Blog: Elections 2010 | 89.3 KPCC http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010 Breaking news and analysis on the 2010 California elections. 3 of 4 close California races settled; Cooley-Harris attorney general race still too close to call http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/11/2248/three-of-four-close-races-come-to-a-head/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/11/2248/three-of-four-close-races-come-to-a-head/ Scott Fahey <p>After eight days of razor thin margins and alternating leads, three of the four California races which were too tight to call on election night have seemingly come to a close; however, the attorney general's is still too close to call.</p> <p><strong>Attorney General</strong></p> <p>The big story is the tight race between Republican Steve Cooley and Democrat Kamala Harris for the office of attorney general, and that race remains too close to call. The latest numbers from the Secretary of State's Office show Cooley <a href="http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/attorney-general/">leading</a> Harris by .2% (that’s 19,357 votes), which is a narrowing lead, but there are still over a million vote-by-mail, provisional and damaged ballots to be counted throughout the state.</p> <p>Timm Herdt of the <em><a href="http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/therdt/archives/2010/11/cooley-or-harri.html">Ventura County Star</a> </em>uses proportions to predict the distribution of the remaining votes, and predicts that Cooley will win by about 15,000 votes when it's all said and done.</p> <p><strong>U.S. House of Representatives: 11<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup> Congressional Districts</strong></p> <p>With widening leads, Democrats declared victory today in the two tight congressional races in the 11th and 20th districts.</p> <p>The 11th District sees Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney leading Republican David Harmer by 1,685 votes, with about 11,000 ballots left to be counted.</p> <p>In a statement today, Rep. McNerney's campaign manager said, “With the vast majority of votes tallied, the results are clear. Congressman McNerney now has an insurmountable lead.”</p> <p>In the 20<sup>th</sup> District, Rep. Jim Costa is declaring victory over his challenger Andy Vidak, after swinging into the lead by about 1,200 votes yesterday.</p> <p><em>The Fresno Bee</em> <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/10/2154735/costa-takes-lead-in-20th-cong.html">writes</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>In the initial vote count after the Nov. 2 election, Vidak led Costa by 1,823 votes. By Friday, that lead was down to 648 votes, and on Monday, it dropped to a razor-thin 145 votes.</p> </blockquote> <p>Vidak's lead originally came from his strength in Kings County, where he dominated. However, as ballot counts have continued rolling in from Kern and Fresno counties, that lead has deteriorated. </p> <p>However, like his counterpart in the 11th District, and with at least several thousand ballots left to be counted in the 20th, Vidak has not yet conceded defeat.</p> <p><strong>Mayor of Oakland</strong></p> <p>Jean Quan was finally announced to be mayor-elect of Oakland <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/11/MNKV1GADKC.DTL">last night</a>, after a nail-biting post-election episode.</p> <p>The race saw an interesting turn of events due to the ranked-choice ballot system in place there. The ballots ask voters to choose first-, second- and third-choice votes for the office of mayor, unlike the traditional one-vote system. </p> <p>The <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/08/BAVP1G8VUO.DTL&amp;feed=rss.bayarea">writes</a>:</p> <blockquote>Former state Sen. Don Perata had 34 percent of first-place votes in the initial tallying of the ranked-choice balloting, while Quan was in second with 25 percent. But when eliminated candidates' second- and third-place votes were redistributed, Quan vaulted into the lead.</blockquote> <p>Perata, like Meg Whitman, outspent his opponents during the campaign. Perata cited voter confusion surrounding ranked-choice voting as being instrumental to his loss. </p> <p>From Perata's concession speech today, the <em>Chronicle </em><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/11/BAKR1GAMQ9.DTL&amp;feed=rss.news">reports</a>:</p> <blockquote>"The results are pretty clear," he said. "The people of this city voted for ranked-choice voting. You play by the rules and you win or lose by the rules." <p>Perata nonetheless suggested that ranked-choice voting was problematic. His campaign said the precincts in the flatlands where Perata did best were also where voter errors resulted in a large number of ballots being thrown out.</p> <p>"I think people were confused," Perata said.</p> </blockquote> Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:58:01 -0800 Did Facebook and Twitter help savvy candidates win? http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/05/2217/did-facebook-and-twitter-help-savvy-candidates-win/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/05/2217/did-facebook-and-twitter-help-savvy-candidates-win/ David Lumb <p>Wired has an interesting article up <a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/election-odds-twitter">noting the trend</a> between Facebook and Twitter followers of candidates: those with more friends and/or followers usually won their race. Here's the pertinent information:</p> <p>"The gubernatorial candidate with the most Twitter followers won Tuesday’s election in 22 of 34 declared races across the country, according to a Wired.com analysis.