Dave's pick for the 12th Congressional District Special Election

Tom Lantos passed away recently. We in the 12th Congressional District in California have to vote in a replacement. April 8 is that special election.

To make up my mind, I tried reading my voter guide (online and printed), but it had diddly-squat info. I looked up smartvoter.org for this election. Barry Hermanson, the Green candidate, killed a few trees and mailed me a fairly good flier about himself. And I shoulda went to the debate a week ago! Nuts! I searched on 12th congressional district on the San Mateo County Times website, and found a few articles. And I found each candidate's website for this election.

Here are links to my ranting on my website about the candidates for the 12th district. Click the links to read the longer rants on my website, or read the tiny bullet list rants below the links.

• Green: Barry Hermanson. My pick!
• Democrat 1: Jackie Speier. The fave.
• Republican 1: Greg Conlon. The nut.
• Republican 2: Mike Moloney. The surprise.
• Democrat 2: Michelle T. McMurry. The cutie.
• A Word About Tom Lantos. The almost apology.

So why did I pick the Green guy? Other than I am also Green.

• Barry Hermanson says it: the Iraq war was wrong then and now. And his other issues (single payer health care, spend money on the people and rebuilding our infrastructure, and other neat stuff) are nice and Green and agree with me. Yay. He got my vote. Take a look at www.BarryHermanson.org.


• Greg Conlon, the radical-right incapable-of-learning-from-Vietnam kick-the-poor-inna-nuts bonehead, hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Not even his own party leaders support him. (Not because he is a nut, but because they figure that he has no chance to win.) So on the pragmatic side, there is no reason to vote for a democrat. Not that I vote pragmatically anyhow, pragmatism is what neutered the demos and what makes Hillary extra nauseating. Here is his website for this election, www.gregconlonforcongress.com.


• Mike Moloney is a real surprise: a Republican I have some respect for, a repub who is opposed to the war for some of the right reasons. He says loudly that we were lied into it. His website is fun to read on its issues page, although the rest sounds like he is screaming into your ear, and I wish there was more info on more issues. But a repub who wants Bush and Cheney impeached? I think I'm in love. But to vote for him, I would have to be in lust also. Look this guy up on www.mikemoloney4congress.com.


• Jackie Speier is the fave to win, Tom Lantos's pick to follow him. She is fairly good on the issues, although she (of course) cannot admit that the Iraq war was immoral and illegal from the start, she only mouths that wimpy "badly executed" propaganda. C'mon, Jackie, you have taken bullets, you should have the courage to face and say the truth. Here is her website for this election, www.jackieforcongress.com.


• Michelle T. McMurray is way cuter than the other candidates. (Hey, I gotta say something sexist at least once.) She is a superdelegate who supports Obama (Jackie Speier supports Hillary). But she is soft on stopping the Iraq war and on universal health care. Her intellectual mind and her cute face do not sway me. But they do make me sigh a little. Her website, www.mcmurry2008.com, is skimpy on the issues.