T.G.I. Over

After the past two presidential elections I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe voting lines rivaling those at Six Flags or an alien invasion from the planet Ork. I probably wouldn’t have blinked had I heard Halle Berry’s baby declared the winner in the Minnesota senatorial race, or that because I failed to check two boxes at the bottom of my ballot, I was now a member of eHarmony and my phone service was being transferred to T-Mobile. Thankfully none of those things happened (I’d better check the phone bill) and Senator Barrack Obama is now our president elect. And while he has some big things to tackle, like our $10 trillion debt, Guantanamo, and finding a hypoallergenic yet completely adorable shelter puppy, here are a few quick actions he could do on day one:

Clone Sasha and Malia
Is it just me, or are these the most gorgeous children? Parents are attractive, Ivy League educated professionals. If Michelle Obama was under age 30 she could sell her eggs for a fortune.

Push up the fall back
Our current Daylight Savings Time schedule, for the lack of a better word, sucks. When I was a kid, you could barely see your hand in front of your face on Halloween. This year it was so bright, the only reason I knew it was time to pass out the candy was I heard a toddler crying on the corner while his mother said, “Stay-with-me-baby-baby-stay-with-me-stay-with-mommy-listen-to-mommy-get-your-butt-over-here-now!”

Speaking of Halloween...
Pass a law requiring people with their lights on to pass out candy to EVERYONE. When I opened the door to trick-or-treaters, I didn’t see Obama supporters or McCain supporters. I saw Iron Man, Spider Man, Batman, Cinderella, a ballerina, a bunch of teens who didn’t bother to wear costumes but wanted candy anyway, and some adults who knew better yet did it anyway.

Outlaw scary Facebook photos
While such Facebook photos have rightfully ended many what-might-have-been fantasies, it’s a bit unsettling to discover your high school crush now resembles the Unibomber.

Keep taking your kids to school
The next time a significant other tells us they can't pick the kids up/take out the trash/drive us to the hospital, we can say, "Don't tell me you're too busy to make dinner when the leader of the free world took time out of his busy day to drop the kids off by the flag pole!"

Host inaugural ceremonies in every state
Considering scalpers are selling tickets for over $20,000, it’s needed. Plus it will save me from either commuting daily from New York because it’s the closest place with an affordable hotel room, or staying at lounges all night and showering at 24-Hour Fitness.

Election Results Updates

Record numbers of voters turned out to register their opinions this year. Thanks for voting!

Some races and votes were too close to call; mail-in ballots are still being counted; Prop 8 voting results are being challenged. NewsBank has a special report on the election - log in with your library card number to read stories published in newspapers across the country.

Ongoing election coverage updates are available at:

• Sacramento Bee
• Fox 40
• KCRA
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Los Angeles Times
• California Secretary of State

Voter Info at Central Library

Our DanskaBeaver reports, regarding the November 4th election:

The Central Library will have official voter guides from the State of California on the First, Second and Third Floor Service Desks. Easy Voter Guides in English will also be located at the Service Desks on the First, Second and Third Floors. Easy Voter Guides for Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese will be in the World Languages Section. Guides in other languages are also available.

An audio version of the Official State Voter Guide will be behind the Information Desk on the Third Floor. It is only for in-library use. Please be prepared to leave an ID if you use it. We are also cataloging audio versions for circulating and in-library use.

Voter registration cards will be available on the First, Second, Third and Fourth floors. The last day to register for the election is October 20th. Registration applications must be postmarked no later than this date.

Election Literature at the Central Library...

With the February 5th election fast approaching, the Central Library has official voter guides and registration forms on 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors. Please note that the voter guide contains an insert or supplement. Also note that, vis-à-vis registration forms, citizens must have their form postmarked no later than January 22nd to be eligible to vote in the February 5th election. For important dates on the direct primary and presidential election, plus online voter registration, click here.

In the next week or so, we anticipate Central receiving Easyvoter guides from the League of Women Voters, which come in multiple languages. For voter information in a language other than English, please refer to http://www.easyvoter.org/site/evguide/.

Ahhhhh...the Marin Headlands. What a great state we live in! Show you care. Vote.

Annnnd...They're Off!!!!! Decision 2008!

Iowans are set to nominate on Janurary 3rd. While much of the rest of the country is using primaries to nominate presidential candidates, the hawkeye state (see image to the right) still proudly clings to its caucus system of 'getting' the right person, a method that's been a part of American politicking since the early 1800s.

I'm a bit embarrassed to pose the question, but I truly don't know the answer. That said, here we go: What in the world is a CAUCUS, a nominitive method used by, in addition to Iowa, Wyoming, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, Alaska, Nevada, Hawaii, Maine, West Virginia, Washington State, and Kansas???

Well, according to the Dorsey Dictionary of American Government and Politics, the caucus is...

"...a private meeting of political party members in order to seek agreement on a common course of action, to select delegates for a state or national nominating convention, and so on. The caucus was an early method of selecting presidential candidates before its replacement by party conventions (and for nominating state and local candidates) rests of a series of party meetings that begin at the precinct level and extend to the state convention. The first round caucuses are especially important, for they often establish the share of delegates awarded to each candidate." (pg. 86)."

In so far as the primary (aka the nominating method used by California), the dictionary states...

"An election held before a general election to nominate a political party's candidates for office. In some states, other officials, such as delegates to party conventions, are also elected a this time. Primaries [were] developed during the early twenthieth century as a part of the reform agenda of the progressive movement. It was argued that leaving the nomination process to the political party bosses was inherently undemocratic, that real democracy was possible only with rank-and-file participation, especially since nominations in jurisdictions where one party was dominant were often tantamount to election."

The Concise Encyclopedia of Democracy chimes in with its take on the Caucus as a...

"...Meeting on members of a political party in order to make decisions on policy or to select candidates."

"Until 1824 candidates for the presidency and vice presidency of the United States were selected by the congressional caucus of each party. Public opposition to what was considered a secretive, elitist process and the growth of mass political parties resulted in the establishment of national nominating conventions, but caucuses are still used in some states, such as Iowa, as the first step in selecting delegates to the national meetings."

"Those who support the the use of caucuses assert that they encourage participatory democracy by requiring voters to take time out for the process and to debate each other face-to-face. Those who oppose their use argue that most caucuses are dominated by individuals with strong ideological stands that may not reflect the thinking of rank-and-file party members." (pg. 84).

A very good article, comparing the two nominating systems is accessible through SPL's EBSCO Database. To view Thomas Marshall's Turnout and Representation: Caucuses Versus Primaries from the American Journal of Political Science, (Feb78, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p169, 14p), click here (library card and PIN required for viewing).

And, if that weren't enough, the official Web site of the Iowa Caucuses is a pretty good place for answers: http://www.iowacaucus.org/iacaucus.html

California will nominate its candidates on February 5, 2008. The Central Library will have election guides and voter registration forms available on Thursday, the 3rd, of January. All literature will be placed at service desks on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors.

To the right, the beautiful Caucuses at sunrise...thanks, flickr!