</p> <p><img src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2010/11/jerry_brown.jpg" alt="Jerry Brown is hollering at his boys (and girls) that followed his Tweets to victory." width="680" height="479"></p> <p>The results showed 65 percent of the candidates with a bigger Twitter following won the chief executive’s post in their respective states. Three of the 37 races — in Minnesota, Illinois and Connecticut — were still too close to call Wednesday night and have not been counted in the analysis.</p> <p>When it comes to Facebook, 20 of the 34 gubernatorial candidates with the most fans, or likes, won the chief-executive spot, according to our <a href="http://statistics.allfacebook.com/election/race/governor">review of the data</a>. That’s about 59 percent."</p> <p>Before you jump to the horrifying conclusion that the Internet is now choosing our elected officials, there's a lot of other factors to consider - like how popular these candidates were with their consituency in the first place (especially if they were incumbents), essentially a foundational fanbase that wouldn't need to be converted. Wired agrees: "It goes without saying that many other factors affect the outcome, including incumbency, money and personality — not to mention ideology."</p> <p>But reaching out to a constituency via the Internet is easy and trendy: good things to be if you want to convince voters you're on the "cutting edge" and are "a new breed" or whatever silly cliche you want to adopt for your innovative maverick baseball bat-wielding stance.</p> <p>Money quote: "And if there is any lesson to be learned from the data for future elections, Twitter and Facebook are just as important in marketing politicians as they are for household products and personalities."<br></p> Fri, 05 Nov 2010 06:00:00 -0700 Low youth voter turnout hurts Democrats http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/04/2212/low-youth-voter-turnout-hurts-democrats/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/04/2212/low-youth-voter-turnout-hurts-democrats/ Scott Fahey <p>After the House-cleaning that took place at the polls yesterday, it can be a fun and informative exercise to take a look at these <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/polls/#USH00p1">exit polls</a>.</p> <p>The big story told by the statistics is… ahem, drum roll please…</p> <p>Young people didn’t vote!  Surprised? Oh well, I tried. After turning out in droves in 2008, making up 18 percent of the electorate <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p1">then</a> – and actually outvoting the 65+ club – the 18-to-29-year-old demographic gave a much weaker showing of 11 percent yesterday.</p> <p>No doubt, the weak youth voter turnout did little to quell the firestorm that laid waste to much of the Democratic House and, to a much lesser extent, the Senate.</p> <p><em>The Washington Post</em> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110304486.html">writes</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>To be sure, voters under 30 still gave Democrats a boost. Every other age group favored the GOP, including a whopping 18-point advantage for Republicans among voters over age 65. But the numbers suggested Obama's aggressive appeals to young people in the last month before the election, as well as the rally of comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert over the weekend, did little to inspire young voters.</p> </blockquote> <p>And here in California, the change was even more dramatic:</p> <blockquote> <p>In California, one of every five voters in 2008 was between the ages of 18 and 29, compared with about one in 10 on Tuesday.</p> </blockquote> <p>To be fair, the young weren’t the only voting bloc that ditched the party.</p> <p>Michael Tomasky of <em>The Guardian</em> also notes in his blog that this electorate was whiter than 2008’s, with black and Latino numbers dipping. There was also a jump in the number of voters who identify themselves as conservatives, which Tomasky surmises is due to a lower showing of liberal voters.</p> <p>Tomasky <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-elections-2010-turnout-says-a-lot">writes</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Add to these figures the fact that overall turnout was down by about a third, or more, from nearly 130 million to about 82.5 million. That's at least 45 million no-shows, and the exits tell us the bulk of them were liberal, young, black, Latino. If 25 million of these no-shows had voted, Democratic losses would pretty obviously have been in the normal range, and they'd still control the House.</p> </blockquote> Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:19:41 -0700 Environmental politics and election results http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/03/2208/environmental-politics/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/03/2208/environmental-politics/ Molly Peterson <p>KPCC's Molly Peterson has been tracking climate policy in the U.S. Senate race, environmental politics in the Governor's race, and ballot measures of interest to the green community: Proposition 21 (the State Parks Initiative); Prop 23 (the California Jobs Initiative, which would freeze AB32 for an indefinite period of time), and Proposition 26 (which would make raising fees on polluters more challenging).</p> <p>Updates from Peterson &amp; her co-blogger, Green LA Girl Siel Ju about environmental policy and politics can be found on our sister blog here on KPCC's website, <a href="/blogs/environment/">Pacific Swell</a>.