Comment of the Fortnight
8 November 1998
Election Wrapup
The results of the United States elections on 3 November 1998 are
in. Here's how I voted on several of the races:
- California Governor
-
I'm glad that Gray Davis (Democrat) won. He's a moderate, and he
seems to have good ideas. Dan Lungren (Republican) was way too far to the right
for my tastes.
- U.S. Senator, California
-
I couldn't stand either of these candidates. As I understand it,
Barbara Boxer (Democrat) is one of the least liked Senators, and I can believe it.
She's the kind of person that gives liberals a bad name. I was about to vote
for Matt Fong (Republican), but then the story broke that he gave US$50,000 to
Reverend Lou Sheldon, an extreme anti-gay activist. I voted for Brian Rees,
the Natural Law party candidate.
- United States Representative, District 15
-
I really like Tom Campbell (Republican). He's virtually a libertarian; he's
fiscally conservative but socially liberal. He has great appeal to the center,
and I'm thoroughly pleased that he was re-elected.
- State Proposition 10
-
This was an initiative that would raise the tobacco tax on cigarettes
by US$0.50 a pack. The money would fund early childhood development and
smoking prevention programs. I voted against this because of the "early childhood
development" part. No, I don't hate children, and I don't love the tobacco
companies. I just felt that it was wrong to tax smokers only and
spend the money on something not related to smoking.
If 100% of the money collected had gone to smoking prevention programs
or if it had been a general tax for general purposes, I'd have voted for it.
National View
I was absolutely thrilled to see that Jesse Ventura (Reform Party)
was elected governor of
Minnesota. He's no dummy, he's not beholden to either major party,
and he's not owned by any big corporate interests. I see great things happening
there.
Do you think that the Republican party will finally find the nerve to tell
Dr. James Dobson, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Pat Robertson, and the rest of the
radical religious right wing to go fly a kite? Had they delivered the voters,
it would have been a different story, but as I understand it, they didn't get
their constituency out there to vote Republican.
So what's this with Newt Gingrich (Republican) stepping down as Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and leaving Congress as well? I can't see an ulterior
motive, and I don't see why he'd have to fall on his sword for the Republican
showing this time around. It's a puzzlement, to be sure.
Many people in Hawaii voted to allow the legislature to amend the constitution
so that homosexual marriage can be outlawed. I'm amazed that so many people
can be so terrified of the idea of two people falling in love and forming a
committed relationship. How this can damage an existing relationship is utterly
beyond me, but then I don't understand the high divorce rate among heterosexuals
either. Of course, how could I, since I'm playing on the other team <grin>.
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