Friday, August 29, 2003
Marc Valdez delivers a letter of complaint (content on my gubernatorial web log) to a representative of Governor Gray Davis (according to Diana Foss, his name is Yanni), on the west steps of the California State Capitol, Sacramento, August 29, 2003. Also pictured, left to right, are recall candidates Lawrence Strauss (cut off), Leonard Padilla, and Chris Sproul. Photo by anti-recall candidate Diana Foss.
Today, roughly ten recall candidates met on the west steps of the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, to deliver letters of protest to Governor Gray Davis. This collaborative effort was spearheaded by recall candidate Lawrence Strauss, with help by recall candidates Cheryl Bly-Chester, Jon Zellhoefer, and Leonard Padilla. I'm a rather latecomer to these efforts to forge a common position on some issues amongst the recall candidates, since the efforts started while trying to come to a common agreement on how to approach the media, with respect to the Leno appearance on Sept. 22nd, and I had already decided not to attend that. But the idea of a common approach to matters we have in common still has appeal, and I'm glad to join - starting today, and tomorrow, with the USS Hornet meeting in Alameda.
These candidates are a fine group of people! Great, energetic people! Several other recall candidates were there too. I helped anti-recall candidate Chris Sproul arrange his interview with John Hancock over at the California Channel, across from the State Capitol. While there, I met recall candidate Chuck Pineda, who was just about to undergo John Hancock's grilling. Other candidates I met just briefly: Diana Foss and Patricia Tilley. And there may have been another candidate, but he was trying not to associate with us.
A great time, with more to come!
On Thursday, I went on a hurried journey to Mindless Entertainment Inc., located across the street from Paramount Studios in Hollywood, to audition for the Game Show Network's (GSN's) 'Who Wants to be Governor of California?', a debate among five pre-selected candidates, in a game-show format, to be filmed in late September and aired on Cable TV across the U.S. on October 1st. The interview went well - I hope very much that I'm picked. Not just because I want to win the $21,000+ campaign cash prize, but because I believe that GSN's approach actually represents THE major innovation of the campaign, perhaps a revolutionary development that can break the stranglehold Big Money has on campaigns nationwide.
What is it we miss most in American politics? Spirited political debate, the kind that thrived at saloons and debating clubs across America in the early 19th Century. Legendary debaters, like Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, the triumvirate that dominated the Great Compromise of 1850 Congressional debates, or Lincoln and Douglas, campaigning in the Illinois Congressional elections of 1858, were merely the tip of the iceberg of American rhetoricians.
After modern politics got its start, in the stump speeches of Bryan, and the Big Money approach of McKinley in 1896, the older art form steadily died. Throughout the 20th Century, newspapers, radio, and TV slowly strangled the art of political debate. Today, we have self-financed and pay-to-play campaigns, costing millions, run by people who couldn't argue their way out of a 19th Century saloon.
When you have an election with many candidates (like this recall campaign), however, it's possible to bring back the old art form, in a new guise. All you need is an ambitious media mogul and some money. First, you audition the candidates, and preselect the ones you want to compete. The competition can take any form. It can be a traditional debate, or it could be something else: a cookoff on a cooking channel, or a tournament on a golf channel, or perhaps a first date with a supermodel on a channel that focuses on relationships. The winner gets cash for their campaign, and then on to the next round of debates. The excellent free media exposure saves the candidates precious resources, the cash fuels the campaign, and the mogul exercises an indirect influence on politics. Cheaper than the current form of modern politics for the various candidates, the new approach strengthens candidates' rhetorical skills, and could well break the back of old-style campaigning. I want GSN's nod, just to see what I might be able to do with this new political toy. The future begins here, and it begins now! Farewell the old, stale, lesser-of-two-evils campaign (provided the old 2 candidate system can be dealt a death blow - that might be the hardest part).
After the interview, I had time to burn, so, following local custom, I energetically drove my rented car all around Hollywood. I visited a fabulous old bookstore on Melrose Ave., and wandered in-and-out of shops, up-and-down Melrose's wonderful youth-oriented shopping strip. What must it be like to go to high school at Fairfax or Hollywood High Schools, so close to all that glitters? If I was a teenage girl with shopaholic tendencies and a credit card, I'd probably go nuts. I drove past various interesting landmarks, like the Whiskey-a-Go-Go, the Will and Ariel Durant branch of the LA Public Library, the Valdez Guitar Shop, the CNN Tower, KNX Radio (I should have stopped in), and a zillion restaurants, travel agencies, and tattoo parlors. And, of course, despite the bustle, very few pedestrians. The sidewalks were eerily quiet, even by lazy Sacramento standards:
Artist : Persons Missing
Song : Walking In LA
Lyrics Available at Let's Sing It
Look ahead as we fast try to focus on it
I won't be fooled by a cheap cinematic trick
It must have been just a cardboard cut out of a man
Top forty cast off from the record stand
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
I don't know could have been a lame jogger maybe
or someone just about to do the freeway strangler baby
Shopping cart pusher or maybe someone groovy
One things for sure he isn't starrin in a movie coz he's
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
You won't see a cop walkin on the beat
You only see him drivin cars on the street
You won't see a kid walkin home from school
Their mothers pick them up in a car pool
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Could it be the smog's playing tricks on my eyes
Or it's a rollerskater in some kind of headphone disguise
Maybe somebody who just ran out of gas
Makin his way back to the pumps the best way he can
Walking in LA
Walking in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Walking in LA
Walkin in LA
Nobody walks in LA
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
I thought the 45-minute claim referred to Iraqi attacks on Britain, not in Iraq.
Courtesy of Steven Whetstone productions comes a video of me talking about my platform. I focus mostly on Proposition 13, but talk about other things as well. Steve Whetstone will place video links to myself and other candidates at this Web Site.
Some headlines are just - so underwhelming!
Credit Card Companies Making Money Off Late Fees
Sexual identity study yields few surprises
Arnold 'Cleans Haus'. And some interesting analysis regarding Cruz's various dilemmas.
DMTC's youth workshop Cast 2 presented Peter Pan last weekend. A fine show, with many strong performances, particularly Rachel Fader as Captain Hook. Also, Hannah Trost did very well as Mrs. Darling, and also last weekend as Tiger Lily. Unfortunately, Cast 2's Peter Pan, Emily Jo Seminoff, caught laryngitis, so Cast 1's Peter Pan, Julia Spangler, had to do Sunday's show. On Saturday evening, Emily excelled with her rendition of 'Beautiful Lady' - she reminded me of Matt Dunn, who did Peter Pan for Tokyo Disneyland a few years ago.
Sunday, August 24, 2003