</p> Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:24:31 -0700 Denver voters reject plan to track space aliens http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2206/denver-voters-reject-plan-track-space-aliens/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2206/denver-voters-reject-plan-track-space-aliens/ KPCC Wire Services <p>Thank you, AP services, for catching the strange ballot measures that make us smile. The latest election oddity that likely passed under everyone's radar: voters in Denver rejected a proposal to fund a commission to search for space aliens. By 80,000 votes.</p> <p>From the AP story:</p> <p>"The proposal defeated soundly Tuesday night would have established a commission to track extraterrestrials. It also would have allowed residents to post their observations on Denver's city Web page and report sightings.</p> <p> <p>Early results show Denver residents voted 106,776-20,162 against the proposal.</p> <p>The Denver man who proposed the measure, Jeff Peckman, says the government is tracking alien sightings but refuses to make the reports public. Peckman is a meditation instructor and promoter of new technology, including something he says reduces the "chaos of electromagnetic fields."</p> <p>Peckman contends opponents greatly inflated the commission's projected cost.</p> <p>He previously proposed an unsuccessful ordinance requiring the city to offer stress-reduction measures."</p> </p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:11:03 -0700 Obama taking election night losses well? http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2205/obama-taking-election-night-losses-well/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2205/obama-taking-election-night-losses-well/ Mike Roe <p>At least, that's what it looks like from this photo from the official White House Flickr account. Here he is talking with Speaker-Elect Republican John Boehner:</p> <p><img src="http://media.scpr.org/images/2010/11/02/obamablog.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="457"></p> <p><em>Official White House photo by Pete Souza</em></p> <p>(via <a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/11/says_it_all_1.php">Talking Points Memo</a>)</p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:47:18 -0700 AP Reports California Election Results For First of 24,845 Precincts http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2203/ap-reports-election-results-first-24845-precincts/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2203/ap-reports-election-results-first-24845-precincts/ David Lumb <p>The Associated Press reported the results of the first of California's 24,845 precincts. If the other 24,844 precincts follow this example...well, we'll know who won Lieutenant Governor.</p> <p> </p> <p> <p>1 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>Gavin Newsom, Dem 12,456 - 55 percent</p> <p>Abel Maldonado, GOP (i) 8,151 - 36 percent</p> <p>Pamela Brown, Lib 1,050 - 5 percent</p> <p>Jim King, AIP 406 - 2 percent</p> <p>James Castillo, Grn 257 - 1 percent</p> <p>C.T. Weber, PFP 233 - 1 percent</p> <p>Secretary of State</p> <p>0 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>Debra Bowen, Dem (i) 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Damon Dunn, GOP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Merton Short, AIP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Ann Menasche, Grn 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Christina Tobin, Lib 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Marylou Cabral, PFP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Controller</p> <p>0 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>John Chiang, Dem (i) 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Tony Strickland, GOP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Lawrence Beliz, AIP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Ross Frankel, Grn 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Andy Favor, Lib 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Karen Martinez, PFP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Treasurer</p> <p>0 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>Bill Lockyer, Dem (i) 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Mimi Walters, GOP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Robert Lauten, AIP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Kit Crittenden, Grn 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Edward Teyssier, Lib 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Debra Reiger, PFP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Attorney General</p> <p>0 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>Kamala Harris, Dem 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Steve Cooley, GOP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Diane Templin, AIP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Peter Allen, Grn 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Timothy Hannan, Lib 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Robert Evans, PFP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Insurance Commissioner</p> <p>0 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>Dave Jones, Dem 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Mike Villines, GOP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Clay Pedersen, AIP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>William Balderston, Grn 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Richard Bronstein, Lib 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Dina Padilla, PFP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Supt Public Instruction</p> <p>0 of 24,845 precincts - 0 percent</p> <p>Larry Aceves, NP 0 - 0 percent</p> <p>Tom Torlakson, NP 0 - 0 percent</p> </p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:23:25 -0700 California voters concerned about economy; Equally surprising: Sky blue http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2202/voters-concerned-about-economy-equally-surprising-/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2202/voters-concerned-about-economy-equally-surprising-/ Mike Roe <p>In one of the less surprising news stories of the night, exit polls show that <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/11/economy-no-1-issue-for-voters.html">the number one issue</a> for voters in the California gubernatorial and Senate races is... the economy.