Election Day is coming up in less than two weeks and this is what's on my mind about it.

It doesn't seem that long ago, but three years have passed since Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor of California. Nobody in their right mind wanted him in office but in essence, we didn't have much of a choice. As I wrote back then, Gray Davis was the absolute wrong option at the time and the other candidates to replace him were either part of the Davis administration or were on the other end of the ideological scale. After a shaky start, Schwarzenegger has performed as well, if not better, than anyone could have imagined. You don't have to look much further than the legislative session in the past year, one in which the Legislature got more done than in any other in recent memory. Much to the dismay of the Republicans he represents, Schwarzenegger got it done with a lot of Democratic help, showing he is as bipartisan as you can get. To get things done, which would be more plausible...Arnold working with Democrats or Phil Angelides working with Republicans? Even in the best of times, Davis could not work with Republicans, resulting in a lack of results and notoriously late budgets. Angelides figures to have similar results. As treasurer, Angelides has proven he can work competently for the state, but a dynamic leader he is not. As a result, while a vote for Angelides is not necessarily a vote to move backward, a vote for Schwarzenegger is most definitely a vote to move forward.

In the race for San Jose mayor, Chuck Reed surprisingly won the primary election over Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez on the strength of potential honesty and accountability after Mayor Ron Gonzales' indictments were handed down by the grand jury. Months later, little has changed with the exception of recent revelations about Reed using public money for club memberships and whatnot. While not illegal, it doesn't look that good. But it pales in comparison to the deteriorating trust the people have with the city government. Reed would more closely represent the fresh start San Jose needs than Chavez. Reed's campaign focuses on tackling the problems we have from within while building coalitions with the council since Reed himself is considered an outsider on the council. Chavez has better ideas and vision for what San Jose should look like down the road, but a foundation of trust and good financial standing needs to be built first and Reed would be a better choice to accomplish such a task.

Those were the big ones. Briefly:

Dianne Feinstein and Zoe Lofgren deserve re-election to the Senate and House respectively. Not only have they represented their constituents admirably, a shift in power in Congress would elevate these women's power within Congress which would be great for the area. Just to note, Democrats need 15 House seats and 6 Senate seats to regain power. The House changeover looks more and more like a lock, no matter what Bush and the Republicans would like to believe, while the Senate looks like a tossup. We could be looking at the early rise of Bush's lame-duck presidency, which could be a good thing since the only thing that can save Bush is some kind of shake-up that's out of his control.

The statewide offices are up for grabs. I'd vote for McClintock (Lt. Governor), McPherson (Secretary of State), Strickland (Controller), Lockyer (Treasurer), Brown (Attorney General), and Poizner (Insurance Commissioner).

State propositions:

Yes: 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 84, 86
No: 83, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90

So please vote November 7.