CALIFORNIA | 55 Electoral Votes |
The Bush campaign did not make a major play for California as they had in 2000. Despite the lack of resources and visits, the campaign did put together a grassroots structure as in other states, complete with county leaders and an active team of volunteers. When all was said and done, the campaign actually improved marginally on the 2000 result while spending far less money. (The Republican ticket obtained 44.43% of the vote in 2004, compared to 41.65% in 2000; the Democratic margin was trimmed from 11.80 percentage points to 9.98 percentage points).
California continued to be
a key state for fundraising. From late March to mid-October Sen.
Kerry, Sen. Edwards, and Teresa Heinz Kerry did at least 19 fundraisers
in the state. President Bush's visits on March 3-4 and August 12
each had a fundraising component. Ralph Nader, who did not appear
on the California ballot, did at least seven fundraisers in the state in
the final three and a half months of the campaign.
Bush-Cheney '04 | Kerry-Edwards 2004 |
Organization details... | details... |
BC'04 State
Chair: Gerald Parsky
Exec. Director: Debbie McCall Office: Burbank California Republican
Party
|
KE
State Director: Sky Gallegos
Comm. Director: Luis Vizcaino Office: 10350 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 330, Los Angeles Coordinated Campaign Director:
Van Parish
California Democratic
Party
|
Travel compare...
BUSH-CHENEY | KERRY-EDWARDS |
Final Month (Oct. 2-Nov. 2, 2004) | |
George
W. Bush - 0 visits
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 0 visits Laura Bush (solo) - 1 visit (1 day) |
John
Kerry - 0 visits
John Edwards - 1 visit (1 day) Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 0 visits Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits |
Eight Months (March 2-Nov. 2, 2004) | |
George
W. Bush - 2 visits (3 days)
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 2 visits (2 days) Laura Bush (solo) - 2 visits (2 days) |
John
Kerry - 6 visits (11 days)
John Edwards - 2 visits (3 days) Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 3 visits (4 or 5 days) Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits |
BUSH
San Diego Union-Tribune (10/17/04) The Press-Enterprise (Riverside) Long Beach Press-Telegram (Long Beach) San Bernardino Sun The Bakersfield Californian Inland Valley Daily Bulletin The Record (Stockton) The Desert Sun (Palm Springs) San Gabriel Valley Tribune Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton) Record Searchlight (Redding) Pasadena Star-News Chico Enterprise-Record The Reporter (Vacaville) Whittier Daily News San Mateo County Times (10/25/04) Adapted from Editor &
Publisher
|
KERRY
San Francisco Chronicle (10/17/04) Sacramento Bee (10/17/04) San Jose Mercury News (10/17/04) Alameda Times-Star *Contra Costa Times (10/24/04) *Daily News [Los Angeles] (10/23/04) Fresno Bee La Opinión (10/25/04) *Ventura County Star (10/24/04) The Press Democrat [Santa Rosa] (09/19/04) Modesto Bee (10/17/04) Oakland Tribune (10/24/04) Marin Independent Journal Daily Review [Hayward] (10/24/04) *Monterey County Herald (10/24/04) The Argus [Fremont] (10/30/04) *Santa Cruz Sentinel (10/24/04) Times-Herald [Vallejo] (10/31/04) *Times-Standard [Eureka] Merced Sun-Star (10/16/04) |
Third Party and Independent
Nader Ballot Access
Ralph Nader did not appear
on the California ballot despite selecting Peter Miguel Camejo of Folsom,
co-founder of the California Green Party and former gubernatorial candidate,
as his running mate. Nader would have needed to submit 153,035 signatures
by August 6 to gain ballot status as an Independent; his campaign gathered
less than 100,000. The Nader campaign then sought to persuade the
Green Party of California to hold a special General Assembly, break with
the national party's selection of David Cobb and Pat LaMarche, and put
Nader/Camejo on the ballot instead. On August 10 the party's coordinating
committee voted 11 to 7 with 2 abstentions not to take that course. (press
release)
California Ties
As noted above Peter Miguel
Camejo hails from Folsom, California. Michael Badnarik moved from
California to Texas in 1997, citing gun control as his primary reason for
leaving the state. More recently David Cobb moved to Humboldt County,
California from Texas, where he was born, grew up, went to school, and
ran for state Attorney General in 2002.
State Coordinators
Nader: No. Todd Chretien
So. Lynda Aurelius Hernandez also: Forrest Hill
Badnarik: Gail Lightfoot
and Bruce Cohen
Cobb (Acting): Leslie
Bonett
Candidate Visits
Extensive travel by Cobb,
three trips by Nader >>
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Copyright © 2004, 2005 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.