One Last Buzz for Prop 19
Field poll now has Proposition 19 trailing badly, and I am now taking cold comfort in the Pauline Kael delusion: Everybody I know is voting for Prop 19.
Well, not everybody. Here's my old taskmaster at the L.A. Times, author, affable amoralist and editor without portfolio Jim Newton, talking about how "badly written" and confusing Prop 19 is. By the way, if you are among the one in every ten California voters still undecided on the ballot initiative to legalize the naturally occuring plant cannabis, please avail yourself of one of the great advantages California affords its citizens: The full text [pdf] of Prop 19 is available in the Voter Information Guide that was mailed to your home address. Please read the thing and see for yourself whether you object -- legally, textually, stylistically or in any other way -- to the writing.
Here's a last money blow by the Drug Policy Action Committee to Tax and Regulate Marijuana:
Many of the off-the-shelf anti-19 editorials Matt Welch has been cataloging all autumn forefront their Jim-Netownian mediocrity with the "Sophomoric pot joke" laid into the headline. I've been happy to oblige with the title of this post.
But the Yes On 19 campaign was broad and effective. While I hope wiser heads will prevail between today and tomorrow, it has been encouraging that Prop 19 supporters waged a serious campaign, against the arrayed power of all major Republocrat seat holders, virtually the entire legacy media, public sector unions, both candidates for California attorney general, both candidates for governor, and assorted other Houyhnhnms.
Update: By "money blow" I mean about $300,000, which is the going rate for a wraparound A section ad like this one. I am skeptical that there is any value left in print advertising, let alone $300,000 print advertising. At the Times' current circulation of 600,449, that's 25 cents per eyeball, not counting one-eyed readers (whose numbers may be substantial given the very-old-skewing subscriber base). But there may still be some value in showing people you can afford it, and this is the fire-whatever-ammo's-left stage of the campaign.
