Why Prop. 16 Lost

Be afraid, Meg, be very afraid (4.50 / 2)

There's another message here:  PG&E spent more than $40 million on advertising.  The opposition ran almost no advertising. Yet Prop. 16 still lost. So go ahead, Meg-o, spend all the money you like trying to buy the election. It may not matter.  

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by: stevefromsacto @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 16:26:54 PM UTC

it's really shaping up to be a stark money V. populist general election (5.00 / 1)

a theme that jerry brown does pretty well, when he's on his game. if the dems play it right, the economy getting worse could end up a plus to them.

the fact that PG&E and mercury lost, when the whole NO campaign just had to say "the corporations are trying to buy an election," points to a clear straetgy going forward.

hopefully the dems are smart enough to take the opportunity.

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by: wu ming @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 16:33:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

there's a difference, though (0.00 / 0)

E-meg won't have every editorial opinion in the state against her.  And she's good at projecting the image of a simpatica kindly Gran who just wants the best for you.  And she seems to have even more money than PG&E to throw at this.

Jerry Brown needs to do Colbert-style "The Word" ads to show the "I got mine" corporate truth behind the dimpled smile.

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by: quixote @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 18:11:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

She's going to have to really stand out (0.00 / 0)

From the obstructionist Republicans currently running Cali into the ground.  

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by: D.Z. @ Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 06:18:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What does SRA mean? (0.00 / 0)

Fry, don't be a hero! It's not covered by our health plan!

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by: elfling @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 17:41:56 PM UTC

Cal Fire's State Responsibility Areas (0.00 / 0)

Places where Cal Fire is the primary fire responder and not a local agency.

You can check out any time you like but you can never leave

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by: Robert Cruickshank @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 17:49:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So... (0.00 / 0)

Yellow means "have PG&E" and "The state takes care of your fires"?

I'm missing the connection here exactly.

Also, I'm not sure it's all that accurate, or at least, the that punchouts are obvious enough. Up here in the wild north, generally if there's any population center, there's some sort of local fire department, either municipal or volunteer. But, those are tiny pinpricks of area compared to the vast, unpopulated mountains surrounding. So even though most of Mendocino county, by area, is in a SRA, I'd also suspect that at least 90% of the population has some sort of local fire department, not CalFire, as the first responders.

Fry, don't be a hero! It's not covered by our health plan!

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by: elfling @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 20:08:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

the yellow parts of the map have nothing to do with the diary (0.00 / 0)

it was just the best map i could find on short notice. it's gthe teal outline that i was interested in, the map of PG&E service area.  

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by: wu ming @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 20:31:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm in a yellow area (0.00 / 0)

and I'm a PG&E customer.

Fry, don't be a hero! It's not covered by our health plan!

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by: elfling @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 23:44:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The yellow area (0.00 / 0)

Is an overlay onto the teal.

Here's a map showing the service area more clearly.

http://www.arthurspools.com/ar...

You can check out any time you like but you can never leave

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by: Robert Cruickshank @ Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 00:21:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

state responsibility area (0.00 / 0)

it has to do with whether the state or local govt is responsible for fire prevention, i think. link)

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by: wu ming @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 17:53:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It *was* a pretty close one, though... (3.00 / 1)

But really, this and Prop. 17 are exactly like that bullshit "you'll still have rent control, but not really" Prop the Jarvis-heads tried to scam the voters with two years ago at the height of the economic crisis. And what was stupid about that one was that they honestly expected people to agree with it when they're losing their houses.

And this was a similar situation. People in this state are constantly being reminded at the top of the Cali government of why a 2/3 vote is a bad thing. I mean, who the hell was the genius who thought a mini-Prop. 13 with electricity would be popular after the disaster it's been with their friggin' disability checks?  

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by: D.Z. @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 19:13:54 PM UTC

well, socal voters don't know PG&E as intimately (0.00 / 0)

as the norcal voters who shot this down. that's the whole point of the map contrast.

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by: wu ming @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 19:39:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

$40 Million of My (Ratepayer) Money? (0.00 / 0)

And I didn't even get a right to vote on it? No way!

I have a sinking feeling that had this called for a simple majority vote-and not 2/3rds-and the SmartMeter issue not been on people's minds, this could have gone the other way.

2010: We Vote. Dems Win.


www.youngdems.org

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by: Rocky Fernandez @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 19:59:28 PM UTC

PG&E wouldn't win that way (5.00 / 1)

If it'd called for a simple majority vote, it wouldn't have been a problem. Subjecting this sort of thing to public referendum isn't a bad idea in principle. The problem for PG&E would be that it doesn't get them what they want: a continued monopoly. Subject it to a simple majority vote, and people fed up with PG&E are still likely to vote for public provider options. It's getting 2/3rds of people to sign on that's basically impossible.

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by: nperry @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 22:39:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]