Today's Elections

Anyone want to speculate on results?

We’ve got elections in NJ, VA and CA covering various items, and the NY mayoral race (and probably more that I’m not paying close attention to or remembering).

I voted for Kilgore this morning for VA gov – not really impressed with either candidate, but Kilgore has promised to try to address traffic issues in NoVa, and it’s important to have a Republican in the statehouse to appoint a replacement for Senator Allen if he decides to run for President, which looks increasingly likely (particularly if he stays in the race for a long time and resigns his seat, which also seems likely).

BTW, predictions:

Kilgore wins in VA (his numbers seem to be trending upward, and the main 3rd party challenger is a conservative, so anyone who sees the race is close and decides not to vote the 3rd party will go to Kilgore).

Corzzine wins in NJ, but much closer than everyone thinks – those commercials his challenger was criticized on that featured Corzzine’s ex-wife really seem to be working (pure political analysis here folks).

Oh yeah - what about Prop 2 in Texas? Don’t know much about it other than it will (attempt: I haven’t read it so don’t know how carefully it’s worded) define marriage as between one man and one woman.

[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:

Corzzine wins in NJ, but much closer than everyone thinks – those commercials his challenger was criticized on that featured Corzzine’s ex-wife really seem to be working (pure political analysis here folks).[/quote]

Man you should have lived here. This was one of the ugliest, worst run, most brutal contests I have ever seen. It was badly run on both sides.

However, Corzine won, and by a pretty large margin evidently. There is little chance for a Republican to win in NJ anymore, and if he/she runs, they must be a moderate in social issues (anyone who is pro-gun, anti-choice, and anti-stem cell cannot win here).
Forrester did not fit the bill at all.

And with any luck, this is going to elevate my favorite, Dick Codey, to the national spotlight - he may soon be Senator Codey.

I was surprised about Virgina though… did the Dems steal one down there, or was he expected to win?

[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
Oh yeah - what about Prop 2 in Texas? Don’t know much about it other than it will (attempt: I haven’t read it so don’t know how carefully it’s worded) define marriage as between one man and one woman.[/quote]

As soon as it was added to the ballot, it was going to pass. If there was an amendment to imprison homosexuals to “protect the children” here, it would pass.

The sooner conservatives differentiate themselves from Christians, the better for everyone.

Amen, doogie!

I looked at the text of Prop 2. This was the second section of the amendment.

This state recognizes that through the designation of guardians, the appointment of agents, and the use of private contracts, persons may adequately and properly appoint guardians and arrange rights relating to hospital visitation, property, and the entitlement to proceeds of life insurance policies without the existence of any legal status identical or similar to marriage.

I’ve been saying this all along. Both sides get all worked up over “gay marriage,” but if you arrange your estate planning correctly, a gay couple, or even two straight folks shacking up for that matter, can obtain the majority of the benefits of being legally married. The above language is actually a step in the right direction for gay people who want the benefits of marriage. It implies that courts should enforce documents that appoint a person’s gay partner as a guardian. I would say that this is a big deal since, I’m sure, that the conservative parents of a gay person would do anything within their power to prevent that person’s partner from acting as a guardian. Hell, it even says that gay couples can draft contracts to define their relationship. This amendment actually goes a long way, IMO, in giving gay couples rights similar to that of a married couple – they just need to put forth a little more effort is all. And to think… this is Texas.

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:
I looked at the text of Prop 2. This was the second section of the amendment.

This state recognizes that through the designation of guardians, the appointment of agents, and the use of private contracts, persons may adequately and properly appoint guardians and arrange rights relating to hospital visitation, property, and the entitlement to proceeds of life insurance policies without the existence of any legal status identical or similar to marriage.

I’ve been saying this all along. Both sides get all worked up over “gay marriage,” but if you arrange your estate planning correctly, a gay couple, or even two straight folks shacking up for that matter, can obtain the majority of the benefits of being legally married. The above language is actually a step in the right direction for gay people who want the benefits of marriage. It implies that courts should enforce documents that appoint a person’s gay partner as a guardian. I would say that this is a big deal since, I’m sure, that the conservative parents of a gay person would do anything within their power to prevent that person’s partner from acting as a guardian. Hell, it even says that gay couples can draft contracts to define their relationship. This amendment actually goes a long way, IMO, in giving gay couples rights similar to that of a married couple – they just need to put forth a little more effort is all. And to think… this is Texas.[/quote]

It was worded brilliantly from the Christian conservative viewpoint. All that really means is that gay couples have to go through a lot more trouble than straight couples in order to ensure their rights are protected.

Both candidates have similar economic outlooks. Both also have business experience which is a blessing.

They differ a lot on social and non revenue issues. NJ is a left wing state, bordering on radical in many areas. Corzine pandered to that. He will push that agenda, even though none of it will ever apply to him.

I’ve met Corzine many times and Forrester once. You guys will wish you had McGreevy back in a year or two. Corzine will run the state like a business and he will cut the bloated staff. It will turn off his base.

