Bay Area doesn't follow the state trend

[CreekDog]

Bay Area doesn't follow the state trend
Recall of governor losing by wide margin as 8 of 9 counties vote to keep Democrat

Jim Herron Zamora and Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Staff Writers Wednesday, October 8, 2003

If it were up to the Bay Area, then Gray Davis would remain in the governor's mansion, early election returns showed.

The recall was losing by wide margins in eight of nine Bay Area counties. Local voters also favored Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante over Arnold Schwarzenegger as the best person to succeed Davis. The only county where the results appeared close was Solano.

And nowhere was the "no" vote stronger than in San Francisco.

This trend is no surprise based on the state's historical voting patterns. The Bay Area anchors the state's Democratic vote.

...cont'd at: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/08/REGION.TMP

[KeepItReal]

1. Thank you Bay Area!

Maybe my starstruck SoCal neighbors will follow your lead next time around.

Cheers, y'all

[Sapphocrat]

2. Thank God, sez this Bay Arean. n/t

[proud patriot]

3. I'm proud of my county

We defeated the recall ...

[CreekDog]

4. Dude, Where's Our Statehood?

We beat it too --and I'm in Contra Costa! Sometimes I wish the Bay Area could be it's own state --imagine the kind of policies our voters might support.

Amazing thing is that this is a 'formerly' Republican burb that now votes with the Bay Area at large. Al Gore carried Coco by 23% in 2000 and Gray by 18% in 2002.

We are the type of 'burb' that was profiled in last year's book, "The Emerging Democratic Majority". As you look around the country (outside the south), these areas are voting more reliably Democratic.

Charlie Cook added to the profile by saying that if you live near a Starbucks, your area probably voted for Gore in 2000. He added that he meant the individual Starbucks, not the kind that's inside a Border's Bookstore.

[Sapphocrat]

5. Our own state? How about...

...our own country?

The air would be clean, because we wouldn't be worried about that MTSB (or whatever it's called) in our gasoline, as everybody would have electric cars.

Not that we'd be driving much, because we'd have the greatest public transportation system in the world (yes! BART finally reaches the South Bay!)... all electric, of course, because we'll have vastly expanded the scope and reach of all those windmills thingos on Altamont Pass.

Lawrence Livermore Labs would be shut down -- but that's okay, because we'll put all those ex-nuclear scientists to work on alternative sources of energy.

Worried about losing the San Joaquin Valley? Don't be; since Silicon Valley is now a ghost town, we'll convert all that wasted office space back into what it was just 30 years ago -- orchards.

Speaking of farming, pot (God bless Humboldt County!) would not only be decriminalized, but regulated, and, as our biggest cash crop, provide revenue to support our myriad social programs. If that's not enough to rebuild our schools, tend to our aged, provide stellar care for our mentally ill, and get the homeless off the streets and back into life, then we can always fall back on a national lotto.

And I have no objections to Nevada-style casinos and legalized prostitution.

Tourism, of course, will boom -- and we're more than ready for it, with four international airports in the Bay Area alone, and more hotel rooms currently standing vacant than you can count.

Yes, we'd still be able to defend ourselves if need be -- we have more than a few (presently defunct) air bases... as well as three protected bays and all the coastal ports (and the ships in them) between Eureka and San Luis Obispo. Heck, we even have a few submarines.

Oh, and don't forget -- we get to keep some of the finest universities and medical centers in the world -- UCSF, Berkeley, Stanford, El Camino Hospital, John Muir...

(Speaking of John Muir, I'd miss Yosemite -- and Lake Tahoe -- but I'd be willing to make the sacrifice for the kind of happiness, health, and equality I'd be proud to leave future generations.)

Oh, yeah -- and gay people would have full marriage rights.

Okay, you can slap me back into reality now.