Commentary: When We Talk About Contraception Rather than Jobs
Every so often it is necessary to poke one’s head out from the local scene to watch what is unfolding nationally. If you had asked me in December, I would have told you I thought that President Barack Obama would lose re-election. But the last two months have really solidified in my mind that this will not happen.
I have said this before, but 2012 is basically 2004 all over again, with the parties reversed. In 2004, Democrats thought that they would defeat President George Bush. Even with the selection of liberal Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, I honestly believed he would win, up until the networks took back their projection that Senator Kerry would win Florida, which was based on faulty exit polls.
It is a provocative headline, but there is some truth behind it as well. There are political scientists who believe that political campaigns do not matter. What matters is the state of the economy prior to the election.
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman said that the historically close Iowa Caucus results show that the race is still “wide open” for Republican contenders. He had better hope so, because he finished in last place in the caucuses, although he also did not actively campaign in Iowa.
John Garamendi represented Davis once previously, as State Senator. In fact, every time he comes back to Davis to speak, he remembers the community fondly.
Yolo County officials are necessarily concerned that the county is currently slated to be cut into thirds, separating, of all things, Woodland from Davis, two communities just seven miles apart.
Since 1996, Davis has been represented in the Assembly by a Davis resident. Starting with Helen Thomson, continuing with Lois Wolk and now Mariko Yamada, a Davis resident has held the Assembly seat in a district that included most of Yolo and Eastern Solano County.
Assuming that the issue of choice voting is not completely dead in Davis, the Oakland Mayor’s race might give us insight into how choice voting could work in Davis. It would undoubtedly give fodder to both sides of the fence.
I was watching this whole flap develop about Christine O’Donnell and whether or not she is ignorant of the First Amendment and whether there is a separation of church and state.
I had an interesting moment this week, after talking with Tom Torlakson and then going over my recording of his speech and interview. Mr. Torlakson is currently an Assemblymember, and is running to replace Jack O’Connell as the next Secretary of Public Instruction.
I would be remiss if I did not comment on the extraordinary chain of events that occurred on a Friday before the Fourth of July weekend when Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin who has made a career our of being a maverick and unpredictable, took that to another level by announcing she would resign by August.
I am sure this will get me into a lot of hot water with those on the left. But so far so good with Barack Obama. I am not going to argue he’s not going to make a good deal of mistakes along the way. What I am going to say is I like his governing philosophy so far. He is bringing in high profile people, who he doesn’t necessarily agree with on everything, people with stature, experience, people who can challenge his assumptions. The biggest flaw of the Bush administration is that Bush never allowed his core assumptions to be challenged. 
I do not remember how old I as, but I remember as a child my mother mentioning to me with excitement that Raplh Nader was going to come to town. She described him as a consumer advocate who stood up to big business and who was incorruptible. They tried to discredit Nader, hiring all sorts of independent investigators and tried to corrupt him with prostitutes to trap him into uncompromising positions, but they could not.