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Internal Affairs: Fawning over farmers, fighting against fish

Posted by: Maven on July 19, 2009 at 7:46 am

From the Silicon Valley Mercury News:

There’s little doubt that the No. 1 issue in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign will be the state’s fiscal mess. But No. 2 just might be water.

This year has been a terribly thirsty one for farmers, especially those in the western part of the drought-stricken Central Valley. Farmers there have fewer rights to the water from the Sierra snowpack, and thousands of jobs have been lost as fields lie fallow.

So it’s no coincidence that gubernatorial candidates are flocking to the valley — particularly the hard-hit Fresno area. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom held a town-hall meeting there in late April, soon after announcing that he was running for governor. During the meeting, he refused to rule out building more dams — something farmers love and environmentalists hate.

Steve Poizner, the state’s insurance commissioner, has been to Central Valley farming towns 12 times — six to Fresno alone — since he became a candidate in fall 2008. Fellow GOP hopeful Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO, has been to the valley six times since March.

Read more from the Silicon Valley Mercury News by clicking here.

July 19, 2009 · Filed Under People in the News

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One Response to “Internal Affairs: Fawning over farmers, fighting against fish”

  1. The week that was 7/13-19/2009 | Chance of Rain on July 20th, 2009 12:00 am

    [...] There’s little doubt that the No. 1 issue in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign will be the state’s fiscal mess. But No. 2 just might be water.” From “Fawning over farmers, fighting against fish, Silicon Valley Mercury News via Aquafornia [...]

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