Claremont Insider: Cast Your Ballot Today

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Cast Your Ballot Today

If you haven't already voted by mail, don't forget to get out and vote in today's special election. For those of you have waited until the last minute to decide, you can find all the information you want about the six ballot measures on SmartVoter's website. You can also look up your polling place by typing in your street address and zip code.

Governor Schwarzenegger, who has already voted by mail, won't be around to watch as voters head to the polls. Politico.com says the Governor will be in Washington, DC, today. Politico's article, by Andy Barr, quoted Claremont McKenna College political science professor John J. Pitney Jr. on Schwarzenegger's woes:

"He's morphed from The Terminator to The Incredible Shrinking Man," said John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at California's Claremont McKenna College. "He came to office promising to set our fiscal house in order. Now the house is collapsing and the best he can do is pull bodies from the wreckage."

If successful, the propositions would leave the state with a projected $15 billion budget shortfall rather than the expected $23 billion hole.

While the California governor is staring an electoral beating in the face, spokesman Matt David said the governor intends to fight on.

"This is an important election where the governor will be trying for the third time to fix the state's broken budget system," David told POLITICO. "He believes the state will continue face deficit problems until there is reform."

Schwarzenegger though, won't be present to make much of a last minute push.

After receiving a call from the White House Saturday requesting his presence Tuesday when President Barack Obama unveils stricter fuel-economy standards, Schwarzenegger will spend the day in Washington rather than Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger is not "solely or even mainly responsible for the state's problems," said Claremont McKenna's Pitney. "The political system thwarts reform and the economic system leads to a boom and bust cycle of state finance."