Those of you outside California may not have followed the news about Kevin Shelley, the Democratic Secretary of State who resigned due a mounting number of ethics probes. The story could well have international implications.
Let me first make clear that I have no idea if Shelley is guilty of the charges leveled against him. Even if we presume the worst (and I do not), those charges speak of the sort of behavior considered inconsequential in a Republican but damnable in a Dem.
Sexual harassment? Frankly, it's hard to imagine how any partisan of Der Gropenfuehrer could dare to express outrage over that. Favorable treatment to contributors? Misappropriation of funds? Sounds like a typical Republican resume...
But Shelley is a Democrat, and thus state investigators have pounced on allegations of the sort of minor corruption which, in a Republican, usually receives the wink-and-a-nod treatment.
Arnold Schwarzenegger will now pick the man who will run California's elections. Shelley's departure means that our state will receive a Ken Blackwell or a Katherine Harris of its very own.
Incidentally: Lovely Kathy, as Daniel Hopsicker informs us, has connections to one of the shady "flight schools" attended by the 9/11 hijackers. A ton of evidence indicates that those "schools" are actually covers for covert ops and drug smuggling. But no Florida state investigator will ever look into those links. Katherine Harris is a Republican; she may do that which a Kevin Shelley may not.
As for Ken Blackwell: This piece outlines his many known crimes, and directs our attention to some newly-discovered ones. Slush funds, anyone? Yet Blackwell will prosper. He may do that which a Kevin Shelley may not.
Whatever else one might say about Shelley, he helped keep the state's voting equipment Diebold-free. See, for example, this story from 2003, which details his concern for maintaining a trustworthy system:
In April, California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley banned a type of Diebold touch screen in California and took the unusual step of asking the Attorney General to investigate both civil and criminal actions against the company for fraud...No wonder they went after this guy!
Since then, Kevin Shelley has become America's leader in ensuring there is a paper trail to prevent voting fraud. When CNN needs a comment on election fraud, they interview Kevin Shelley.
Don't expect his replacement to maintain a similar attitude. Arnie's appointee will surely go shopping for new voting equipment at the Diebold or ES&S showrooms.
Under such circumstances, can California remain blue?
Much of the state has been turning ominously conservative in recent years. Only the populous, prosperous coastal areas remain Democratic; the deserts and rural areas are salmon pink, if not stoplight red. It's not hard to understand why: When you drive outside the larger cities, your car radio emits nothing but Jesusmaniac chatter and ultra-conservative propaganda.
The most conservative areas of California are located around the dwindling number of military bases. Bush is, at present, relocating California's bases and allied industries to the more G.O.P.-friendly states. Even the China Lake Naval Weapons Center (a semi-mysterious facility larger than Rhode Island) may close up shop.
The question of California's political future comes down to this: When the military jobs dry up and workers start losing their houses, will they finally, finally turn against Bush and Arnold?
The radio rightists will, of course, do their damnedest to blame Democratic legislators for our current and forthcoming troubles. If even a single liberal politician remains in California, all the state's ills will be considered his fault. Or her fault.
But even the formidable powers of the reactionary media machine may fail when the chumps in the audience finally notice the lack of a roof separating their heads from the rain. Hungry people may weary of being told to place all trust in Jesus, Dubya, and the Terminator.
Bottom line: Although the state has taken on a dangerously scarlet tint, a tint which may deepen, I suspect that this shift to the right will reach a natural limit. Although the left/right gap may narrow, California will probably not experience a party shift in 2008.
That is -- if the election is run fairly.
With the Terminator picking the tabulator, we can presume that fairness will not prevail. Republicans will surely "win" any election that is even somewhat close.
And if the Democrats cannot win in California, they cannot win at all.
Incidentally, word has it that the Governator may replace Shelley with Mary Bono, the former wife of Sonny Bono. With such a fine, upstanding Bono behind him, Arnie will surely have a smile on his face.
2 comments:
I wish I could be confident that the Californians who lose their miltary-base-related jobs would realize who exactly is giving them the shaft. But having just recently read "What's the Matter with Kansas?" I can only imagine that the worse it gets for them, the LESS rational they will become in their politics.
Especially since we have the affluent liberal bastions of LA and SF as a prominent target for the right-wing propagandists.
Breaking California's blue status seems to be a Republican priority. I've read articles in which Repoublican lawmakers suggest that CA casts its electoral votes in proportion to its popular vote. If that happens... Hoo boy.
--Eric
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