Today on AirTalk, a we'll do a final presidential campaign rundown, and talk propositions in our ballot primer for California voters. We'll consider the Orange County electorate, discuss what could happen if the election turns into a legal battle, and look at how social media factors into an election. Are you ready to vote?
Election 2012 intensifies in its final day
In the final hours before election day, the Obama and Romney campaigns are making a final push towards victory, holding rallies in key battleground states. Though both candidates’ teams are insisting that they’re set for victory on Tuesday, behind the scenes actions tell a different story.
RELATED: Customize your ballot with KPCC's voter guide
Adjustments to early voting hours and processes have the campaigns in a frenzy of get out the vote mania. Although Obama has a lead based on early votes, turnout this year was significantly less than in 2008. Obama and Romney are hurrying to reach the swing states that will decide the election, like Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. Although they’re presenting an optimistic front, both campaigns are lawyered up and ready for a fight over electoral votes.
How will changes to early voting measures impact the election? Do you think the election will be decided on November 6, or do you anticipate post-election legal action?
Guests:
Mark Barabak, Political Correspondent, Los Angeles Times
Julie Davis, Political Reporter, Bloomberg News
What you need to know about California's ballot measures
Over the past few weeks, AirTalk has discussed each of the measures on this year’s state ballot. We’ve examined the pros and cons presented by both sides, looked into the money behind the measures, and delved into the gritty details of each proposition.
As we enter the final countdown to the election, some voters still have questions -- we've got an election primer and a final discussion of what's on the California ballot to set things straight.
RELATED: Customize your ballot with KPCC's voter guide
Are you informed enough to decipher between the competing tax measures for state education funding, Proposition 30 and Proposition 38? Do you know which propositions your party is officially supporting? What are your last-minute burning questions about state ballot measures?
Guest:
John Myers, Political Editor, Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV-TV News 10
OC election roundtable
The GOP has long held the lion’s share of registered voters in Orange County, but, as in all of California, that number is declining. The OC is now 41% red, 31% blue, with the number of unaffiliated voters rising to just over 22%. There are a number of key issues and races for Orange County voters on this year’s ballot.
The highly contested Anaheim City Council race has racked up nearly $1 million in campaign expenditures, much of it funded by political action committees representing labor and business interests. Disney alone has reportedly funneled nearly $190,000 to PACs supporting their favored candidates, Steve Chavez Lodge and Jordan Brandman.
Tomorrow will bring to a finish hotly contested races in Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Irvine as well. We’ll take a peek behind the Orange polling booth curtain with our OC roundtable journalists.
Guests:
Norberto Santana, Editor-in-Chief of the Voice of OC, a non-profit investigative news agency that covers Orange County government and politics
Julie Gallego, government & politics editor, Orange County Register
Campaign lawyers sharpen their pens for voting wars
The 2000 presidential election between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush was too close to call – literally. The razor-thin margin between them resulted in a lengthy and protracted recount process and a legal challenge that was eventually decided by the Supreme Court in favor of Bush, over a month after the election.
Fast forward to tomorrow, Election Day 2012. With both candidates running a dead heat in many key states, the winner will most likely be by a nose, if that much. Could we be in for another legal battle? That depends on the “margin of litigation” – the number of outstanding votes, versus the number that separate Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, once the smoke clears and all votes are in.
Campaign lawyers on both sides are determined not to miss a trick; they’ve deployed an army of eagle-eyed operatives to monitor the polls and send up a flare should there be any hanky-panky. What will they be watching for? Any “acts of sabotage” – misplaced ballots, misdirected voters, discrimination or other improprieties. But the missteps may not be intentional, either - a state-by-state patchwork of confusing voting laws, coupled with inexperienced poll workers, won’t help matters.
Party officials aren’t the only ones concerned - the Justice Department has announced that they’ll have nearly 800 federal personnel on the watch in 23 states, including here in California in Riverside and Alameda counties. All indications are that this presidential race will be historically close.
Will the winner be decided for good once the polls close on Tuesday? Or will the loser cry foul and send the lawyers into battle?
Guest:
Steve Huefner, professor of law, senior fellow, election law at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law
Outside money floods California congressional races and ballot battles
Tomorrow’s election will be among the highest ever in California for campaign spending. This election cycle is without the governor’s office at stake and with the presidential race all but wrapped up in the state. Advocacy groups from outside of California are doing most of the spending, focusing on congressional races that are now competitive due to the state’s newly drawn voting districts.
RELATED: Customize your ballot with KPCC's voter guide
According to campaign filings with the federal government, special interest groups account for more than a quarter of all spending. There is a coalition of multinational corporations trying to stop Proposition 37 which would require companies to label food that has been genetically modified. California is watched nationally because initiatives passed here get copied and proposed in other states.
Another issue is the money that is given through nonprofits. California regulations say that contributors must be identified if they give to nonprofits with the intention of spending money on state campaigns. Today an Arizona nonprofit called Americans for Responsible Leadership revealed that some $11-million came from Americans for job security via the Center to Protect Patient Rights.
How do you feel about out of state groups giving money to influence California initiatives? Do you think this trend will start in other states?
Guests:
Evan Halper, Sacramento bureau chief, Los Angeles Times
Joe Garofoli, politics writer, San Francisco Chronicle
POLL: When political punditry turns Facebook friends into foes
It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself to be political or not, in today’s world, it is basically impossible to escape the political discussion. Even if you turn off the radio or TV to avoid the chattering class, you can’t escape the bumper stickers and yard signs. In the digital era, now Facebook has become the premiere haven for political commentary.
But that doesn’t mean individuals are engaging in civilized discourse and enlightening each other’s perspectives; instead it seems that people are mainly trumpeting their own opinions or blatantly attacking opposing views. Some users get so heated that they actually “unfriend” anyone who is on the other side of the political aisle.
Then, while the demagogues duke it out in the digital arena, there are the poor folks forced to watch all this on their newsfeed. When it seems like the entire country is trapped in partisan gridlock, this eternal war can be exasperating for those who are going online simply to check up on their friends or look at pictures from a family member’s wedding.
Has this happened to you? Are you one of the people posting your political agenda, or rallying against someone else’s? Does the whole thing just turn you off completely? Is Facebook as fun as it used to be? Have you gone so far as to block or unfriend someone for their political opinions? Why exactly? Were they posting incorrect facts, blatant lies, or just extreme viewpoints?
Let us know what gets your red (or blue?) blood boiling online.
Guest:
Aaron Smith, Research Associate for the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, which has been tracking trends in social networking sites and politics in the months leading up to the election