More Carnac

Why is it so easy to predict what the Preserve Claremonsters will do next? It's because they do the same thing every time. They don't have any original ideas, they only rely on peer pressure. Vote for me because my friends tell you to.

They also have a big voting block in the retirement homes--Claremont Manor and Pilgrim Place, primarily, and they count on the oldsters to be too dumb to do their homework (a little like a Nigerian 419 scam). And there are apocryphal anecdotes about non compus mentis retirees getting "help" filling out absentee ballots in elections past.

Mostly though, it's High School Confidential politics. McHenry, for instance, is unpopular because she's the Fat Girl. Attendees to certain League of Women Voter committee meetings know well the catty remarks Ellen Taylor and Helaine Goldwater can make. Nasiali? They're still trying to figure him out. The best they can do is to say, "He's not black enough." This from white liberals (we can say this because we're both white liberals and people of color here). More hypocrisy in action.

So what's next? If Southard were still around, we'd say the city staff would get involved. Maybe the injection of City Attorney Sonia Carvalho into the Elderkin campaign does that. Of course, Bridget "The Hammer" Healy, Southard's former assistant city manager and current assistant in Indio, is listed on Elderkin's supporter list, as is Paul Held, and any number of other Preserve Claremonters from 2005. Oddly, most of them also appear on Sam Pedroza's supporter list.

Hey 'Monsters, why is it all of you say the Preserve Claremont thing was such a mistake, but none of you will come out and publicly apologize for it? We think it's because you're really proud of it, as are Elderkin and Pedroza, who love your support.

So, to sum up, if Southard were here, we'd be expecting city staff to intervene to prop up the "good" candidates. But absent that, the next guess would be a city wide mailer hit piece by the 'Monsters.