Opinion

Whatever happened to Measure H? It was supposed to be a slam-dunk good-government measure that Berkeley voters would certainly support: campaign financing for all, leveling the playing field, taking money out of politics. Supporters sent the Planet a passel of literate, well-reasoned opinion pieces. We got some full-page ads. Letters came home in the mail outlining why thinking people would have to vote yes on H. The Berkeley vote was billed as an opening salvo in a national movement to “clean up politics.” But Berkeleyans didn’t buy it. Measure H went down badly, getting only 40 percent of the vote. Why? -more-

As usual, our readers are doing a great job of analyzing the local election results in these pages, and we really don’t need to add much. We have just a few observations on the stylistic issues which affected the campaigns for local taxes. Our front page election night photos said it all. They were taken by a photographer who doesn’t cover city politics, didn’t necessarily know the names and numbers of the players, and just shot what he saw. In the Measure B victory photo we saw a bunch of happy parents lifting apple slices to toast their victory. Among them were fathers Dan Lindheim and Larry Gordon, who darn near drove us at the Planet crazy with a steady stream of letters, commentary pieces and “informational” phone calls. Voters who were paying any attention at all to local elections couldn’t miss the message; if they didn’t catch it in the Planet, they could have seen the hundreds of signs on their neighbors’ lawns around town. Good job, guys. -more-