Good Luck Charm

What a wild night! In a combo of anxiety and anticipation, we had been been on pins and needles all day. Finally it's 8:00 and we head over to the campaign headquarters to wait for the returns. We were feeling pretty good but extremely nervous.

The campaign didn't have a good system to keep the party guests informed about how it was going. There were half a dozen people crowded around the computer looking at the election sites, but for the 100 or so guests, at the initial snap, things looked pretty bleak. I had thought that Rico needed to be 20% ahead in the early absentees to win, and he was only up about 17% so we were still in the game, but I needed numbers. I started getting the info the old fashioned way - calling the registrar of voters and writing down the numbers on a napkin. Sacramento County contained 85% of the voters in the district, so I ignored the rest.

with 53/428 precincts reporting

Oller 39.2
Ose 35.9
Lungren 23.3

with 64/428 precincts reporting

Oller 39.1
Ose 35.7
Lungren 23.4

with 100/428

Oller 37.9
Ose 33.3
Lungren 27.1

Dan is sitting at the computer and I go up to him with my napkin -- Look we're closing the gap with less than 25% of the vote in. We're winning every precint. He takes my napkin and it takes me a half hour to get it back. ;^D

with 120/428

Oller 37.0
Ose 32.2
Lungren 29.1

then we passed Mary

with 152/428

Oller 36.1
Ose 30.6
Lungren 31.4

then we passed Rico

with 216/428

Oller 34.0
Ose 28.4
Lungren 35.8

Now we lead by almost 2,000 votes in Sacramento

with 264/428

Oller 33.1 --- 12,853
Ose 27.3 --- 10,602
Lungren 37.6 --- 14, 607

Now that we're in the lead, my napkin is very messy and there's no more room to write the numbers.

We ended up with
Oller 31.4 --- 18,348
Ose 24.7 --- 14,491
Lungren 42.0 --- 24,585

Dan's a big Elvis fan - so here's a song for him. He had all his good luck charms around last night ... his wonderful wife Bobbi, his son, daughters, daughter-in law and grandbaby, his brothers, sister, niece and nephew and many friends.

Good Luck Charm

Don’t want a four leaf clover
Don’t want an old horse shoe
Want your kiss ’cause I just can’t miss
With a good luck charm like you

Come on and be my little good luck charm
Uh-huh huh, you sweet delight
I want a good luck charm
A-hanging on my arm
To have, to have, to hold, to hold tonight

Don’t want a silver dollar
Rabbit’s foot on a string
The happiness in your warm caress
No rabbit’s foot can bring

Come on and be my little good luck charm
Uh-huh huh, you sweet delight
I want a good luck charm
A-hanging on my arm
To have, to have, to hold, to hold tonight

If I found a lucky penny
I’d toss it across the bay
Your love is worth all the gold on earth
No wonder that I say

Come on and be my little good luck charm
Uh-huh huh, you sweet delight
I want a good luck charm
A-hanging on my arm
To have, to have, to hold, to hold tonight

It's St. Patrick's Month



"May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends gathered below never fall out."
-Traditional Irish Toast

Looking for a great Pub for St. Paddy's Day?

It's St. Patrick's Month


And today, we sing in special honor of Dan and Jeff Lungren, Notre Dame alumni. May they have the Luck of the Irish today.

The Notre Dame Victory March

Rally sons of Notre Dame,
Sing her glory, and sound her fame
Raise her Gold and Blue,
And cheer with voices true,
Rah! Rah! For Notre Dame.

We will fight in every game
Strong of heart and true to her name.
We will ne'er forget her
And we'll cheer her ever,
Loyal to Notre Dame.

Chorus:
Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send the volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky,
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to Victory.

Looking for a great Pub for St. Paddy's Day?

Jazz Chicks

I heard yesterday that one of my favs, Jane Monheit, was the entertainment at the "Governor's Ball" after the Oscars. Lucky for them ... she sings alot better than the performers during the Oscars themselves.

It's St. Patrick's Month

Come back here every day for Irish Songs, Toasts, Blessings and Jokes

"May you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to repent."
-Traditional Irish Toast

Looking for a great Pub for St. Paddy's Day?

