FROM SACRAMENTO — Tuesday's state election has all the rough feel and harsh sounds of a referendum -- a referendum on the performances of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature.
That's unfortunate, because some very significant public policy is at stake.
But it's also human nature. If you don't like certain people, there's a tendency to view things contrary to their positions. What they support, you oppose.
Never mind that it may be akin to cutting off your nose to spite your angry face.
My e-mail basket is full of missives denouncing the governor and legislators as liars, buffoons, reckless spenders and out-of-touch dilettantes.
They're what's called "toxic" in politics -- poison to whatever they touch, especially ballot measures.
Toxic "may be a bit of an understatement," quips Rick Claussen, a veteran, usually successful, political consultant who has been trying to strategize for the "yes" side in the propositions fight. That's the probable losing side, based on public and private polling.
"They are hellbent on believing the worst," Claussen says of the voters he has analyzed in poll surveys and focus groups. "What comes through is a deep sense of mistrust, skepticism and anger. And that translates into 'Send 'em a message.'
"The message is, 'Until you clean up your act in Sacramento, don't talk to me again.'
"The fact that the politicians put these measures on the ballot made them suspect from the get-go."
Politicians never have been great messengers for ballot props. Teachers, cops and firefighters are much more appealing in TV ads.
But Capitol politicians are especially horrible salesmen this year. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature both are suffering from record-low job approval ratings, according to polls.
One common gripe of the public is that the governor and Legislature aren't doing their jobs. They keep bucking decisions down to the voters.
It's a bum rap, at least in the current case. All six ballot measures got dumped on voters because they insisted on it in previous elections. Not one of the propositions could have been enacted by the governor and Legislature themselves. They all would alter old ballot measures -- mostly citizen and special-interest initiatives -- that require voter approval for major amending.
In focus groups, Claussen says, he hears lines like: "Screw it! I'm not bailing out Sacramento again." The word bailout has become especially loaded because of Washington's bailing out of near-bankrupt corporations.
