"We will be specific with a plan of what needs to be done," Ueberroth said. "I want to offer very direct changes — cost cuts, revenue building — that will balance this state's financial future. That's essential."

Keep your eyes on him.