Mark Baldassare Quotations

None of the propositions favored by the governor's administration are inspiring much passion,

He has been fairly consistent on the issue, and it's one that puts him in exactly the same place as the Democrats and independents he's trying to reach out to this year. If I were him, I would be talking a lot about this.

hardly anyone picked out an initiative and said, 'This one interests me.'

He's being viewed as someone with a lot at stake in the bond deal but one who was willing to compromise. Unlike last year when he seemed to be saying, 'My way or the highway,' this year he appears to be conciliatory. He seemed to be willing to settle, and voters understand that.

He was able to do it two years ago in the recall election, and that's what he's trying to do again.

I think it is significant. His numbers have been steady during a time when Californians were disappointed over the lack of agreement on the infrastructure bond.

I think I'm most surprised at the degree to which people are pessimistic about education and the extent to which they lack confidence and trust in state government in general. This is one of the reasons -- at the state level at least -- that people are reluctant to raise their own taxes.

Voters see little on the ballot that connects to their current concerns.

This would be unprecedented. I think it will be a real challenge to explain to voters a plan of this magnitude.

There are real concerns in the general public about who is going to be left behind, and those concerns are particularly evident among African-Americans and Latinos. There's a sense that when students fail, you need to help them achieve.

The governor must still convince independents and moderates that he is as he seemed to be last year ... a figure in Sacramento who stood for solutions and an end to partisan bickering, who put the people's interests first.

The governor has a big challenge ahead of him.

The reasons for the special election and the reasons for the specific proposals the governor is endorsing are not something that are energizing the public right now or generating a lot of support.

The public's frustration with the state of education is palpable. They see lots of rhetoric but little progress.

The public is frustrated and disappointed with what they see as a lack of progress in improving the quality of education. Because the issue is so important to them, (voters) want to see officials at all levels engaged, even if they're not directly involved (in education).

Borrowing in the short term has become the way to resolve these impasses.

Essentially, all of these competing plans that were headed for the June ballot were very popular.

There's still a long way to go, but the governor is still looking to find the key to what will change public opinion. While his measures may not have moved in a negative direction, there's no sign that voters have any more inclination to support his package.

These attitudes run deep and wide. To ignore them could be politically perilous.

People are very concerned about the direction of the economy, rising gasoline prices and the ability of the government to respond to the terrible things that are happening around us, such as natural disasters. They're looking to this special election and they really can't draw a connection between what concerns them the most and what seems to be the purpose and the emphasis of the special election.

As long as the governor has education in the mix, the public will be supportive.

This is a real test for the governor. If they are able to reach an agreement on a bond measure and a consensus on what type of budget to pass, voters will think differently about this governor. If they are not able to do that, voters will question what kind of leadership the governor is able to provide.

It's an unfortunate irony that state leaders were unable to reconcile their differences, while voters - who are often deeply split along partisan lines - were very much in agreement. This was an opportunity to give the public something it collectively wanted.

It speaks to the fact that whether you're controller or treasurer, if you've been there since 1998 or 2002, you won't be very well-known on the statewide stage.

It's very easy to point the finger at the Legislature and the governor, but ultimately, they're taking their cues from the voters.

It's reasonably good news for the governor on a number of levels. It seems many Californians continue to be pulling for the governor.

It has huge implications for how campaigns are going to operate if 40 percent of voters are going to make up their minds before the media blitz that occurs right before an election.

Clearly the governor got the message of the special election. The question is whether the words translate into action in Sacramento and move the state in the direction the governor says he would like to go and the public says they would like to go.

Clearly, without having a policy in place on where we're going, the public itself seems to be going toward mailing in the ballot. No matter what direction is coming out of the state capital, that's the direction that the public is going in.

The March primary was an experiment that didn't work. Nationally, it didn't really put California in the driver's seat for the presidential election and at the state level, campaigns didn't really have time to get off the ground.

The challenge for him this time is really twofold: first of all, he's got very strong disapproval ratings among the voters, who are opposing his measures, particularly Democrats, and secondly, there is a very substantial amount of money that is being spent on the 'no' side.

The meaning for the average person watching the ... demonstrations is that this is a very serious movement, a large issue, and it's not going to go away. People now have a face and they have a story that goes along with what they had previously viewed as a pretty abstract concept, illegal immigration.

The Legislature has been looking at the calendar for elections rather than the calendar for legislation. The balance of power has shifted from the legislative cycle to the election cycle.