Hannah-Beth:
Where do we find this voter guide?
Also, we are not sure we have received your supposed 4 questions for candidates, at the campaign of Michael Strimling, progressive candidate for Governor in the Democratic Party.
Please send it to Strimling2006@yahoo.com, and we will be happy to respond to any questions. This is a campaign that takes firm progressive positions and does not mind answering questions. As you know, this campaign is the only one that is taking a stand on many issues, and taking a stand for a moratorium on the death penalty while both of the big-money candidates support the death penalty. Neither of them will say anything about Proposition 13 or the explosive growth of prisons, either. Interested Democrats and independents will also have a clear place to vote against the war and wiretapping - issues that have been on the Strimling2006 website since it began early this year. Please log on to www.michaelstrimling.com

Updated - added the link to the post, it's up there now.

Oh goodness... that's the Voter Guide? As you remark yourself in its introduction, it is mostly collection of endorsements from "corporate media." We suppose at Strimling2006 that if we had actually gone after or been allowed to speak to the "endorsers" that you list, we might have actully been in the running for a Voter Guide like yours. Anyway, thanks for listing our candidacy somewhere on your website. Voters interested in a real discussion of the issues, please see our website for Mike Strimling:

http://www.michaelstrimling.com/aboutus.html

We also recommend the SmartVoter and DFA sites that allow more comparison of the views of the candidates.

While we're delighted that Mr. Strimling and his campaign are engaging us in our electoral debate, it is important that the discussion reflect accurate information about the issues and the candidates. That is the mandate of Speak Out California and our request of those who wish to engage in the thoughtful and thorough debate Progressives seek and demand. With that being said, I must correct Mr. Strimling's campaign. Our voter guide includes endorsements from several of the most progressive organizations in California-whose commitment is to advance and protect our most fundamental ideals. We are proud to have included them---- they fight for the public interest- whether they are fighting for health care, the environment, equal rights or other fundamental progressive values.
We will be addressing and exposing those races where candidates are receiving the benefit of "Independent Expenditures Committees" with hidden, big corporate dollars from big oil, insurance and tobacco companies.
In the meantime, we welcome wholesome and vigorous discussion---but insist that the process have integrity, intelligence and decorum....we get enough of the opposite from the neocons trying to destroy our great democratic traditions here in California and across the country.

The Strimling campaign isn't going to win any hearts and minds by attacking and blatantly mischaracterizing progressive organizations like Speak Out California. Hannah-Beth Jackson and her organization have done great work, and getting into a squabble with them is a strategic error. Politics is more than just taking stands on positions -- it requires the skill to put those stands into effect. That said, from his website Mr. Strimling looks a lot more thoughtful than the way he is being represented here.

My one question is, why is there no support for Deborah Ortiz? Since she's not from my area, I normally wouldn't know anything about her, but I had something to do with her, in a very positive light, a few years ago. In my capacity as an ADA (Disability) consultant, I helped the California Council of the Blind with a bill that Senator Ortiz put through for them -- a very necessary bill, in my opinion. She was extremely sensible and helpful in this. Since that time, I watched for other bills she was sponsoring, and she has always been on the side of the "good guys" whenever I noticed something. I intended to vote for her because of that, although I know that Deborah Bowen is also excellent and has a lot of attention since she is concentrating on the voting issues. But surely Deborah Ortiz is not looked on in a negative light, is she?

There is a difference between Bowen and Ortiz.

Bowen has taken a leadership role in examining what has gone wrong in voting machine testing and infrastructure.

The latest round of testing of the Diebold touchscreen products shows that all the software involved can be loaded by anybody with physical access, and there is no security/encryption process to make sure only authorized software is being loaded.

That's a problem.

We could talk about the various issues with ALL the voting machines all day long, but the core issue is that the Federal oversight process involving test labs approved by the FEC but independently hired by each voting system vendor.

Senator Bowen recently questioned reps of 2 out of the 3 labs, very skillfully. The resulting transcript with commentary and evidence related to the material being discussed runs 154 double-spaced pages:

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/itahearing.pdf

If you don't have time to chew on that, we have a six-page ultra-condensed "best of" version at:

http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/showdownincalifornia-27599.pdf

Either way, something is seriously wrong with the entire electronic voting infrastructure and Sen. Bowen has been at the heart of investigating and documenting the problems.

That in turn is the first necessary step towards a solution. Put Bowen in the California Secretary of State's office and she'll be perfectly placed to finish the job.

Ortiz has taken a position directly supporting the worst of the vendors and the most secretive of the various county registrars, including the infamous GOP-connected Conny Drake McCormack of Los Angeles, who won't even fully report what her voting system consists of and she won't comply with mandated party-rep system inspections.

That's representative of Ortiz's base of support. This may look like the "two Debs" are two of a kind but where it matters, there's a world of difference.

If you think this is hyperbole, at least read the six pages of condensed transcript linked above.

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