The 2006 version of the WashCycle voting guide, here! Hey, it’s interesting if you’re a cyclist.
I think I’m pretty much done with political posts, through Tuesday. There’s nothing that’s going to change anyone’s mind about the candidates between now and then, and giving the oxygen of attention to the various ridiculous last minute ploys of desperate candidates only encourages future candidates to do the same. So I’m done, with the politics. Between now and Tuesday, I’ll be spending my time offline trying to get people out to vote, instead of persuading them how to vote. If you don’t know which Senate candidate you’re going to vote for now, well . . . I’ve not the slightest idea of what to say to you.
Of course, having knocked people for not having made up their minds, I’ve got to admit that I’m finding myself in the very same position on two other issues. First, our local school board has two excellent candidates in Sally Baird and Cecelia Espenoza, either of which will do a fine job. Baird has the Democratic endorsement, and Espenoza is (as I understand it) a Democrat running as an “Independent” because she works at the Department of Justice, whose rules essentially prohibit partisan runs for office. I’d sort of hoped that the race would evolve in a way that show the policy contrasts between the candidates, but that simply hasn’t happened. There are no easy party or demographic defaults to tip the balance, either. Not an easy choice.
The other issue is the third VA constitutional ballot question, which deals with giving VA localities the ability to offer tax incentives to developers working in “blighted” areas. Vivian Page has a good summary of the issue, and I’m leaning toward a no on the question, too. The short version of why: developers already get pretty everything they want from localities in VA, and in my view, there’s been no shortage of development in all the time I’ve lived here. There’s no need to put additional public goods on the table to encourage private developers to do something they’ve been doing already.
Arturo
The choice is easy: vote for Sally Baird. It’s true that their issues and positions are similar, but Sally has run a clean, grassroots campaign.
MB
And Espenoza hasn’t? I haven’t seen anything about that. I do know that I’ve seen her husband out many nights, busting his ass for her, and her a couple of times, at various events.