I have researched much on Mr. MacMurray, and i find him to be a very educated and thoughtful person to represent me and other Orange County citizens in the 72nd AD, left vacant by the recent actions of Mike (ugh, i share his name) "Spanky" DuVall and his affair with a lobbyist. The GOP insiders and party bosses have all but gone for Ackerman (Most mayors, city councilfolks have as well), while Norby clings on to the voter-rich Fullerton base he knows best as a former Fullerton Councilman, which also gave John McCain a razor-thin 213-vote margin in 2008, he ended up winning 51% in the 72nd, a far-cry from the 60% Bush won in 2004. To find out why such a change occured from 2004, follow me below the fold as i take you into the world of Orange County politics...
In 2008, college-aged voters overwhelmingly (mid 60%) for Obama, the same applies here in Orange County. In Fullerton, home to Fullerton College and CSF (Cal State Fullerton), it is these college voters that continue to turn Orange County and Fullerton blue. Current registration statistics (warning PDF) shows Democrats closing the gap in Fullerton, a far-cry from the wide margin Republicans enjoyed since the early 90's. Anaheim and La Habra, Democratic registration has also experienced a boost, due to a many number of factors, but i can conclude some of those voters are from the nearby colleges who live in Anaheim. Our elected officials include La Habra Councilwoman Rose Espinosa (pdf), a great leader in helping the poor, keeping gangs out of La Habra and a philanthropist. In fact, she was recognized as the "72nd District Woman of the Year" by Republican Lynn Daucher. She is also running for the Supervisor seat that Chris Norby has left so he can run in the Assembly open seat (talk about political musical chairs). In Anaheim, we have the wonderful Lorri Galloway a proven progressive on women's rights, labor and marriage equality. She, like Espinosa, is also running for County Supervisor.
This is all just fine and dandy, but what does this have to do with MacMurray? Plenty. It helps to have a Democratic base (for MacMurray it's La Habra, where Dems and Reps registration have 10,528 to 10,882, a razor-thin margin), including larger cities like Anaheim and Fullerton. Turnout is low (and we've seen what it can do in these situations) in these sorts of races, and many folks have decided to use mail-in ballots as opposed to traditional polling stations. Also in the district is Placentia, Brea, part of Yorba Linda and a sliver of Orange (the city). MacMurray also won the Orange part of the 72nd as well, doing fairly good in Placentia and losing heavily in Brea and Yorba Linda (the latter is obvious, its pretty much the San Fransisco of Orange County).
Now to be honest, i have not met Mr. MacMurray or am old enough to vote, but there are good signs that MacMurray can pull of a primary win such as:
- Ackerman and Norby have been constantly battling it out like the Romans did in the Colisieum, see this.
- GOP voters might opt-out to either support Richard Faher, another GOP candidate from Placentia, a political unknown, hold their noses and vote for MacMurray in spite of the GOP civil war, or just sit this one out. Any one of these options will split Norby and Ackerman's votes, and we all know that no one will be getting 50%+1 tomorrow.
There are tons of MacMurray signs here in Brea, only a few Norby signs and only about 2 Ackerman signs, since i see them on my way to school every day. Despite the fact that John McCain got 56% here in Brea in 2008, i know he can pull off an upset. I do admit however, at least Mr. Norby is a resident of the 72nd District (Fullerton), so is John MacMurray (La Habra), Mrs. Ackerman is not a resident of the 72nd, she lives in Irvine, where right-winger Assemblyman Chuck DeVore is planning a suicidial lamb campaign against Senator Barbara Boxer, and he is termed out, so why can't Ackerman run there? But anyways, my support for John MacMurray is unwavering. As a Californian, a Brea resident, a progressive, a high school sophomore, my support is for Mr. MacMurray. I advise you to check out these links:
http://macmurray4the72nd.org - MacMurray campaign site
http://www.actblue.com/... - Donations here
http://www.friendsforfullertonsfutur... - A (somewhat) Pro-Norby, Anti-Ackerman post
http://orangejuiceblog.com/...
- Pro-MacMurray post
Also, check out Seneca Doane's diaries about Mr. MacMurray and more on the 72nd AD special election, much more insight than mine. I apologize for a short diary, i should have done this a few days ago.