Good call on the Virginia elections, BB. Got any football picks?

No suprise a liberal won New Jersey, ew are the same state that had gay liberal governor quit a year ago and the same one that had every car in the state touting an IMPEACH FLORIO(liberal) bumper sticker in the early 90’s. One day this state may realize that change is for the better.

W/r/t Virginia, it was a close race all along. Kilgore had a lead last month, but it evaporated after he ran some ill-conceived ads attacking Kaine on the death penalty on some really shaky grounds (religious convictions and the fact he had defended clients faced with the death penalty as a lawyer), and all the newspapers trashed him for it. His campaign never really recovered.

In addition, there was a 3rd party conservative candidate – he didn’t take enough of the vote for Kilgore to have won, but he made it closer throughout, which could have led Kilgore to go more for the kind of attack ads that were his undoing.

The last two VA govs have been Dems, so I don’t know if it’s a “steal” – it’s kind of interesting how many states seem to have one party dominant but a different party holds the governor’s seat (CA, NY, MA, VA, etc.).

[quote]harris447 wrote:
Good call on the Virginia elections, BB. Got any football picks?[/quote]

Well, I’m a Raiders fan, which I suppose means I’m an optimist this year…

Kilgore should have won, but he didn’t have enough time to recover enough from his misstep with the death-penalty ads. His numbers were trending upward, but unfortunately for him the election was yesterday and not next month.

I’m besides myself…shocked. Every single one of Arnold’s initiatives have been defeated in California. Our state was proverbially “falling off a cliff” economically and politically speaking two years ago which is why Arnold was voted in office to invoke some change. Fast forward two years and the very thing he promised he would do is now rejected by the same sheeple that voted him in office.

Well, I guess we will continue to follow the herd over the cliff. The unions own politics in this state and now will continue to do so. The same politicians (who the unions own) in office will now stay in office since they get to continue to pick their voters. And we refuse to live within a budget. It’s pretty damn depressing. My opinion of Californian’s intelligence has just dropped a few notches. I’ll be bracing myself for even more state taxes in the next year to support our out of control spending habit.

The funny thing is that all four of Arnold’s propositions passed with flying colors in Orange County. I have a novel idea, the next proposition we should put on the ballot is so Orange County can secede from California.

P.S. I knew California was liberal but the left of this state have sunk to a new low.

Randman,

I’ve long thought CA should at least be split into 2 states, Northern and Southern CA – and maybe even with the interior hewn out for a third state.

Arnold did an awful job of promoting and explaining the ballot initiatives – and honestly, why did he even have them in an off-year election? I was confused by this.

So, some good initiatives didn’t pass – perhaps they can be brought up again, under slightly different form. I do certainly hope that will be the case at least with respect to fixing gerrymandering and with respect to coerced political contributions from unions.

Our biggest election here in Michigan was for the Mayor of Detroit. The current mayor is labeled as the “Hip=Hop” mayor. He has been caught in so many scandels in the past 18 months that this stuff is too good to make up. Stealing money, outrageous car leases for family members, abuse of the city credit card, nepotism, voting fraud, police cuts, crime rate increases, wild stripper parties to name a few. He ridicules the suburbs and then expects the people who live in them to come down and spend money in the city. Detroit’s population decreases yearly. The closest I can compare it to is Gotham City and Kwame is the Joker. A

fter all that being said, the people of Detroit have voted him BACK in office!! The Super Bowl is scheduled here Jan 2006. If you have tickets, sell them. You will not be happy coming here. He has ruined the city and will continue to scavenge the city until it’s completely devestated.

Yes, California has truly got to pot. I’ll say it here so everyone can broadcast it from the mount: If you are swayed by a thirty second commercial, PLEASE do not vote. I am continually amazed by how stupid people are. Yes please let us continue to throw money away on an unaccountable educational system. Sure, all you politicians can continue to choose who votes for you. All the sheeple in this state either think the status quo is just dandy, or they brought all of the lies and distortions presented. I am not sure which would be worse. Damn people make me SICK.

Oh, I almost forgot, the city of San Francisco has voted to outlaw the sale, purchase and possession of handguns within the city limits. That is possession as in legally registered and kept in your home or business. Handguns are not allowed within the city limits period. Nobody is going to have a gun if it is illegal right? Thank God San Francisco is now safe and free of handguns.

[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
Well, I’m a Raiders fan, which I suppose means I’m an optimist this year…
[/quote]

And I was just starting to like you, BB. As a Broncos fan, I cannot in good conscience befriend a Raider fan, even if it is just in the virtual world.

I agree, doogie, it will take a lot more work on their part. However, those who do go through the effort of drafting contracts, getting their estate planning documents in order, etc. can set an example for society that gay people can indeed be in committed relationships. Small steps.

And as a public service announcement from someone who has done estate planning, those in a traditional marriage still need to get their estate planning stuff in order, make sure their beneficiaries are correctly listed on life insurance, etc.