| Listed in the order (and format) in which they appear in the Voter Information Pamphlet:
JOAN BUCHANAN, Page 1
Once again, Joan Buchanan smokes the competition with a nearly pitch-perfect ballot statement.
My name is: Joan Buchanan
My age is: 56
My occupation is: Assemblywoman/Educator
Education and Qualifications:
BA Economics, University of California Santa Barbara
Our country is in an economic crisis, deeper and broader than any in our lifetimes. I have the strong financial skills and proven record of turning things around, which are desperately needed in Congress today.
My financial skills are rooted in private sector experience, refined by balancing public budgets. As Director of Commercial Operations at Delta Dental Plan, I streamlined operations, eliminated a huge patient claims backlog and turned the division around. I led a local school board, balancing 18 budgets in 18 years, taking the district from near bankruptcy to one of the best managed in the state.
As a single mother of five, I know how financial challenges affect a family's well-being. That's why my top priorities are using my financial skills to put people back to work and laying the foundation for a better tomorrow.
Sustaining economic prosperity requires a new approach -- making education a national priority. A well-educated, highly skilled workforce fuels technological innovation, increases our ability to compete globally and improves our economy. It will create the talent to solve critical issues in healthcare, environment and energy.
We need change. More of the same thinking will produce the same results. I offer common sense, hard work and a history of getting things done for our community.
I want to raise your expectations about what's possible, then go to Congress and work hard to exceed those expectations.
Let's get America turned around, up and working.
I'd be honored to have your vote.
ANTHONY WOODS, Page 3
Woods has campaigned extensively on his youth, his personal biography, and the issue of DADT. Certainly, it can't be an oversight that DADT, his expulsion from the military, and his age are never addressed in his ballot statement.
My name is: Anthony Woods
My age is:
My occupation is: Economic Policy Analyst
Education and Qualifications:
I am not one of the Sacramento politicans. I am a two tour Iraq war veteran who knows what it is like to walk in your shoes.
To get America back on track, we need to stop rewarding failed politics and start electing leaders who understand our strengths and struggles first hand.
I was born and raised here in our district, the son of [sic] single mother who made ends meet cleaning houses. For most of my life, I've lived [sic] the uncertainty of being unable to afford health insurance. As a graduate of West Point, I understand how access to a quality education changes lives.
My proudest achievement was bringing all 81 of my soldiers home from Iraq. Because I've led soldiers in battle, I know how important it is to have a Congress that knows our military and will fight for the care and benefits our veterans have earned when they come home.
In both the public and private sector, I've helped craft solutions that put Americans back to work and attract high wage jobs. I believe our local infrastructure and national laboratories can be catalysts for economic growth and a clean energy future. I'll fight to lower healthcare costs and cover everyone. I'll take bold action to stem the foreclosure crisis and restore accountability to our financial sector. And I believe we can send more young people to college by rewarding national service.
I'd be proud to earn your vote and hope you will join our campaign at www.AnthonyWoodsforCongress.com.
MARK DESAULNIER, Page 6
As you might expect, DeSaulnier's ballot statement is a gag-fest of Ellen Tauscher boot-licking. While I suspect that DeSaulnier was going for an Obama-esque appeal for bipartisanship, he seems to have overlooked the fact that at both the state and federal level, Republicans have refused to do anything other than say "No" in recent weeks. Unfortunately for DeSaulnier, the progressive base of the Democratic Party has noticed that Republicans are incapable of compromise. So when he heaps praise on Tauscher and then parrots her almost verbatim about looking past partisan bickering and working with both parties to solve our problems, he evokes Tauscher's inglorious record as a triangulating Blue Dog/New Democrat. I somehow doubt that was the effect he was going for, but that's the horse he's riding.
My name is: Mark DeSaulnier
My age is: 57
My occupation is: Senator/Businessman
Education and Qualifications:
Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher served the 10th District with great distinction for over a decade.
She knows the job. She knows the community. She knows the candidates running to replace her. Congresswoman Tauscher chose to endorse only one candidate in this election.
Ellen Tauscher endorsed Senator Mark DeSaulnier for Congress.
"In the current economic crisis, Mark DeSaulnier is the type of leader we need in Congress; he will look past the partisan bickering and build broad coalitions to solve our nation's problems." Ellen Tauscher
"Mark DeSaulnier is a passionate progressive who will stand up for consumers, not corporations, and help President Obama finally pass universal health care for all Americans." Congressman George Miller
As the only candidate who has been a local public official, business owner, and single father of two sons, Mark DeSaulnier understands the fear and uncertainty families are facing in the economic downturn as more workers lose their jobs and their health insurance.
"Like you, I'm tired of the partisan bickering in Congress and will work with both parties to solve our problems. As your Congressman, I will be independent of special interest groups like big tobacco, insurance and drug companies who have stood in the way of providing universal health care for every American. I will work with President Obama to make health care affordable for everyone - lower prescription drug prices and no higher rates for pre-existing conditions. The time for real change is now. I ask for your vote on September 1. Thank you."
Mark DeSaulnier
JOHN GARAMENDI, Page 8
Now, I'm a pretty big fan of the semi-colon, but a ballot statement that is comprised of one long run-on paragraph, utilizing no less than 13 semi-colons, verges on being unreadable.
My name is: John Garamendi
My age is:
My occupation is: California Lieutenant Governor, Former Insurance Commissioner, Rancher
Education and Qualifications:
America is at a crossroads. Change is on the horizon. President Obama is leading us towards better times -- I want to help him. I will focus on creating jobs and financial regulation; protecting Social Security and Medicare; enacting universal healthcare; withdrawing our troops from Iraq; protecting consumers; creating an energy policy that halts global warming and builds renewable energy systems; and making college available to all. I have a proven record of state, national, and international service. As Lieutenant Governor and Chairman of the Commission on Economic Development we developed employment strategies that promote existing industries and transition California to a green economy. As President Clinton's Deputy Secretary of Interior, I lead [sic] efforts to defend the environment and water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As California's Insurance Commissioner, I created the nation's best consumer protection agency, forced insurance companies to pay claims in the Oakland Hills fire; protected seniors from fraud and patients from denial of claims; and lowered homeowner and workers compensation premiums. I will write laws to protect consumers and regulate Wall Street, and make sure that Social Security is not privatized and Medicare is protected. I will work to add four lanes to Highway 4 in Antioch; a new Caldecott Tunnel; extend BART to Antioch; and increase funding for education; green energy; and medical research. I graduated from UC Berkeley and Harvard, MBA. Patti and I served in Peace Corps Ethiopia. We have six children, nine grandchildren. I am endorsed by President Clinton, and Vice-President Gore. |
