Voting in California

Politics have always interested me greatly. There is a story in my family that, when I was about 2 1/2, I went around talking about Nixon firing Archibald Cox. Operating from my own memory, I believe that my first memory is of the House Judiciary Committee's Watergate hearings. (I remember sitting in the middle of the floor of our house on the dairy around lunchtime with my dad, watching these long rows of people talking. I have a very distinct memory of a black woman talking. As best as I can piece together, this is a memory of Barbara Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee. I have never claimed that I am not somewhat unusual.) I was a Political Science major in college and actually took way more Poli Sci classes than were necessary to finish the major. As with sports, I have to try hard not to obsess about politics. And, of course, I always vote.

All of that being said, the task of voting this year in California, in my particular town, is almost beyond comprehension. Here is the list of things on our ballot:

1. U.S. Senate
2. U.S. House
3. California Governor
4. California Lieutenant Governor
5. California Attorney General
6. California Secretary of State
7. California Controller
8. California Treasurer
9. California Insurance Commissioner
10. California Assembly
11. California Supreme Court Justice 1
12. California Supreme Court Justice 2
13. California Court of Appeal Justice 1
14. California Court of Appeal Justice 2
15. California Court of Appeal Justice 3
16. California Court of Appeal Justice 4
17. California Bd. of Equalization (which deals with certain taxes & fees)
18. A state ballot proposition about transportation bonds
19. A state ballot propositiion about homeland security bonds (I think)
20. A state ballot proposition about housing bonds
21. A state ballot proposition about education bonds
22. A state ballot proposition about flood control bonds
23. A state ballot proposition about penalties for sex offenders
24. A state ballot proposition about water bonds
25. A state ballot proposition about parental consent for abortions
26. A state ballot proposition about cigarette taxes
27. A state ballot proposition about oil taxes and alternative energy
28. A state ballot proposition about parcel taxes for education
29. A state ballot proposition about political campaign financing
30. A state ballot proposition about eminent domain
31. A local ballot proposition about local electricity service
32. Another related local ballot proposition about local electricity service
33. A local ballot proposition about whether to have a Target in our city
34. A local advisory ballot proposition about having preference voting (just asking for our opinion -- it won't actually do anything).

I guess that I should consider myself lucky. Our city's always hotly contested city council election was on the June ballot. There's no runoff for state schools superintendent and this isn't our year to have county supervisor and state Senate elections. We don't seem to have any runoff elections for county officers like sheriff, clerk-recorder, assessor, district attorney, tax collector, coroner . . . . We aren't in a hotly contested congressional district and our U.S. Senate race was decided in about November 2005, so we haven't been subjected to a deluge of stuff about them.

But to paraphrase Dirty Harry (only the first Dirty Harry movie was really good, the second and third ones kind of blew, but the fourth one -- Dead Pool -- was good and, it's a little-known fact, featured Jim Carrey's first role in a movie because he was the Axl Rose clone who got killed at the beginning), do I feel lucky?

No, I do not. I mean, how can anyone have really good opinions about all of these things on which we are asked to vote? I'm an attorney, so I actually have some opinions about California Court of Appeal justices, but, if you're not an attorney, how can you really know much about them? Why does California have both a State Treasurer and a Controller, both of whom deal with the state's money and both of whom are elected statewide? I'm in the water business, so I understand what the water bonds and flood control bonds are, but, if you aren't in that business, could you have a really good opinion about them. I'll tell you, I don't have a firm grasp on what the transportation bond is about, but, geez, if you driven in LA or Bay Area traffic lately, you know they have to do something. I'll admit that, when I saw Proposition 88 on my absentee ballot -- it's about parcel taxes and education -- I had no idea what it was. Guess I need to read up on that one.

At least Gary Coleman's not on the ballot again this year.