My predictions made about the District 5 supervisor’s race came to pass exactly the way I thought they would: that Kline would come in third and that Condit would come in first.
Condit may be feeling good about being at the top with 2,874 votes, some 721 votes ahead of Hallinan. But here’s how I analyze things: A total of 4,059 out of 7,451 voters declined to support Condit. Now, obviously I don’t believe that all of Kline’s supporters will go to Hallinan but a good majority may.
It’s Hallinan’s race to lose. A strong presence on the radio and more mailers may do the trick. He needs to wrestle an endorsement from Jim DeMartini, if the respected supervisor is willing. I only say that because DeMartini is no fan of Condit’s, despite what Condit believes.
* * * * *
Mike Kline expressed his disappointment about coming in third place in the three-way race for county supervisor. But he was also very disappointed about the turnout.
According to Kline, voter turnout in Supervisorial District 5 was a dismal 16.35 percent. In District 2 where Vito Chiesa was unopposed, voter turnout was 22.87 percent. District 1 where Buck Condit is facing Bill Zoslocki, 23.98 percent. Kline fell behind Tom Hallinan by 243 votes.
But when you look at the “under vote” count – those who declined to vote probably because of a lack of familiarity with the candidates – it was high at 494. Thus, 6.4 percent of District 5 voters had no opinion in the race.
Enthusiasm in the county was higher among Republicans than Democrats. Voter turnout for the Democrats voting for a president was 23.86 percent. Republicans were at 28.82 percent.
* * * * *
Is his a boilerplate candidacy? Several folks have pointed out to me that Channce Condit’s campaign signs and the logo being used on campaign flyers look nearly identical to the one used by his grandfather, Gary Condit, back in the 1980s.
When I compared the language of the 2012 Chad Condit for Congress mailer to the recent Channce Condit mailer, they could have been written by the same person.
Chad: “If we really want change, it will take truly Independent representatives. Together we can make a difference.”
Channce: “As elected representatives we work for the people, not special interest groups or the status quo bureaucracy. As you next County Supervisor, I will be an independent voice …”
* * * * *
Josh Harder was sullen on Election night. Does he see the hand writing on the wall?
High support for Trump in Stanislaus County could be troublesome for the Democrat. Remember that Harder voted with Nancy Pelosi to impeach.
What did the primary show? Well, for one thing there are 99,356 Democrat voters in the county versus 92,528 Republicans. Yet, Trump won 23,906 votes in Stanislaus County. If you take all the votes for all the Democrat candidates, you end up with 22,751, less than Trump’s count.
If Biden is the Democrat nominee, he will not inspire the young voters – who are a significant voting block for Harder.
But here is the telling tale: Harder collected 29,683 votes. The two other Democrats in the race picked up a dismal 3,816 votes for a grand total of 33,499 votes. Ted Howze collected 27,987 votes. Now that Bob Elliott and Marla Livengood are out of the race, where will their collective 13,151 votes go? Certainly not to Harder! Assuming they all go to Howze, he can expect 41,138 votes in the fall. That’s a whopping gap of 7,639 votes that Harder has to make up for in an election where Sleepy Joe may his party’s nominee. He won’t inspire the youngsters in this roaring economy to vote.
* * * * *
Have you noticed how leftist women attack men when it comes to their fight for unbridled access to abortion? Rep. Rashida Tlaib said “This past year, I realized — my, my, my are they obsessed with our bodies, how we talk, how we look, what we stand for — I mean this type of policing of our bodies is so interconnected to all the social justice movements all around the country.” She went on to say, “You’re so freakin’ obsessed with what I decide to do with my body, maybe you shouldn’t even want to have sex with me,’ or with you, or with any woman.”
It takes two to tangle, darling.
* * * * *
Speaking of lefties who lost it, David Delgado, 32, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. He slugged a man in a Hermosa Beach eatery on Sept. 2, 2019 for merely wearing a Make America Great Again baseball cap. The coward punches again before fleeing. He was identified by surveillance video.
Such tolerance for a group that demands everyone be tolerant.
* * * * *
I saw this on social media and it bears reprinting here. I didn’t write it but it explains socialism very well:
“An economics professor at a U.S. college made a statement that she had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “Okay, we will have an experiment in this class on this plan. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).”
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a “B.” The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a “D.” No one was happy. When the third test rolled around, the average was an “F.”
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, all failed and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
These are possibly the five best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1). You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2). What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3). The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4). You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
5). When half of the people get the idea that they don’t have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
