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The politics of bill boarding and other adventures

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Okay, I know you are already on pins and needles just waiting, waiting to find out whether the ‘change we can believe in’ becomes Tea Party colored, remains coffee-hued, or is a draw and the media just overhyped the whole thing. You’re breathless in anticipation, right?
Yeah, I know, who cares? But you, all of you, really should. In the sometimes silly, seemingly chaotic election season expected in California and across America–election 2010–besides the cascade of names you won’t know and faces whose profiles you’d rather forget, there will be a slew of very important issues on the ballot that your absence from the voting booth may kill or allow a victory. Not participating really means you have ‘no right to complain.’ (Matter of fact, I wonder how many people who are vehemently complaining now even voted in 2008? We need a survey.)
There will be primaries, run-offs and general election activity galore, and in spite of the lack of a presidential contest, more people will probably roll out than usual for these midterm and other races.
So get ready for the Boxer, Kaus and Quintana sparring, the Campbell, Devore, Fiorina and Ramirez grudge match, and of course the Whitman, Poizner sweepstakes just to face down Brown or Aguirre, after the Delgadillo, Harris, Chris Kelly and Nava shoot-out to face Cooley, Eastman or Harman.
Of course, there will be bit players, too, trying to earn your money in the who-are-these-people Board of Equalization race, the nobody-knows-my-name Insurance Commissioner’s contest, and  Bill Lockyer as the only recognizable moniker running for State Treasurer. Do not yawn, these are all very important.
Why? Leadership to change the very negative unemployment and underemployment numbers for African Americans in California is a distinctively sore need, and out of this pool of political job seekers, perhaps we can pick a few real  winners this time. Just as important, in addition, is the ominous presence of some wicked propositions/initiatives on both the June 8 and November 2 ballots.
There’s one about California taxpayers funding statewide elections (providing a limited allowance to each candidate, and no more), and one requiring a two-thirds public vote for governments to buy-out electricity grid providers.
There’s also one requiring only a majority vote rather than two-thirds to pass the state budget while docking legislators’ pay, if they don’t get the budget done by June 30 every year.
Of course, one biggie is whether to legalize marijuana in California, and there is also the next saga in the redistricting wars, including Congressional seats in the commission re-zoning or not, and maybe just killing the redistricting commission outright, before it ever proves itself one way or the other.
Clearly, there’ll be political fun for all, and if we try to shy away just because we want to avoid the panoply of  confusing names, remember that we will get our just desserts, if we miss all of these moving parts of the main feature: Direct Democracy, California-style.
As part of the process and in this era of political blogs, many daily, 24/7 newscasts, twitter tweets all over the place, and I-phone apps for all occasions, some bare knuckle old-school bill boarding will fill our visions from May through November this year, so we better get prepared for it. This will be in-your-face politics that will flash at us on the freeways and smile down on us in the streets and alleys. Some political public relations people have decided that television and the Internet are simply not enough.
Chuck Devore has just gotten it started big-time in Northern California with an attack ad against his Republican primary opponents, Fiorina and Campbell. Expect to see more demon sheep to scare your young and unhappy California cows to turn your stomach. Don’t be surprised to see dueling billboards in lonely stretches of Interstate 5 and gridlocked areas of the 405 and 10 freeways. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and in this case, billboard space is a lot cheaper than television and cable ads.
Hearing loudspeaker autos and staring down colorful signs will not be limited to the big money races either. Wanda Brown, Judy Dunlap, Ralph Franklin, and the astute and always well-informed public servant, Danny Tabor, are vying to be Inglewood’s next mayor. Look out Woodies, the poster wars are upon you since June 8 will at least cut the eight candidates down to two or three for the August run-off.
Sometimes politics can just make you wanna holla (We still hear you Marvin). But even in those exasperating times, people who want to control their own political destinies have to hang in there and scope things out, always being ready to act assertively in their own interests.
‘Boring you to death’ is a clever and effective political trick of mass distraction. More than one neighborhood or whole culture has lost virtually everything on one roll of the political dice that they decided not to pay attention to or were hoodwinked out of watching too closely. The price of political freedom is and will continue to be eternal vigilance. We’d best remember that we cannot sustain many more losses either this season or next. Our margin for political error is razor thin, and political ignorance is simply not our friend.
David Horne, Ph.D., is executive director of the California African American Political Economic Institute (CAAPEI) located at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

DISCLAIMER: The beliefs and viewpoints expressed in opinion pieces, letters to the editor, by columnists and/or contributing writers are not necessarily those of Our Weekly.

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