</p> <p>In slightly less unsurprising news, California voters <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/11/voters-prefer-to-vote-for-an-i.html">aren't showing huge support for outsiders.</a> While the anti-incumbent wave has been felt across the country, largely driven by the Tea Party, it seems to be having a smaller effect in California; business outsiders like Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina are both currently trailing in the latest result totals.</p> <p>What issues <em>other</em> than the economy influenced your vote today?</p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:13:03 -0700 Oklahoma bans judges from using Islamic law http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2201/oklahoma-bans-judges-using-islamic-law/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2201/oklahoma-bans-judges-using-islamic-law/ Mike Roe <p>While there's no record of a judge citing Islamic law for precedent, <a href="/news/2010/11/02/oklahoma-set-forbid-sharia-law/">Oklahoma voters passed a proposition banning that from happening.</a> It wasn't a squeaker, either; early results show it passing by a 40 point margin.</p> <p>Republican Representative Rex Duncan said the law "will constitute a pre-emptive strike against Shariah law coming to Oklahoma." Duncan talked about the proposition on Sean Hannity's Fox News in June:</p> <p> </p> <p>The law also banned judges referring to international law, as well as requiring all state business to be conducted in English.</p> <p><em>What do you think of the law? Would you like to see a law like this in California, or would you oppose a similar proposition?</em></p> <p>(via <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/11/02/oklahoma_sharia_law_ban/index.html">Salon</a>)</p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:52:47 -0700 Election night views from social media http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2200/election-night-views-social-media/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2200/election-night-views-social-media/ Kim Bui <p>Here you'll find the best of social media that our web team has curated, regarding elections from California and beyond.</p> <p>We're looking through new sites, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. </p> <p>This post will be updated real-time so keep an eye on it.</p> <p> </p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:26:31 -0700 'Most interesting' politician? http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2198/most-interesting-politician/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2198/most-interesting-politician/ Julio Morales <p>If you haven't yet voted or quite decided which gubernatorial candidate has the right stuff, this video put out by the <a href="http://www.cadem.org/">California Democratic Party</a> may sway you one way or the other.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not sure why they make no mention of Jerry Brown's much-publicized relationship with Linda Ronstadt — <a href="http://www.suite101.com/content/candidate-jerry-browns-romance-with--rock-star-linda-ronstadt-a249198">dating a "arena class" female rock star</a> should qualify one as interesting, by most standards.</p> <p>No doubt the people over at Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's camp also could've highlighted her credentials and experience as bullet points for the "most intersting" epithet. </p> <p>If you have any suggestions about commercials that could've used either Whitman or Brown as stand-ins, share it with the rest of us in the comments section below.</p> <p> </p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:21:00 -0700 Sylvester Stallone sounds off against Obama on Twitter http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2196/sylvester-stallone-sounds-against-obama-twitter/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2196/sylvester-stallone-sounds-against-obama-twitter/ Mike Roe <p><img src="http://media.scpr.org/images/2010/11/02/slytwitter.jpg" alt=""></p> <p>A bit of celebrity on this Election Day; Sylvester Stallone wrote <a href="http://twitter.com/TheSlyStallone/status/29485903438">a couple</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/TheSlyStallone/status/29486646284">posts</a> on Twitter encouraging everyone to vote against what he sees as an illegitimate president today.</p> <p>Stallone wrote, "I voted did you? Gotta get the Manchurian Candidate out of the drivers seat before were ALL soaring off a cliff into Oblivion...Be smart. the Manchurian Candidate was a movie about fake president who was put there by foreign enemies to destroy America . Scary concept. Rise up!"</p> <p>Perhaps Stallone is looking for some Tea Party keynote speaker gigs?</p> <p><em>What do you think about Stallone's comments? Let us know in the comments.</em></p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:26:50 -0700 What will the pundits say after the election? (Pundit Bingo!) http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2195/what-will-pundits-say-after-election-pundit-bingo/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/02/2195/what-will-pundits-say-after-election-pundit-bingo/ Mike Roe <p>Political scientist/media critic <a href="http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/11/a-preview-of-post-election-storytelling.html">Brendan Nyhan made this handy bingo game</a> for you to play along as you follow the results of today's election:</p> <p><img src="http://media.scpr.org/images/2010/11/02/bingo.jpg" alt=""></p> <p>Nyhan argues that there are some pretty simple reasons for the predicted Republican gains in Congress, particularly the House of Representatives. These include the large number of seats Democrats have to defend while also having a Democratic president, as well as the continued poor economy.