The Senate Debate: Riding Momentum
Tonight’s debate between Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina will set the race for California’s United States Senate seat off in a new direction. By all accounts the race is even. It feels even … if I can justifiably claim that one can get those feelings about political races after hanging around politics for a long time.
That means what happens starting at 7 p.m. tonight at St. Mary’s College in Moraga could be a very important step in deciding California’s next senator. A superior performance or a sub-par one likely would be a game changer.
Will Fiorina look inexperienced next to the three-term senator? Will Boxer appear out-of-touch and arrogant, as her opponents have charged in the past? Any mistakes, superior ability, or personality traits could set an impression with observers and allow one of the candidates to build momentum.
Dear California’s Public Employee Unions
You are absolutely right when you argue that state budget cuts are doing lasting damage to California.
It is plain foolish to cut the school year, lay off thousands of teachers, increase university tuition, undermine the safety net, and close state offices on Fridays. And you’re also right to argue that there need to be new revenues on the table to reverse the cuts to these important priorities.
If only you were effective advocates of these positions.
Sending out an SOS to our SoS
Debra Bowen’s term as California’s Secretary of State started with fanfare. Upon assuming office in 2007, Bowen was greeted with the task of approving the implementation of electronic voting machines throughout the state.
Over $400 million had been invested in the initiative, but the new Secretary of State took a step back and commissioned an independent study of the machines, uncovering several problems with the new technology.
Confronting the machines’ manufacturer and unhappy county officials, Bowen decided to restrict implementation of the new voting system prior to the state’s February 5 presidential primary. It was a gutsy call, and for it, Bowen earned plaudits from around the state, and even nationally – receiving a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award at the Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.
America’s 21st-Century Business Model
Cross-posted with NewGeography.com
Current attitudes aren’t too kind to the old American way of doing
business. In our globalized economy, the most enthusiastically touted
approaches are those adopted by centralized, state-dominated economies
such as China, Brazil and Russia as well as–somewhat less
oppressively–those of the major E.U. states.
Yet the U.S. may well be constructing the best sustainable business
model for the 21st Century. It is an approach built on the country’s
greatest enduring strength–an innovative business culture driven
increasingly by a diverse pool of immigrants.
This model, of course, lacks the kind of centralized control beloved
by many pundits. Yet its virtues are also missing from statist-oriented
European or East Asian capitalism. These other regions’ systems may be
more disciplined in their thinking, but they do not draw as well on the
diversity of human experience and connections that drive America’s
post-racial economy.