More on the California Special

No sign of the Busby/illegal immigrant appeal story in the MSM. I'll watch to see if it pops up.

The Hotline notes that the scheduling of the special election on the same day as the CA primary could hurt Bilbray, since the Democrats have a contested gubernatorial primary that should boost Democratic turnout.

On the other hand, the Sacramento Bee (registration required) suggests that turnout looks like it will be 'paltry.' This illustrates one of my favorite phenomena: cognitive dissonance in the MSM - the simultaneous belief in two contradictory ideas.

Election turnout looking paltry
Activist fatigue, voter disenchantment cited as possible reasons.
By Laura Mecoy -- Bee Los Angeles Bureau
Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, June 3, 2006

MANHATTAN BEACH -- Trying to fire up a lackluster crowd at a "get out the vote" rally, City Councilman Jim Aldinger asked who would be working over the weekend to get Californians to the polls on Tuesday.
Only a handful of the 80 activists raised their hands at the rally Thursday for gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides.

Campaign consultants reported similarly tepid responses from volunteers around the state -- even though an expected low voter turnout and an extremely tight gubernatorial primary could make this year's "get out the vote" efforts more decisive than in past statewide campaigns.

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said Friday he expects 38 percent of registered voters to cast ballots in Tuesday's primary election. That amounts to about one in four of all Californians eligible to vote.

That would place Tuesday's turnout among the lowest ever for a California gubernatorial primary in a year when the polls indicate this could be one of the state's closest-ever gubernatorial primaries.

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