Thomas D. Elias
How Important Is Wording in a Ballot Measure? Meaningless or Critical?
The strangest of all this fall’s intense initiative battles may be the small-money one being waged over Prop. 31, whose innocuous title (“State Budget. State and Local Government. Initiative constitutional amendment and statute”) gives only a faint clue as to what it’s about.
The ‘Onesidedness’ of Prop. 32 Is Mourned. Could Hurt the Middle...
Businesses are shying away from backing Prop. 32, the latest Republican revival of the so-called “paycheck protection” plan for emasculating the political efforts of all labor unions.
Prop. 36 Could Free 3,000 Tame (?) Convicts. But Which 3,000?
On the surface, Prop. 36 on the fall ballot seems as if it should be an absolute slam-dunk. That’s the initiative seeking to change California’s landmark Three-Strikes-and-You’re-Out law, the 1994 measure imposing an automatic 25-to-life sentence on most three-time felons.
Prop. 37 Is Strictly Unpredictable
There will be plenty of ballot proposition battles in California this fall that look like food fights, with figurative rotten tomatoes slung via all manner of media over issues from the death penalty to taxes and car insurance, but only one initiative fight revolves around actual food.
Republican Criticism of Our State Is Not Fair
Back in years like 1936 and 1972 when California was in the midst of serious recessions, no Republican Presidential candidate or surrogate would have dared bash California the way Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Peggy Noonan and others lately have.
Going Modern, ‘September Surprise’ Updates Old ‘October Surprise’
You’ve heard of the October Surprise, where candidates hold onto something negative about their opponent, then spring it at the last moment so the opponent won’t have time to respond much before Election Day?
Cal State and Legislature Badly Need Sensitivity training
It became clear early last spring that the trustees of the 23-campus California State University system just don’t get it. Shuffling administrators from school to school and bringing in the occasional outsider, they began giving new college presidents salaries far higher than what predecessors had received.
GOP ‘Courting’ of Latinos Is Phony, And It Plays Into Obama’s...
The barrage of Republican television advertising aimed at both registered Latino voters and potential Hispanic voters who have not yet registered began early this summer.
Water on His Mind, Brown’s Tunnels Seem Like a Good Idea
If there is a sure thing in politics, it is this: If the water plan announced late last month by Gov. Brown ever passes the state Legislature, it will surely become the object of a statewide referendum much like the 1982 vote that defeated a somewhat similar plan endorsed by Brown.
What Were Voters Thinking When Answering This Poll Question?
The Field Poll rarely is wrong in gauging public sentiment. Its final reading prior to a major election almost never deviates more than 4 percent or 5 percent from the final vote.
