Our latest online survey of Press Democrat letter writers and other readers shows surprisingly strong support for many of the major ideas the president expressed in his State of the Union address on Wednesday – even the development of new “safe, clean nuclear power plants.” The president’s discussion about “opening new offshore [...]
No, this speech won’t be remembered for any great policy initiatives. But I was struck by the president’s tone, particularly his feistiness. He did not sound like a president who got his hat handed to him in Massachusetts last week. He took his “share of the blame” for not communicating [...]
Call it the “reset” address. President Barack Obama devoted most of his State of the Union to appealing to the middle – independent voters who delivered his landslide in 2008 and have since shown signs of buyer’s remorse. He was personal, describing some of the 10 letters from citizens he’s [...]
My colleague Jeremy Hay reported today that two Rohnert Park City Council members walked out of a budget meeting in protest on Tuesday. “The departure of (Amie) Breeze and (Joe) Callinan … delineated a clear rift on the council that was strikingly personal in tone,” the story said. For those [...]
I’ve just recovered from a bad virus at home. Not H1N1 but a nasty malware bug known as the “Personal Security Center” infection. My home laptop has had it before, but this one was particularly insidious. It’s a “security system” that pops up on your computer and claims to have [...]
The ground just shook in Washington. Associated Press has just projected Scott Brown as the winner of the special election for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. CNN says Brown just received the concession call from Democrat Martha Coakley. This is a stunning upset. The count isn't even going to be that close. Two big questions: [...]
If the numbers in Massachusetts hold steady, this would be a major upset in the works. With 65 percent of the vote in, Brown is leading with 53 percent of the vote. Coakley has 46 percent. No Republican has held this Senate seat since John F. Kennedy beat Henry Cabot Lodge, [...]
Were the major news organizations caught napping on the Senate special election in Massachusetts today? We're wondering. Polls closed back East at 5 p.m. Pacific time, and we turned on our TV to find that none of the major networks or other news organizations were doing any exit polling. As Wolf Blitzer on CNN [...]
Paul Kelley, 46, the most conservative of the five supervisors, faced a tough re-election battle this year against Windsor City Councilwoman Debora Fudge and Healdsburg City Councilman Mike McGuire. Kelley beat Fudge by fewer than 300 votes in the 2006 election. But it’s also not a given that Kelley would have lost [...]
“This is what I wanted to talk to you about,” Supervisor Paul Kelley said as he slid a manila folder across the table toward me and tapped it with his hand. "In here, you'll find my announcement that I will not be seeking re-election for a fifth term in office.” Although [...]
Paul Gullixson
Jim Sweeney
This blog is written by Press Democrat editorial writers Paul Gullixson and Jim Sweeney.