The Sacramento Bee held a roundtable with some California pundits in which there was scant mention of independent and decline-to-state voters (not to mention scant represtation of independents on the roundtable panel). Here's a glimpse of the discussion:
Bill Carrick, senior adviser to the Angelides for Governor campaign: ...We settled on whomever the opponent was going to be, and during the spring as we were attaching the race, we both, Matthew and I both believed Phil Angelides was going to be the nominee. Even when Westly had the big leads coming through. Fundamentally, no one knew really either one of them. Neither one of them was defined. A large portion of the state didn't know anything about them. And Angelides had the institutional support of labor and the Democratic Party. And in a low turnout election we just always believed he would be nominee. But no matter who it was, we had made the decision on the first night we were in the state together on Feb. 1 that the construct of the race was going to be a choice between going forward or going backward....
Steve Schmidt, campaign manager for the Schwarzenegger reelection campaign: ...The governor focused relentlessly on the [eduction] bonds during the final couple of weeks of the campaign. I do think that made a difference. It was certainly very helpful for getting that passed, certainly among declined to state and independent voters, I think he played a critical role on that. I think on the education bond, I think the teachers made a decision early on that was the right and smart decision and responsible for passing it....
For a more independent take on California politics, see FROM THE GRASSROOTS: Independents: Vote Yes on Prop 89 By Harriet Hoffman on IndependentVoice.org --
Independent voters are the engine for political reform. We have to take the opportunity to support every reform measure – win or lose. That's why we're supporting Proposition 89 – known as the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, -- will be on the ballot this November....
Independent, win or lose. That's something to bank on! And as some wise philosophers have said: We lose, and lose and lose and lose, until we win.
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