It's St. Patrick's Month

Come back here every day for Irish Songs, Toasts, Blessings and Jokes

Wild Rover

I've been a wild rover this many a year
And I've spent all my money on whisky and beer
But now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I never shall play the wild rover no more

Chorus
No, no, never, never no more
Never never again shall I play
The wild rover no more

There was Kitty and Betsy and Margaret and Sue
And three or four more that belonged to our crew
We'd sit up till midnight and make the place roar
I've been the wild boy but I'll be so no more

I dropped into a shanty I used to frequent
And I told the landlady my money was spent
I asked her for credit she answered me nay
Such a custom as yours I can get every day

Then I drew from my pocket ten sovereigns bright
And the landlady's eyes opened wide with delight
Said she I have whisky and wines of the best
And the words that I told you were only in jest

I'll go home to my parents confess what I've done
And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
And if they will do so as often before
Then I never shall play the wild rover no more

Looking for a great Pub for St. Paddy's Day?

No Politicing - No Work

I'm taking a short mental break ... Watching the Food Network ... Real Margaritas with the Barefoot Contessa ... Everyday Italian Roasted Asparagras wrapped in Prosciutto ... Tuna Burgers with Pineapple Mustard Glaza by Bobby Flay and then they went on a tour of fabulous restaurants and ended up at the Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas. It looked wonderful -- Has anybody been there? It's a four star/ four diamond restaurant in the Santa Monica Mountains "renowned for his culinary artistry with elk, buffalo, deer, wild boar, quail and partridge, offering a host of game specialties and great alternatives for seafood lovers and vegetarians."

I'm thinking it might be time to do a list of the Top 100 Restaurants in California to go with my list of the 100 Things You Should Do In California.

If you're interested in more serious fare, Slings and Arrows has a roundup of what the smartest minds in California can tell you about what's going on. Go BearFlaggers!!

Serendipity

We just hosted the most fabulous event for Dan Lungren. He is such a fine man. Smart, tough, kind, moral, honest, straight. Like me, you may not agree with him on every little thing, but you know that he will never, under any circumstances, do anything that is wrong, underhanded, unethical. And you know that his opponent believes that the ends justify the means and if you have to cheat to win that's part of politics. So shame on you if you vote for the opponent.

Anyway, back to our event... the Mayor of Folsom, Steve Miklos, introduces Steve Sax, former LA Dodger and five-time all star, who introduces Dan. In the audience is one of Dan's big supporters, Ted Costa, the Father of the Recall. I felt very proud to be in their company.

I really hope the bloggers answer the call to help with Ted's reapportionment initiative. Please comment with your email address, 'cuz i'm starting a list.

Another April 15th Deadline

The "Father of the Recall", Ted Costa, is circulating a petition to qualify the Fair Districts Now! initiative. We need 600,000 valid signatures, turned in by April 15, 2004, to qualify for the November ballot.

Quoting from a letter I received yesterday from Mark Abernathy, campaign manager:

The "Recall of Gray Davis" was only the beginning in restoring responsiveness to our state government. We must make sure that fair districts are drawn for our Congressional and Legislative seats.

The Fair Districts Now! effort will help achieve that goal because it believes that redistricting is too important to be left to the legislators. This initiative is sponsored by Ted Costa and People's Advocate. It places final approval of any plan where it should be, with the voters.

This initiative is not designed to help one political party over another. In fact, it prohibits taking partisan information or voting history into account. However, as Republicans, we must support a plan that makes the Legislature more responsive to the voters. According to political analysts a fair redistricting plan would result in 5 to 13 additional Republican Members of Congress from California and potential Republican control of the State Legislature.

My challenge to the Bearflaggers and other California bloggers -- Let's be the free media that this campaign needs to get qualified in the next 50 days. Write about it, talk about it, get your friends to circulate petitions.

You can get more info at the Fair Districts Now! website: www.fairdistricts.com/

For All Those Non-Gay Men

xrlq has a cheer for you.