The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, located in the East Bay, had three local (State Senate and Assembly) politicians come speak about the May 19th election to 74 members at our March 26th meeting. We found the most compelling arguments coming from Assemblyperson Sandre Swanson, who basically said that we should stand up against this political blackmail and not cave to the pressure that it’s a done deal and we have to go along. He reminded us of what almost everyone in and out of Sacramento admits to: these propositions were crafted after Democrats and Republicans were bludgeoned with marathon sessions to find a way to move forward on the budget. There are poison pills in each proposition for both sides, but since the Republican minority was holding the Democratic majority hostage, the feeling was, these initiatives were the only way to stop the madness.

As a result, over 60% of those present voted to say NO to all six measures. While 1A is the worst by far, capping spending for programs we believe are necessary for the health and safety of Californians, and tied to some of our weakest budget periods, none are true champions of anything we believe in. In order to give a simple message to the voting populace that can be easily understood and remembered, we are urging a “NO” vote on all six measures.

We hope that other organizations, Dem Clubs and others, will follow our lead in this campaign. If you know of an organization that would like to use our copy or graphics on the flyer we’ve linked to here, please visit our website, www.wellstoneclub.org and feel free to lift any or all of our language and the “vote no” graphic. While we’d love a credit on your version, we’d prefer just to get the message out than confuse people with who wrote the original 

(Also posted at The Progressive Connection)