First, my apologies to you if you face that minor depression today as a result of last night’s news. If it’s any consolation at all, just about everyone here in this part of the Sequoia National Forest looks a little blue today. I expect that McCain got a very large portion of the “forest cowboy” vote, but of course their voting preferences are so obvious that they wouldn’t even make a decent dis
sertation in political science.
Coming from a political science background, I was holding my breath on the political psychology issue so much discussed in the campaign: that voters might get in that voting booth and, in their private cubby, vote for the white guy because he’s white. That would have been deeply depressing and it is, instead, such a wonderful relief to have evidence that this country is changing for the better. While Obama didn’t do well in some southern states, it wasn’t clear that it was a race issue. And frankly, having spent five years living in southern Indiana, the fact that Obama won Indiana’s electoral votes is some pretty solid evidence that race was not a key factor.
It is a great day.
On California issues, the forest cowboys didn’t do well here on the Rotten Egg Initiative either. With over 60% of the vote, chickens in California will now be able to stretch a leg and flap their wings in between their daily egg laying. Poor pregnant sows looking for a little bit of lower back pain relief or feeling the pain from sleeping on their left side all night long might get to shift their over-sized bodies a bit more throughout their pregnancy. (To be honest, I have no idea how pregnant sows feel. I suppose I am projecting a bit here at 34 weeks into my own gestation cycle.)
The cowboys are pleased with Prop 8, however, the gay marriage initiative. Lesbian and gay partners here in California had about six months to tie the knot. All knots tied in those six months appear to still be tied. All knots planned to be tied in the future may well not be unless legal battles undo last night’s vote. Dollars-to-donuts, a summer wedding I’m attending may not be accompanied by a legal document.
Our local State Assembly race went Republican (Connie Conway) which is not a big surprise since I expect my husband and I together make up about 20% of the Democrats in the district. Conway is a friend of a friend, so I am pleased to have one degree of separation from my state rep.
The real action was in the neighboring Assembly district, Nicole Parra’s seat. Parra was the author of AB 1604, a raw milk bill that lived for about three minutes in January of 2008. Her heart-felt speech lambasting California regulators over the previous AB 1735 is memorialized on YouTube. The bill with legs, however, was written by Dean Florez and lived for about four months before being vetoed by the Governor. Florez and Parra are Kern County Democrats, legendary for their family feud. Parra’s term was up, she was term-limited out, decided to leave politics, and Florez’s mother decided to run for Parra’s open seat. Deciding to burn all bridges with the party, Parra actually backed the Republican who had a bloody battle with her in a previous election. Right now it looks like Republican Danny Gilmore won by only 2500 votes (51.7%). County Democrats will forever blame Parra for the loss.
I expect there are many Democrats in Kern County today and forest cowboys all over with a mild case of depression. If that’s you, get some good sleep, sleep off the Jack, and perhaps double up on your vitamins for a day or two.
Technorati Tags: Dean Florez, Nicole Parra, politics, raw milk
@ Amazon.
