You might not believe it, but the San Francisco Chronicle has endorsed Arnold for re-election as governor of California. To me, this is like John Kerry making peace with W. After all, this is the same paper that runs the W.-hating feature columnist Mark Morford! I guess, wonders never do cease.
Apropros politics and elections, I did a little walking these last weeks out east of the Bay Area, to try to help unelect U.S. congressman Richard Pombo (R-Tracy). I don't particularly enjoy ringing people's doorbells on a Saturday afternoon to tell them about a political candidate they should, as responsible citizens, have informed themselves about, and never voted into office in the first place. But, honest to God, there were people I met even in nearby Pleasanton - which I consider to be pretty left-leaning - who had never even heard of Pombo's opponent Jerry McNerney (except maybe through one of the many attack ads currently being run against him).
One person I talked to asked me about McNerney, "is he pro-life or pro-choice"? Like I am going to have a chance of influencing that person's opinion? (Does McNerney get the Catholic pro-choice vote because he's Irish?)
I feel pretty conflicted in this whole thing. On the one hand, there I am doing something I basically don't respect myself for doing (if I were one of the homeowners whose doorbell I was ringing, I would not want to talk to me). On the other hand, my fellow citizens are so NOT informed !!! Like, do you people ever read a major newspaper?
IF I COULD BE GOD
I was talking to my buddy Andy last weekend. I told him, if I could be God, there would be a voter IQ test. As I was explaining above, my fellow Americans are too ignorant to vote (check out the post about the Florida Alzheimer patients in the last election). Hell, I don't pretend to know everything. But what I see, hear and read, is that, voters in this country do not take their responsibility as voters, seriously. They scare me. YOU ALL scare me (unless, you read this blog)
That's why this test is easy. Here are the questions for YOUR VOTER IQ TEST:
"Which country is allied with the U.S. in the Iraq War?"
"Where did we try to bomb Usama Bin Laden to oblivion in 2002?"
"Name 2 candidates that are running for office in your district"
"In which southern state, does the reader also known as 'Crow', live?" (hint: Newt Gingrich comes from there)
Failure to answer 2 of these questions correctly, means you should NOT vote!
I am curious to hear your answers (please see guestbook)
