Mark Baldassare Quotations

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.