Election Blog Postmortem
According to the Los Angeles Times, only around 30% of registered voters went to the polls yesterday. A disappointing turnout. But according to my calculations, as of this moment 53.6% of the advertised participants in the LA Times mayoral race blog have posted. Not bad! Highlights include Richard Riordan, who sounds not at all like a politician:
Despite the onslaught of ads and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent campaigning, voter turnout in Los Angeles was disheartening. Government continues to distance itself, having grown into a faceless bureaucracy. Power in Sacramento over taxing, operations of local government, and influence over education are key reasons. Not to mention the enormous power of special interest groups such as unions and corporations. People must reclaim ownership and accountability for their communities to ultimately effect change. What is needed is a sense of partnership with government so people will invest in their communities and feel compelled to vote. Let’s recapture the pride of this great city.
Meanwhile, D.J. Waldie, who just might be the most interesting person in Southern California, has this to say:
Hahn’s insider knowledge of city hall power — including its careful balance of African American resentment and law-and-order Valley fear — was useful over the past four years only to turn city hall into a spot market for influence. Villaraigosa’s tenure in the state legislature, a body whose habits are utterly alien to city government, will be as uncertain a guide.
If Hahn always appeared to be the candidate of the old system downtown, then Villaraigosa often looked like the candidate of no system at all.
Also, a bunch of college newspaper types who seem like really sweet kids.
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