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November 09, 2005

A Victory For All Californians

Congratulations on a sweeping victory for Democratic values. Without you in the grassroots working with our friends in Labor, we would not have been able to protect our principles and the rights of our children under Proposition 98, the right to privacy of our teenage girls on choice, the first amendment rights of our public employees, the rights of our teachers, and the voters' unwillingness to have a DeLay takeover of our legislature.

This Governor should apologize to the taxpayers of California for wasting our hard-earned money on an election that did nothing to support education, our infrastructure needs and access to affordable health care.

His initiatives could have been on the ballot in June just seven months away (and the voters would have rejected them then as well), but the culture of greedy and cynical Republican consultants forced this election on the taxpayers so that they could put money into their pockets. Shame on them and shame on this Governor for acquiescing to their greed.

Do not be mistaken, the Democratic leadership in Sacramento put forward compromises on the real issues, all rejected or vetoed by this Governor. Even at the last minute when Democratic legislators pleaded not to waste money on an unnecessary election, the Republicans in the Legislature voted to allow this election to take place. None of their current spin can wash away their duplicitous actions.

Do not take my word for it, read today's headlines from the LA Times, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News, Riverside Press-Enterprise, and the Oakland Tribune. Click here for complete coverage of our Special Election Wrap-up.

"A Bruising Blow From the People"
"Governor's Political Clout Dwindling With Defeats"
"Governor's 'Reforms' Get Cold Shoulder"
"Schwarzenegger Faces Resounding Defeat"
"Voters Reject Schwarzenegger's Bid to Remake State Government"
"Governor's Reform Measures Defeated"
"Arnold's Reforms Terminated"

And let us not be fooled by his "humble Arnold vows bipartisan cooperation" (Associated Press).

The Republican Party in Washington and Sacramento continue their culture of corruption, as our own House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has so eloquently stated: DeLay, Frist, Libby, Cheney, Bush -- the most wasteful administration in recent history, and the loss of over 2,000 of our courageous men and women in a war that should never have been.

Thank God that hardworking teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, correctional officers, public employees, working men and women and our Democratic organizers and activists stood up to protect our children and grandchildren's future.

Our fight is not over: we must now elect a Democratic Governor, Legislature and Congress in 2006. It will not be easy, but now they know we will fight for our future. California is a blue state and our Party is engaged!

I give my heartfelt thanks to our entire CDP staff, who in addition to other campaign duties, also worked hard on getting over 18 million pieces of party mail out to voters; and to the thousands of volunteers who took time out from their families and jobs to protect California's future.