11/2    California Uber Alles is such a great song
        \_ Yes, and it was written about Jerry Brown. I was thinking this
           as I cast my vote for Meg Whitman. I am independent, but I
           typically vote Democrat (e.g., I voted for Boxer). However, I
           can't believe we elected this retread.
           \_ You voted for the billionaire that ran HP into the ground
              and then tried to buy the job of CA governor? Really?
              I almost voted Green or Libertarian, but never once thought
              of voting for Whitman.
              \_ wrong billionaire.
                 \_ Sorry, couldn't tell the difference.
                    \_ Makes a big difference. I hated Fiorina when she was
                       CEO at HP. I hate her even more now that I know her
                       backwards politics. However, Whitman is a RINO. She
                       endorsed Gore. She opposed Bush on global warming.
                       She supported Boxer's 2004 campaign. I am not
                       saying I love the woman, but *JERRY BROWN*? Been
                       there, did that, was not that great. As for her
                       money, I actually prefer people spend their own
                       fortunes instead of owing a thousand political favors
                       in exchange for donations. Face it, most candidates
                       are trying to buy the election on some level and
                       the ones that aren't don't get very far. You are so
                       informed you couldn't even separate Whitman from
                       Fiorina so I hope you didn't vote.
        \_ Your point about having a politician who is beholden to no one
           because she didnt need to accept any donations is interesting. I
           never thought of that one before.  I really don't think she was
           qualified in anyway though.  she flipflopped her way around
           WHILE running for governor and hadn't even voted for decades.
           On the plus side, she proved she will kick your ass, physically,
           if you mess with her.
                       \_ After experiencing eight years of Bush I know
                          enough to never vote for a Republican.
                          \_ Sounds pretty closed-minded. I agree that Bush was
                             an idiot, but I am not going to shut out 50%
                             of candidates based solely on party affiliation.
                             You'll realize how silly you sound if/when
                             you grow up.
                             \_ I am old enough to learn from my mistakes.
                                When will you learn?
                                \_ Voting for a candidate based solely on
                                   a D or R next their name means you
                                   have a long way to go.
                                   \_ No, the GOP has been universally venal
                                      and/or incompetent for a long time. I
                                      thought about it some more and decided
                                      that if the GOP somehow actually elects
                                      a decent leader (in spite of my vote
                                      against them) who ends up doing a good
                                      job tackling real problems, I would
                                      be willing to reconsider my stance. But
                                      after watching bad and then worse
                                      leadership from them, I have no confidence
                                      in their collective decision making.
                                      Give me a Republican president at least
                                      as good as Reagan or Clinton or a
                                      CA governor that is halfway decent and I
                                      give them another look. But it is hard
                                      to see this happening anytime soon.
                                      Btw, it is quite a bit of difference to
                                      "vote for a candidate based solely on
                                      [party affiliation]" and refusing to
                                      vote for a candidate based on party
                                      affiliation. Hopefully you can see the
                                      difference. I expect to vote for quite
                                      a few Green and Libertarian candidates
                                      in the future.
                                      \_ Wasn't Reagan a Republican President
                                         as good as Reagan? And GH Bush
                                         wasn't bad. GWB is the only bad
                                         example in the last 40 years.
                                         \_ Bush, Cheney, DeLay, Rove, the
                                            whole crowd has been terrible for
                                            at least a decade. And the ones I
                                            see them bringing up as future
                                            leaders (Palin, really?) seem
                                            even worse. Lincoln was a good
                                            Republican President too but he
                                            doesn't say much about the GOP
                                            today. Same with Reagan, he was
                                            elected what, almost 30 years ago?
                                            Today's Republican Party would run
                                            a common sense pragmatist like
                                            Reagan out of the party.
                                            \_ What about, I dunno, Meg
                                               Whitman?!
                                \_ http://preview.tinyurl.com/2gyqr8d (LA Times)
                                   "Strikingly, almost one in five California
                                    voters said they would never cast a ballot
                                    for a Republican." Not that nutty an idea,
                                    it turns out.
        \_ The republican party got us into a (seemed a good idea at the time)
           war in Afghanistan and with my laser like hindsight a completely
           unecessary conflict in Iraq.  And they accept no responsibility.
           And shitheads in SF riot over a baseball game, but not an election.
           \_ Dems in Congress were in favor of the wore on terra as well
              \_ Some Dems. A majority voted against it. Well against the
                 Iraq invasion, at least. I think they all voted for the
                 "Patriot" Act.