</p> <p>However, with pundits having a lot of time to fill and articles to write, they're going to be reaching for more to talk about which played much smaller roles, but which help to fill space.</p> <p>NPR doesn't escape Nyhan's criticism; he talks about an NPR story where Guy Raz pointed out that <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130941017">presidents who lost control of Congress during their first term went on to be re-elected.</a> However, Nyhan thinks this look at history misses the point.</p> <p> </p> <blockquote>As I've <a href="http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/03/the-coming-blame-obama-backlash.html">noted</a> <a href="http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/03/jonathan-rauch-wrong-on-divided-government.html">many</a> <a href="http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/03/gop-control-of-congress-doesnt-help-obama.html">times</a> <a href="http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/06/fred-barnes-hack.html">before</a>, Clinton's victory was <a href="http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/06/fred-barnes-hack.html">primarily the result</a> of the growing economy, not the Republican Congress, his move toward the center, or <a href="http://www.themonkeycage.org/2010/10/does_divided_goverment_help_pr.html">the government shutdown</a>. As John Sides <a href="http://www.themonkeycage.org/2010/10/why_divided_government_is_bad_.html">correctly argues</a>, divided government is likely to be bad for Obama because he'll "have less power but no less accountability." <p> </p> </blockquote> <p>Stay tuned to KPCC.org, where we'll be providing the latest election news and giving you detailed local coverage on the results of today's election.</p> <p>(via <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/11/election-night-bingo.html">Andrew Sullivan</a>)</p> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:01:53 -0700 Zach Galifianakis promotes Prop 19, smokes pot on HBO http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/01/2189/zach-galifianakis-promotes-prop-19-smokes-pot-hbo/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/11/01/2189/zach-galifianakis-promotes-prop-19-smokes-pot-hbo/ Mike Roe <p>On this past Friday's "Real Time with Bill Maher," during a debate on California's Proposition 19 (which would legalize recreational use of marijuana under California state law), comedian/actor <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Zach-Galifianakis-Bravely-Tokes-Up-on-TV-2429">Zach Galifianakis apparently decided to make his point by smoking a joint</a> on the program. With Galifianakis's quirky comedic style, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/11/01/proposition-19-did-zach-galifianakis-smoke-marijuana-on-hbo/">some are skeptical</a> about whether it was the real deal, but the reaction of his fellow panelists and host Bill Maher seem to indicate it's legit. Watch the video and judge for yourself here:</p> <p> </p> <p>Still, celebrity endorsements notwithstanding, Prop 19's chances look dim. Supporters are arguing that <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/11/memo-how-prop-19-can-win/65509/">the polls are wrong</a>... which is usually what the losing side says. The Field Poll has Prop 19 down by seven points, while the L.A. Times/USC poll has the yes side down 12. Can Prop 19 surprise pollsters and win at the ballot tomorrow? Be sure to check out <a href="/elections">our full election coverage</a> Tuesday night for all the details.</p> <p><em>Which side of the Proposition 19 debate are you on? Let us know in the comments.</em></p> Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:59:54 -0700 James Cameron wants Prop 23 terminated http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/10/29/2179/james-cameron-wants-prop-19-terminated/ http://www.scpr.org/blogs/elections2010/2010/10/29/2179/james-cameron-wants-prop-19-terminated/ David Lumb <p> </p> <p>Although Proposition 19 has gotten significant attention, campaigns both in support and opposition of Proposition 23 have received almost $40 million in donations according to <a href="http://maplight.org/content/california-prop-23-nov-2010">Maplight</a> (compared to Ballotpedia's count of <a href="http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_19,_the_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_%282010%29">under $4 million</a> for Proposition 19)<a href="http://maplight.org/content/california-prop-23-nov-2010"></a>. But now your votes can be influenced by the visionary behind the most profitable movie ever released in theaters. That’s right: James Cameron recorded a public service announcement just for you and me about the dangers of Proposition 23.</p> <p>He may also spend the entire minute-plus spot plugging his famous films and shoehorning their plots into an environmentally friendly message. Admittedly, Avatar fits the bill, but somehow a cyborg apocalypse can be prevented by not repealing AB 32? Cameron also takes a moment to joke with our esteemed lame duck governor. Precious.</p> <p>To be fair, passing Prop 23 could conceivably melt more of those dastardly icebergs and clear up shipping lanes for a much more uplifting Titanic 2.</p> Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:58:08 -0700