After a careful analysis of the relative merits of the Democratic and Republican party candidates in this year's gubernatorial election (see previous threads on each candidate) the class has endorsed Jerry Brown's candidacy and will be posting regular updates on positions, poll results, and reports from the campaign.
Initial postings to this thread will deal with key differences expressed in the candidates' Fresno debate, broadcast live by Univision on October 2, 2010, while subsequent additions will update over the duration of the campaign.
6 Responses
Solutions to the Water Crisis
When Jerry Brown was asked about the water crisis in Los Angeles and how he would solve it, he said he would first demand flood control. He said that his father passed the first water project in Los Angeles, and he got a canal built, which was later taken out. He argues that his dad had a plan, and that is what California needs. He has a plan, but needs the support in order to achieve his goal. He says he makes no promises, since he has the record and experiences, but he'll deal with it.
Health Plan Debate
Jerry Brown- He supports the Obama Health Plan
Ø A lot of republicans are against Obama's Health Plan
Ø Democrats go on it alone to pass something as soon as possible, saying "We cannot have another yearlong debate on this"
"I favor Obama's health plan and jobs and basically I'm a Democrat and can explain why."
Meg Whitman – Is against Obama's Health Plan:
> She argues that his plan well cut down small Businesses.
> Wants California to open up to more insurance competition
"Health care proposal is driving up the cost of small business and that's all that matters. Your responsibility is not to get sick. To bring down the costs, let's bring in plans from unregulated states. And Medicare/MediCal fraud. Silicon Valley! Electronic records -- but not Obama's plan to do exactly that."
Making a Small Change in the World
I went to the volunteer for the Jerry Brown Campaign on Sat. Oct the 8th with some of my classmates. It was a tedious experience. We arrived at about 10 in the morning. As we arrived, two young volunteers sitting at a table asked to sign in and gave us a sticker in support of Jerry Brown. Then we sat down and waited a couple minutes for the organizers to set up everything for us. We waited patiently for about 15 minutes until finally Brandon Gassaway, the person in charge of the volunteers, politely greeted us and took us to a room next door. The second room was similar to the first. It was of medium size with white walls. Posters in support of Jerry Brown and the Obama administration adorned the room. There were a lot of tables lined up in rows and telephones scattered all over the place. There were some volunteers sitting on a table. They asked to sign in again and so we did. Then we were asked to sit down in a circle with the rest of the volunteers. We were given a phone script and a list of the people we were to call. We rehearsed what we had to say and then we began to call the individuals in our list.
There were codes for specifying whether the number we called was wrong (WN), the person was not home (NH) or if the person spoke Spanish (SP). We had to circle each of those codes depending on what we encountered. Most of the people I called were either not home or the number was wrong. Everyone repeated the same procedure for about 3 times. Then we finally left and took posters, bumper stickers, and pins with us in support of Jerry Brown. Despite the exhausting experience, my classmates and I left with a pride that we had taken action for something that affects our state.
On October 2, 2010 Univision Television, a Spanish-language entertainment network aired a gubernatorial election debate in Fresno, California. Both candidates, Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman discussed and placed their positions towards the Latino community. In terms of an advocate outreach to the Latino community both candidates believe there must be a huge concentration within education and employment for Latinos.
Are Undocumented Immigrants good for the economy?
Meg Whitman:
· She supports the Bracero Program, which allows undocumented immigrants to work temporarily in the U.S, and then sends them back when they are not needed any more.
Jerry Brown:
· If immigrants demonstrate good commitment to their work and don't break the laws then they should deserve a path to citizenship.
On Saturday October 9, 2010, FTA students volunteered in Jerry Brown's Statewide Day of Action event. It took a lot of patience and determination to get through the day. We were basically spreading the word to many democratic members to remember to vote for Jerry Brown on November 2, 2010. When we first got to the Brown's campaign office there were some college volunteer students already there. It made me happy that teenagers like us were volunteering in something really important like this. Then we were greeted with coffee and doughnuts to give us energy for the day. At 10:00am Brandon Gassaway one of the volunteer coordinators for Jerry Brown's campaign guided us to another room that was much bigger than the first one. The room was abundant with rows and rows of tables some of them had phones on them. There were also various Jerry Brown posters, Democrat posters and proposition posters surrounding us in that room. We sat down in some chairs and another campaign coordinator gave us phone scripts and contact information of people we were going to call. She explained to us that we were going to be phone banking the whole day and guided us through the whole calling process. She also practiced the phone script with us and explained to us how the whole calling system works. Then we sat down on the rows of tables and started calling people that were in the Democratic list. By the end of my shift I was very exhausted but in the end it was worth it. I am glad that I was part of this experience.
Share Your Thoughts